Page 31 of Hideaway Reunion

But he was still the man who’d built her first beach fort. He’d gone out early with her to train for her races. He’d baked cookies with Celeste, built sand castles on this very beach with Natalie. His laughter had once been the soundtrack of their lives and his affection for all of them had been a treasure, a foundation to rely on.

Until.

Death changed everyone and everything eventually.

Roni hoped her sisters would forgive her more quickly if their dad replied with the information they needed. Taking her time, she drafted an email and then read it one last time, her pulse thundering in her ears.

Hey Dad,

I know you don’t always check your email, so I’m sending you texts and leaving voice mails too. I respect your request for space. But we’re up against it here on Brookwell. The Hideaway is under attack. A developer named Indigo Reef has bought lots next door and they are trying to push us out. Somehow, they’ve produced a new county plat map that shifts our boundary line thirty feet west, claiming the maritime forest as theirs along with half of our beach.

I remember you talking about “in perpetuity” as part of the deal when you bought this land and the original house. You said it was on the deed and you told us it meant the beach was ours forever, to use and enjoy, but also to take care of.

Dad, I’m trying to do exactly that. We’re all trying to take care of not just our business, but the land we care about.

When I was a kid, I watched you at the roll-top desk in the library, sliding a faded red ribbon around a big yellowed piece of rolled up paper. You said it was the original historic survey. Do you still have it? I’ve looked all through the house here and I can’t find it. And do you have the original architectural stamps from the rebuild? If those historical “in perpetuity” beach access documents exist, they would trump the fake report the developer intends to use against us.

Please, Dad. For Mom’s memory. For all of the memories we shared here, help us out.

Love you, Roni.

Yeah. That was solid.

She clicked Send and hoped like crazy he’d come through for them.

The tension in her shoulders didn’t let up, but as she closed her laptop, she felt a quiet spark of determination. She’d made her best play. She had to believe he would respond, that he’d come through for them before Indigo Reef did something stupid-aggressive and potentially irreversible.

“Roni!” Brayden called to her from the kitchen. “Did you see the weather alert?”

“One second.” She pulled up the report on her phone, trying to read it while she changed out of her work clothes in favor of her cutoff shorts and a tank top. Apparently, what she’d expected to be a typical summer thunderstorm had gained steam.

“We need to get the outdoor cushions in,” she said as she dashed into the kitchen.

“Already done.” Brayden turned from the glass slider where he’d been watching the storm roiling on the horizon. His broad shoulders were silhouetted against a sky growing darker by the second.

“All the lightweight stuff is stashed under the deck.”

“Well, aren’t you the best ever?”

She meant it. He’d always come through for her, rain or shine. Even when he couldn’t be close in person, he’d never let them lose contact. His return to the island had felt like a reunion with a brand-new uncomfortable attraction mixed in. But the fact was, he’d been her rock, her anchor, for over half her life.

The awareness stole her breath. She simultaneously wanted to throw herself at him and run away. A not-so-small part of her heart was ready to tell him she loved him too. She just hadn’t known it. Or been brave enough to face it.

“I am,” he agreed with a sharp, sexy grin. “You saw the upgraded storm warning?”

She nodded, not quite capable of speech yet. Part of her was too consumed with him and the way her feelings were shifting. Fast. Not unlike the storm coming ashore.

Brayden pointed toward the tablet, where the radar was showing the storm’s progress. “They’re calling for gusts over sixty miles per hour and a potential for flash floods. What about the chairs by the fire pit?”

His question yanked her out of her reverie and back into the urgency of the moment. “We stash them in the shed.” Lightning streaked through the clouds, thunder booming almost immediately. She grabbed the keys and shoved her feet into her sneakers. “Let’s go.”

They hurried outside. The leading edge of the rain wasn’t gentle, not in this wind. She would’ve sworn she felt the sting of each drop against her skin. She was soaked in seconds, but they wouldn’t be out here for long. And a hot shower and dry clothes were waiting inside.

“The ocean is in a mood,” she observed. While Brayden locked the shed, she watched the churning, white-capped sea. With everything stirred up, the water looked like boiling metal. The wind was already howling through the oaks while the pine trees swayed and wisps of Spanish moss drifted through the air.

“An understatement.” Brayden looped an arm over her shoulders as they made a dash for the house, going in through the kitchen slider.

Toeing off her soaked shoes, Roni went to the closet and pulled out beach towels for them to dry off. “I really hope this doesn’t wreck our plans for the dance club. Natalie sent me a text that a bunch of folks were excited to come, not to mention Abigail and her family. It would be good for her.”