Total pages in book: 166
Estimated words: 157273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157273 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
“June-Bug, you sure you don’t want to sit with your friends?” Caroline offered in a tone that wasn’t suggestive.
“Nope. I’m good here.” Juniper flashed me a smile. “Mom, did you know that Alessandra is a famous dancer?”
Real subtle, Juniper. Guess it was time to hold up my end of the bargain. I cut into my chicken and waited for Caroline’s response.
“Is she?” Caroline jabbed a piece of potato salad with her fork, and I silently chewed my chicken.
“She’s like . . . world famous.” Juniper nodded and grasped her cheeseburger with both hands. “Some say she’ll be the next prima. There’s only a handful in the world, you know.” An impossible amount of that burger disappeared into her mouth.
“So, what is she doing in Haven Cove?” Caroline aimed that question at me. “Shouldn’t she be off in New York City, living the life of a world-famous ballerina?”
“I’m recovering from an injury.” I pushed my fork into my salad. “Snapped my Achilles tendon in a performance in January.”
Was it me, or did her posture soften just a little?
“So once you’re recovered, you’ll go back?” She shot a glance at Hudson.
“That’s the plan,” he answered, completely unbothered.
I shoved food in just so my mouth would be full if she asked another question. Anne would have been so much better at this. She always put people at ease.
Her eyes narrowed. “I still can’t believe you’re dating.” She waved her fork at us. “There’s something weird about it.”
“It’s only weird that she finds him attractive,” Gavin teased.
“Please excuse our daughter.” Hudson’s mom shot Caroline a look that didn’t need translation. “The sun must have addled her manners.”
“How did you two meet?” Caroline pushed ahead, and Gavin watched as he ate like he was sitting front row at a show.
Shit. My stomach plunged.
“I rescued her,” Hudson answered between bites.
“Did you fall off daddy’s yacht?” Caroline lifted her brows at me.
“No.” I shrugged. “We actually keep that in the Med.”
Gavin choked and quickly took a sip of his soda.
Hudson bit back a grin. “She was out past the cove in a boat with a hole in it.”
When I was sixteen.
“Only because Eva was going to go by herself if I didn’t climb in, and she was my responsibility.” I shook my head at the memory.
“You won’t leave your sister and I won’t leave you.” I’d fully, instantly, trusted him with my life in that second.
“That’s your little sister, right?” Caroline asked. “The one who knocked over her entire milkshake in the café because she hadn’t liked how I made it? Then left me to clean it up while she and her little friends laughed their way back to your in-home studio?”
Yep, that sounded like Eva.
“Caroline,” Hudson snapped.
My fork hovered above the salad as heat stung my cheeks in a wave of simultaneous embarrassment and protective anger. “You have my apology,” I said slowly. “She was a difficult teenager.”
“But Alessandra’s really nice,” Juniper interjected. “Oh, there’s Maia! Be right back!” She hopped off the bench and ran to see her friend.
Traitor.
“What is it you like about my brother?” Caroline asked, studying my face.
Hudson tensed and I took a drink, wishing it was alcohol. “He’s decisive.”
“You like that he’s . . . decisive?” Her brow furrowed.
“Because I’m not,” I admitted. “It takes me a really long time to make decisions, usually, and then I second-guess them. It’s one of my worst qualities. But Hudson . . .” I looked his way and let myself remember him—really remember him beyond the haze of anger I’d kept him veiled behind. “He makes the choice, makes the save, has this aura of certainty that I’m not sure I ever will.”
He reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear.
“Still don’t buy it.” Caroline shook her head. “What’s her favorite color?”
“Blue.” Hudson’s hand fell away.
“What’s his birthday?” Caroline jabbed at her plate.
“April twenty-fifth,” I answered, my temper pricking. Knowing Caroline disliked our family was one thing, but swimming in her contempt was quite another. “Next?”
“Caroline, you’ll stop it this instant,” Mrs. Ellis chided.
“You expect me to accept this tourist into our family for the next few months until she tires of Hudson and dumps him?” Caroline countered. “What, is she coming camping with us too? Is she going to join the family trip and risk breaking a nail?”
“Invite accepted.” Hudson shrugged.
Wait. What?
“She won’t last the first night,” Caroline fired back.
Damn. I’d never been camping, but it certainly couldn’t be that torturous if people went willingly.
“Dial it back, Caroline,” Hudson warned. “Alessandra’s family doesn’t joke around like we do.”
“I’m not joking.” She lifted her brows.
“You want to help me out here?” Hudson asked Gavin.
“Nope.” He reached for what was left of his hot dog. “You’re holding your own better than I’d anticipated.”
“You’re acting like children,” Mr. Ellis chided, and the table fell silent as Juniper ran back over, sliding into her seat. “I’m going to finish up what’s left to grill. Juniper, are you ready to do cake and ice cream? I’ll get it all prepped if you are.”