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Rachel stopped reading and sighed. “Tell me that doesn’t get you,” she said to Skylar.
Carly glanced at her cousin. What would she think? Skylar had never been a Sealena fan, with her family’s history of feuding with the Wakefields over Sealena’s becoming the town’s mascot, and she knew her sensible, no-nonsense cousin wasn’t the romantic type.
Skylar shrugged. “The writing is great. Just not sure I’m buying the whole sea creature–human love story angle.”
Rachel sighed. “It’s a metaphor for forbidden love. You can’t read it for what it is. You have to dig deeper into the hidden messages of passion and desire and how it transcends all forms.”
Carly busied herself with stocking the shelf with more copies as her friend continued to explain to her cousin why she should give the novels a chance.
Good luck, Rachel. This is one person you will not convert.
“Okay, fine... I’ll read it,” Skylar said.
“What?” Carly’s mouth gaped. “You will?”
Skylar sighed. “Why not?” She reached toward the shelf and grabbed the first book—and the second.
Carly could think of one reason why not. One very good reason.
ACCORDINGTOEVERYTHINGOliver had read online the night before, Sebastian and the town were well within their rights to evict him from the lighthouse. Possession didn’t really hold up in this case, when the land and the lighthouse belonged to the community as historical landmarks. Oliver had spent hours, up well past midnight, researching the legalities of what Sebastian was presenting, and unfortunately, with the automation of the lighthouse procedures and Oliver’s position on the Coast Guard Aids to Navigation team being more of an honorary role, it didn’t appear he had a great case to argue.
He sighed as he uncovered the float platform in the shed. The base was ready to go and Carly was on her way to go over her design idea. His palms sweated slightly and he felt an odd stirring in his chest at the thought of seeing her.
This was ridiculous. It was Carly. His best friend. There was nothing to be worried about.
The day before had been...weird. After much tossing and turning, replaying it all in his mind , he’d come to the conclusion that he was just freaking out a little about the possibility that things could change.
His attraction to Carly had always been there, but now it was being amplified by testosterone-fueled male competition. He saw Sebastian as a threat to his current status—his home and his friendship with Carly were compromised.
That was all.
So why did his heart race and his mouth go dry seeing her enter the shed moments later?
Dressed in a pale yellow sundress and ballet flats, her long dark hair in her usual braid hanging over one shoulder, she practically glowed like a ray of sunshine.
Glowed like a ray of sunshine? Jesus. What the hell was wrong with him?
“Hey, looks good,” she said, nodding toward the float base.
She was avoiding eye contact. Did that mean she was annoyed about yesterday? Had the tension between him and Sebastian ruined her day?
He cleared his throat and tried to formulate an apology that didn’t sound too lame. Nothing surfaced. “Did you bring your design?” he asked instead. He wasn’t great with words. Especially ones from the heart—apologies, confessions of feelings... He was more an acts of service kind of guy. So, maybe he could show her he was sorry by being more involved with the float build that year.
“Yes, I did,” she said, reaching into what looked like a new purse and retrieving the plans. She approached the float base and rolled them out.
Oliver approached and the scent of her familiar perfume filled his senses. He loved that sweet, mild scent that was uniquely hers. He’d never admit it, but he’d spent almost an hour one day at the perfume counter trying to identify the smell when he was going to buy it for her for her birthday, but nothing was quite right.
“What do you think?” she asked in his silence.
“Wow, this is quite the elaborate design,” Oliver said, looking at the hand-drawn scale of the float Carly intended to build.
“I want to go big this year. We usually win the parade contest, but this year I want to really wow the crowd with the display, not just bring home the trophy. Tourism has taken a hit recently, and now that visitors are flocking back to town, I want to celebrate their return and show them their vacation to Port Serenity was worth the trip.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” Oliver said and paused. “Are you sure the store budget can accommodate the ambition, though?”
Carly refused to meet his gaze as she nodded. “It’ll be fine.”
“It’s also going to require some extra hands,” he said. “I’ll help.”
