Unsure about my own future, I’d had no desire to go to college and would have preferred to have taken some time to figure out what it was I wanted to do, but my mother wasn’t having that, and I’d let her strong-arm me into going to Cornell to study hospitality management. I knew before I’d even stepped foot in the place that it wasn’t for me. Even though I’d been told my whole life that my future was taking over the hotel, I had no interest in it. In fact, the idea of taking over from my father was the reason I rebelled so hard as a teenager. My future was all mapped out for me, and I hated it.
I lasted one semester before I returned to Pine Harbor. The disgraced son. The scandal had caused my mother a great deal of stress, although I was yet to meet a single other goddamn person in town who gave a shit what I did with my life. She couldn’t understand why I couldn’t just be happy with the future she wanted for me. Why I couldn’t be grateful that I was getting this plum career handed to me on a silver platter. The Shore Hotel was oceanfront, with prime views over the harbor. The most popular destination for the wealthy visitors who flocked here every year. All the hard work was already done. Had beendone over four generations. All I had to do was assume the role as head of the Sawyer dynasty and take over the running of the hotel, but the thought of it made me want to bolt from Pine Harbor and never come back.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out. It was a message from Anna.
Mom’s upset. Now dinner is super awkward. This is going to be a loooooong night.
I composed a message back.
You’re an adult too. You know you can just leave any time, right?
My phone was barely halfway back to my pocket when it buzzed again. My sister was one of those people who could type ridiculously fast without even looking at the screen. I was more of an all-thumbs kind of guy who took an age to type text messages.
Just because you’re an adult does not mean you’re mature. I know she can be a pain, but she’s our mother. Sometimes you just got to suck it up for family.
I felt annoyance ripple down my spine. Her words weren’t fair. I understood family, and obligation, and loyalty. And I loved my family. Butshewasn’t the one our mother was attempting to bully into a future she didn’t want. David and Anna coasted by, doing whatever they felt like, while I was the one bearing the brunt of our mother’s attention. They were grateful it was me and not them, and I was happy to take one forthe team because I was used to it. But sometimes I wished they’d stand up for me more.
I shoved my phone back into my pocket without replying. I’d deal with the fallout another day. Right now, all I wanted was to sit at a warm bar with a cold beer and maybe a steaming bowl of lobster stew. But just as I was about to cross the street, a flash of green caught my attention. I hesitated, planting both feet back on the curb and peering through the flurry of snow that had started to swirl. It was a person, I realized. A woman. Standing by the edge of the pier, staring out over the harbor. At what, God only knew. The sun had set, the sky was darkening, and the snow was starting to get heavier.
I was tempted to leave her there and keep walking, but the gentlemen in me couldn’t do it. Emitting a low growl, I resigned myself to the fact that the beer would have to wait a bit longer, and cut over the grass at the corner of the park, heading across the street. Any other night, I would have anticipated the fright that a strange man approaching a woman by herself in the dark would cause, but after the run-in with my mother I clearly wasn’t thinking straight. I did call out to her as I got closer, but maybe because of the wind and the creak of the fishing boats at their moorings she didn’t hear me, so it wasn’t until I touched her shoulder and she screamed, whirling on the spot and throwing a punch that landed solidly on my nose, that I realized I’d made a mistake.
‘Ow,’ I yelped, hands flying to my face. ‘What was that for?’
‘I’d back off if I was you, unless you want me to break it,’ she said, her hands held up in a boxer’s pose in front of her, fists clenched, face determined.
I checked my fingers. There was a small amount of blood. ‘I think you might have already done that.’
She snorted. ‘Unless your nose is made of cotton candy, I doubt it. I barely touched you.’
I stared at her. She was about the height of my shoulders, with blond curls poking out from underneath a green knitted hat with a ridiculous pompom bobbling on the top. It was impossible to tell what color her eyes were in the light of the streetlight. Her skin was pale, though her cheeks had a pink tinge from the cold.
I wriggled my nose with my fingers carefully. ‘Are you calling me a wimp?’
‘I’m just saying it could have been worse. Here.’ She straightened up and felt in a pocket, pulling out a couple of folded tissues that she offered to me. ‘Don’t worry, they’re clean.’
‘I should hope so.’ I took them and dabbed my nose. The bleeding was minor, and already beginning to stop. ‘Do you always carry tissues around in your pocket?’
‘Of course. They often come in handy, as you’ve just found out.’
‘So you accost innocent men often then?’
She pulled a face. ‘Innocent men don’t go around grabbing women unprovoked.’
‘I didn’t grab you. It was a light tap on the shoulder, and only because I was concerned for your well-being.’
‘Why?’
‘Why? Well for one, you’re standing out here in the dark by yourself.’
She looked around. ‘There’s no one around.’
‘I’maround, and I managed to walk up on you without you hearing.’
‘You mean sneak up.’
‘I didn’t sneak. You just didn’t hear me. Which is my second point. Does this really seem like a good time and place to stand around sightseeing? It’s snowing, in case you hadn’t noticed.’
‘I noticed,’ she retorted. ‘But I just had a really long drive, and the sun was setting when I got here, so I thought I’d get a bit of fresh air and admire the view before I carried on.’
