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Sara’s heart ached for her sister. And she hated that Cari thought she had to go through all of this by herself.
Sara leaned against the wall before sinking down to the floor. “But I don’t understand. It seemed like you and Kent were together most of that summer.”
Cari sighed. “At first, he’d stop by to check on me. He wanted me to tell people, but I refused. So, he finally talked me into going to see a counselor. It was the best thing for me.”
Wow. So Kent was actually a hero. The news was such a welcome relief, but then she thought back to how she’d treated him after he’d supposedly dumped her sister. It wasn’t right of her. She owed him a really big apology.
“And then when he noticed I was spending all of my time in the house because I wasn’t comfortable going out in public alone, even on the island, he escorted me. He was super great to me. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay him. If it wasn’t for him, I never would have been able to travel to Malaysia and work here.”
Her sister’s explanation answered so many questions in Sara’s mind. “But what about your big breakup? If you weren’t dating, how could you break up? I’m confused.”
“I knew Kent liked someone, but he wouldn’t ask them out because he was spending all of his time with me. I finally felt confident enough to go it alone. When I told him that, he asked what we were going to tell people. And since the rumor mill in Bluestar had already jumped to the conclusion that we were dating, we decided to let them jump to the conclusion that we’d broken up.”
“You never liked him that way?” The breath caught in Sara’s lungs as she awaited her sister’s answer.
“No. Not at all. He was a great friend when I needed one.” There was a pause while Sara absorbed this information, and then Cari said, “You like him, don’t you?”
“No.” The answer came out too fast and too emphatically. She inwardly groaned. It didn’t even sound truthful to her own ears.
“Uh-huh.”
She could envision her sister wearing a sure-you-don’t smile. “Stop.”
“What? I’m not doing anything.”
“You’re grinning. I know it.”
Her sister let out a laugh. It was so good to hear that after the emotional conversation. Her sister had gone through something horrible, but thanks to Kent being her friend and helping her, Cari was doing all right.
“You know it’s all right if you want to date Kent,” Cari said with all sincerity.
Just then she heard a noise behind her. She turned around and found Kent returning with the supplies he’d gone to get in town. He went to say something but must have seen the phone in her hand because he wordlessly closed his mouth and went about putting the new supplies with the others.
“Thanks.” Sara got to her feet. “I’ve got to run. I love you.”
“Love you too.”
She slipped the phone into her pocket. Thank goodness he hadn’t returned any sooner and overheard any of the conversation. She didn’t want him to know they’d been talking about him or that the subject of her dating him had come up.
She owed him a big apology for being such a jerk to him in the past. She thought of just going up to him and uttering “I’m sorry,” but she didn’t think that was sufficient. She’d give it some more thought.
Chapter Eleven
Somethingwasdifferent.
Kent couldn’t put his finger on what had changed with Sara, but something definitely had. He paused from where he was putting in the last bit of flooring. He heard something. For a moment, he couldn’t make it out, but then he realized it was Sara, and she was humming. He didn’t think he’d ever heard her hum before.
He didn’t know what had put her in such a good mood, but he hoped it continued. He glanced over at her just as she looked in his direction. Their gazes connected and held longer than they should have.
His heart thumped. He was drawn to her in a way that he’d never been drawn to another person. It went beyond her silky black hair, which he longed to comb his fingers through, or her honey-brown eyes, which he could get lost in. Her beauty started so much deeper with her kind heart and her thoughtfulness, and it radiated outward.
And yet he knew he couldn’t let himself get close to her. It was hard enough moving away from the island with most of his family here, but to get involved with her at this point would make leaving nearly impossible. And he wasn’t ready to settle with life the way it was with no say at the store and being constantly vetoed by his ever-cautious parents.
He had to break out of this routine he’d let himself get drawn into when his parents told him that he’d be their partner and have a say in the business. He’d since learned that he didn’t think his parents ever intended to retire. They loved going to the store each day and talking with the townspeople. It was more of a social circle for them than a business. And they didn’t want any of it to change. And that was fine. It was their business. He truly wanted to see them happy. It was just that he also wanted to find his own happiness.
The reminder of his situation had him looking away. No matter how attractive he found Sara or how much he might like to spend more time with her, when this job was over, they would go their separate ways. Not that they could go that far from each other on this small island, but they wouldn’t be spending hours together each day.
With that thought in mind, he worked faster. The sooner the job was finished, the sooner the temptation would lessen. The rubber mallet he was using to fit the flooring in snugly missed and hit him instead.
