Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 78085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Sighing, I pushed the memory away.
I was so sure Harlee was Ms. Seaside that I’d tried to talk my sister Palmer out of searching for the writer’s real identity. Luckily, Palmer was too busy falling in love with Mason Bryan to truly pursue Ms. Seaside…and that left me to poke around on my own.
The ferry slowed and started to make its way to the dock. I glanced around at the people onboard. Most were still in their cars, but there were a handful who had parked on the mainland, willing to endure the weather to walk around Lighthouse Island.
The island was a huge tourist spot in the spring, summer, and fall, but it was mostly locals who came out here in the winter—with the exception of a few tourists who weren’t afraid to brave the cold. Plus, there was a bed and breakfast on the island that was one of the best in Maine.
The family who ran the ferry, the Anders, had built the bed and breakfast in the early 1800s, and to this day, it was still run by an Anders family member. Kris Jensen—that was her married name—currently ran the bed and breakfast. Her brother, Mitch, took care of the lighthouse, and her other brother, Ron, ran the ferries. Their grandfather had started the ferry with only one boat when he was a young boy. Now there was a whole fleet of them that ran twenty-four-seven during the summer, and with limited hours during the harsh winter months.
Kris’s other brother, Chip, drove the pilot boat my brother-in-law Gannon worked on.
I shook my head. Both my brothers-in-law—Gannon and his brother, Brody—had crazy dangerous jobs.
I exhaled and headed to my truck before the ferry got to shore. I’d need to find a place to park it so no one getting off a ferry today would see it and know I was here.
After parking and grabbing a local map from the passenger seat of my truck, I headed into the cold to find a good spot to watch everyone getting off the next ferry. I had a hunch I’d see Ms. Seaside today. If the courier came on Wednesdays to pick up the column—something Palmer and I had previously learned—then that meant Ms. Seaside either came on Tuesday, or first thing Wednesday morning. I’d already tried coming on multiple Wednesdays with no luck, so I was betting that Tuesdays were her drop-off days.
I drew in a deep breath as I stood there and waited for the next ferry. My mind wandered back to the night Harlee and I had spent together. She’d been so damn adamant that she was right about the founding date of 1762 and everyone else was wrong. I couldn’t help but smile as I thought about how we’d talked for hours before I’d made love to her again as the sun came up.
I closed my eyes and let the memory take me away.
“Brax?” Harlee whispered, tracing a pattern over my chest while I drifted back to sleep.
“Mmm?”
“Do you regret last night?”
My eyes shot open. “No. Do you?”
She rested her chin on the back of her hand that she’d laid flat on my chest. “Not at all. I’ve never felt this way before.”
The pounding of my heart grew so loud, I swore I felt it in my ears. When I didn’t say anything, her smile faded slightly.
Forcing a smile, I leaned up and kissed her forehead. “It was an amazing night, Harlee.”
She sat up, covering herself. I didn’t like that she felt she had to do so for the first time that night. “Will there be a next time?”
I wanted to say yes, but I couldn’t make myself do it. It would be hard enough to walk away from her after the night we’d shared; I couldn’t imagine trying to do it after spending more time with her. I wouldn’t be able to.
“I thought it was only going to be last night.”
The moment I saw the hurt pass over her face, I felt the knife go straight into my heart. I was doing the one thing I said I wouldn’t do. Hurt her.
“Oh. Okay. Well, I need to be honest with you, Brax…I feel something for you. I felt it before last night, and now I feel it even more.”
My breathing picked up. Please don’t say you’re in love with me. Please.
“What do you mean?”
She gave me a half shrug. “I really like you, Brax. And more than just in a friendship way.”
I sat up, letting the sheet pool at my waist. How was I going to do this? I wasn’t ready for these feelings. For love. Harlee was still in college. I was building a business. No…no. I couldn’t do it.
Or could I?
Those blues eyes of hers searched my face. It would have been so easy to tell her yes, I wanted more. But I wasn’t sure how much more I could give her. And that wasn’t fair to her…or me.