Page 78 of Secret Sins

"I love you."

Stopping mid-reach, Bailey grinned at me. "I love you, too."

"And that's how I know my baby brother is taken care of properly."

Gasping, I spun at the sound of Beth's voice. Finding her standing in the doorway, pushing her sunglasses up onto her head, I closed the small distance between us faster than she could blink.

"Bethy." I lost myself for a second, crushing her against me in my eagerness. The bump between us protested, practically shoving me back a step.

"It's like a rubber ball; it only presses in so far before bouncing back."

I chuckled, so pleased to have her within my grasp. "Damn, you look good."

"Can't deny you look decent yourself." Standing back, she surveyed me from head to toe. "No longer scrawny, no haunted look in the eyes." Her gaze traveled over my shoulder. "All because of this one, no doubt."

"I'm Bailey." She stuck out her hand as she approached, and I watched them closely. Beth accepted the handshake but pulled Bailey in for a hug.

"Nice to put a face to a name."

Mike stepped around his wife. "Justin, good to see you."

My face twisted in a grimace. "Oh, um—"

"Right, sorry. Van." He frowned. "I've been practicing, too."

"No worries." Nobody but Bailey would understand if he called me that accidentally, but I'm sure they'd be confused.

Beth said, "Van, the hotel is lovely. Sure, your town is a bit antiquated"—she darted an apologetic look at Bailey—"but it's beautiful. The water is such a draw, I was tempted to stick my feet in the sand rather than come here."

"We can do that soon." Clearing my throat, I pushed my hand through my hair. "Do you want a tour of the shop?"

Bailey swept her hand out in a grand gesture. "Pretty much what you see is what you get. That's true for everything and everyone here."

"It's really great," Beth murmured, scanning the walls of shelving.

"And there's coffee and cookies, if you've a mind for it."

"You have to try both," I urged.

Once the awkwardness died down and everyone had tasted the refreshments—Beth swore she'd steal the secret to the coffee before she left—I felt more relaxed. The women seemed to like each other, thankfully, and Mike was pretty amiable all around. My worlds had collided with no crazy incidents.

"You're a hell of a lot closer to Canada than I realized," Mike commented.

Once, I'd even considered crossing the border, but that would have required me to give out my name, and that was unacceptable.

"Yeah, we used to take the ferry up for day trips when I was in high school."

I glanced at Bailey. "We?"

"Those my age."

I appreciated the way she didn't rub Jeremy in my face, but it must have been him. He was her high school sweetheart, after all. Funny thing about it, though, was that I wasn't jealous. We both had pasts, and there was simply no comparison between who was the sinner and who was the saint.

"Is there anything interesting to see?" Beth asked with genuine curiosity. "Is it worth going before we leave?"

She and Bailey got lost in conversation about tourist traps, so I wandered to the front doors. Taking a deep breath of briny air, I realized a few things.

I was happy. Beyond happy; I was content.