“I am a bit of a perfectionist.”
“It’s important we get it just right.”
“Very important,” she whispered.
He looked into her eyes as he lowered his lips to hers, feeling an unrelenting hope he hadn’t felt in a long time. And it felt good. It felt right.
It felt as if everything he’d been waiting for—everything he never thought he’d have again—was right here in his arms.
Chapter 28
August 4, twenty years ago
Maddy treaded barefoot across the damp, hard-packed sand. Shells, many of them whole, were strewn across the beach as far as the eye could see, along with seagrass and driftwood. It always amazed her to see the treasures low tide turned up.
Daylight was fading fast, but if she waited till morning, all the good shells would be washed away. Besides, there was nothing else to do tonight. Everyone was busy.
Gram had gone to Bald Head Island with her friends for the weekend. Emma was in the kitchen, baking cinnamon rolls. Mama and Daddy were in their bedroom, door closed. Jonathan was working late at the coffee shop, and Nora had gone off who-knew-where. Maddy suspected she was with Jonathan again, and her stomach knotted at the thought.
It had been over a week since she’d caught them kissing on the beach. She’d watched them when the family was together, and they seemed perfectly fine. Perfectly friendly. Sometimes Maddy thought she must’ve imagined what she’d seen.
But she knew in her heart she hadn’t. It was true. Nora and Jonathan were betraying Emma. How could they do such a horrible thing? She had no idea love could go so very wrong.
She stooped to collect a white slipper. They were her favorite, and though she had dozens already, she couldn’t resist the softly sheened perfection.
Several feet away she scooped up a spotted Scotch bonnet. They weren’t the prettiest shells, ribbed and splotched with brown and amber, but this one was large and unbroken. She added it carefully to her cloth bag. She walked along, eyes scanning over the bits of driftwood, the ropes of kelp, and the broken seashells.
She walked all the way down to the inlet, then turned and walked back toward the cottage, edging closer to the waterline. On the way back she found a perfect sand dollar and a whole cockleshell with a glossy iridescent pink underside—the largest she’d found all summer.
As she neared the beach in front of their cottage, she saw a large humped mass lying near the shoreline. A dead tarpon. Its silver-white scales glimmered in the evening light, its gills were still, and its black button eyes stared up lifelessly. A fly hovered above the dead body, and a stink rose from the carcass.
She skirted the dead fish, shaking the image of those bleak eyes from her mind. Low tide exposed the good and the bad, she supposed.
As she made her way up to the cottage she pulled the drawstring ribbons on her bag. The sand grew dry and deep near the dunes, and her feet plunged into the sugary mounds, sand sticking to her damp skin. The soles of her feet were summer-tough, numb to the jagged shells and bits of pinecone.
She spotted Emma emerging from the house and onto the deck, fingers over her mouth as she stared unseeing out over the sea.
Maddy lifted a hand, but Emma was looking off toward the inlet now, her posture stiff.
The golden hour had slipped away, but even in the waning light Maddy could see the groove between Emma’s brows, a look of shock on her face. This was more than a glitch with the bridesmaid dresses or a canceled reservation.
A terrible dread rose up in Maddy. A weight pressed down on her lungs. Her heart came in heavy thumps that sped even as her footsteps slowed.
Emma caught sight of her as she neared the house. Her glassy eyes focused on Maddy as a tear slid down her cheek.
“Oh, Maddy...,” Emma choked out. “You’ll never believe it.”
“What—what’s wrong?” Maddy made herself ask, but she didn’t want to hear the answer. Wanted to go upstairs and bury herself under her covers and pretend this wasn’t happening.
Another tear escaped as Emma blinked. Her blue eyes were wide with disbelief as Maddy came up the steps.
“I just—I just heard—” Emma couldn’t seem to bring herself to say it.
Maddy couldn’t bear it. She pulled her big sister close and folded her arms around her. How could Nora have done this? And Jonathan? He was supposed to love Emma. Is this what love looked like? If so, Maddy wanted nothing to do with it.
Emma’s body shook as she wept in great sobs.
Maddy rubbed her back, her throat aching with unshed tears. “I know. I know. It’s just awful. I’m so sorry, Emmie.”
