Finding Love in Forgotten Cove (Island County Series Book 1) Read online

  Bethany chuckled and sat back in her chair. “So before you even look in the direction of a male, you’re going to slash ten items off your list.” Her brow arched as she waited for a response. “Seems a little excessive.”

  “I’ve already done the math and I know what you’re thinking. But I’m tired. I’m worn out actually, and it’s all because of what Tanner put me through. I’m not going to subject myself to that again. I can’t stomach the thought or I won’t even have enough energy to go to the grocery store, let alone climb Mt. Rainier.”

  “Seriously?” Bethany asked. “What number is that on your list?”

  “Nine. But it’s in no particular order and seriously what?”

  “You have climbing Mt. Rainier on your list?”

  “It’s not that big of a deal.” I nodded. “They have tours.”

  Bethany took a sip of a cucumber martini as she eyed me cautiously. I knew there were some things rolling around in that mind of hers, and it had me worried. We’d known each other since fifth grade, and because of that, she often had a pretty good sense of what I was trying to either hide or get away with.

  “You’ve been through a lot, Tori, in a really short amount of time. I know what Tanner did was horrendous, and he should be at the bottom of the Atlantic with the engagement ring…” her voice trailed off, and I smiled and stifled an evil chuckle. I loved having Bethany in my life. She was the main reason I felt I could get through the summer.

  “But I think you’re not giving yourself time to mourn and I’m not talking about Tanner. You lost your father. I think you’re wrong about what has worn you out, what has exhausted you beyond reason, and I doubt it has anything to do with your ex.”

  I took a sip of my ice tea and decided I needed something stronger. Without having to say a word, Bethany waved our server over. I ordered a watermelon martini and wanted to kiss the server when she carded me. It hadn’t happened lately and it had started to make me nervous. When the server left, I glanced out toward the harbor and watched a couple paddleboarding. The guy was struggling to stay upright, a feeling I’d been recently experiencing on completely stable ground, and I knew on some level Bethany was probably right. It wasn’t totally Tanner who ruined my world. It was the death of my father that made it hard to get out of bed some mornings.

  “I’m an emotional wreck. It wouldn’t be fair of me to get involved with someone when I have no intentions of being in a relationship. At least the bucket list buys me time and I need a lot of it before…” I stopped when I spotted Tessa walking onto the patio, looking for us.

  “Before what?” Bethany asked, following my gaze.

  “Before I let myself live again. I’m just not ready. One step at a time, and the first step is to get the house in order.” I stood up and so did Bethany as Tessa approached our table.

  I did a quick introduction and Tessa took the seat next to me.

  “I’m surprised I haven’t seen you around Fireweed Island before and I know I’d remember you. You’re absolutely gorgeous,” Tessa told Bethany.

  I looked at Bethany and smiled. She was gorgeous. Her raven hair was swept back in a loose braid and her piercing green eyes against her porcelain skin were beyond striking. She would be impossible to forget.

  “I recently moved back. I lived here until eighth grade with my family. It wasn’t until I finished school and started practicing that I knew I had to come back.”

  “Well, that would explain things. It’s nice to get some new blood on the island. I was so excited when Tori arrived on campus. Not that I don’t love almost everyone on the island, but you can only hear the same stories for so long.”

  The server came over and took Tessa’s drink order, and we each ordered the fries and nothing else.

  “How long have you lived on the island?” I knew she hadn’t grown up here or I would have known her. There was one elementary, one middle school and one high school on the island and we were close to the same age.

  “I’ve been here for seven years this summer. I actually followed my ex-fiancé here so that he could teach PE. He was having horrible luck trying to find a position in the city and jumped at the chance to teach over here. Needless to say, I fell in love with the island and out of love with him.”

  “That’s too bad,” I said, taking a sip of my drink.

  “No. It was a wonderful revelation. He hated being over here, and once we were forced to spend time together morning, noon, and night because there was no real place to go, I realized what a creep he was.”

  “Is he still here?” I asked.

  “No. He finally got the experience he needed for his resume and went back to the city. It worked perfectly because I was pretty chicken shit.”

  I choked on my drink with her honesty and cleared out my throat.

  “It’s true. I didn’t want to deal with the whole messy break up so when he wanted off the island I just didn’t follow him.”

  “When was that?”

  “Five years ago. The moment he and the moving truck got on the ferry, my existence became pure bliss. It was so freeing.”

  “Must have been bad,” Bethany said.

  “It was. We fought like cats and dogs. He hated it here and couldn’t understand why I loved it so much. I think I fell in love with the island because the island gave me the freedom I didn’t know I wanted.”

  “That’s interesting,” Bethany mused as she eyed me. “I’m trying to convince Tori to stay past the summer.”

  I shook my head so fast, I almost got whiplash. “Not gonna happen. I love my little apartment back east and all my things are there.”

  “So tell me what you know about this handyman…” Bethany asked Tessa.

  “He’s not a handyman. He owns a construction company with his father,” I blurted out.

  Tessa’s grin widened. “So he’s cast the spell on you too.”

  “No. Not at all. He’s just going to be doing some work for me on my father’s place so I know his credentials.”

  “So tell me about this spell of his,” Bethany continued. “Is it wide-reaching? Is he a player?”

  I tried kicking Bethany, but I missed and wound up hitting the table leg, almost knocking over our drinks.

  “Sore subject?” Tessa laughed.

  “No subject at all.” I took a sip of my ice tea instead of the martini so I could keep on my toes around these two. I needed all my bearings. But I secretly wanted to know the answer. I mean Tessa was beautiful, confident, and smart so I’d imagine if she showed interest, it would be a done deal.

  Tessa turned her attention back to Bethany. “We may all ogle, but he’s never once made a move on any of us. Ever. It’s kind of disappointing.” Her brows furrowed as she thought about it deeper.

  “Could he be—” Tessa began.

  “No way,” I spurted out.

  “Well, someone who doesn’t have any interest in the subject certainly has a lot to say about it or him.” Bethany smirked. “But, I happen to know he’s not as well.”

  “How do you know?” I asked.

  “Because I saw the way he looked at you.”

  “Lucky woman. When was this?”

  “It’s not in the cards so I’m not that lucky. He happened to be over at my house giving me a quote on the work that needs to be done.”

  “She’s apparently written off men… Wants to climb Mount Rainier and jump out of a plane first,” Bethany interjected, only to rub salt in the wound.

  “I didn’t tell you about the plane.”

  Bethany rolled her eyes. “Please, I’m sure it’s on the majority of the lists out there.”

  “You have a bucket list? How old are you? Ninety?” Tessa teased.

  I let out an exasperated sigh but couldn’t hide my smile. “I get the message loud and clear, but I’m still keeping my bucket list up-to-date. And I think I’ll add ‘find some friends who understand bucket lists’ to the top.”

  Our server delivered three heaping plates of chili fri
es, and my stomach growled so loudly, a man sitting at the table next to ours, smiled and waved as his friend yelled, “Impressive.”

  I waved back and couldn’t believe how quickly the familiarity of this place reentered my very being.

  “Madeline, the owner of Mudflat, wanted me to tell you these are on the house and welcome home,” our server said as she set the last plate down. “The deal is still on.”

  “She’s still the owner?” I asked as my stomach clenched with the realization I really was home.

  “She won’t give this place up. Ever. But her daughter’s been taking over a lot of the day-to-day activities. You just happened to come in on Madeline’s day.”

  “Please give her my thanks. That’s so kind of her, but she doesn’t have to continue…”

  “Maddie said you’d say that and she wanted me to tell you a deal is a deal.” The server turned around and went on to the table behind us.

  “What’s that all about?” Tessa asked. “How in the world did you manage to get a lifetime supply of the best food on the planet?”

  I flipped my palm around to reveal the nasty scar.

  “Eeek,” Tessa cringed.

  “I was running my hand along the wood out front and a huge piece jammed right into my palm.”

  “Wow. I’m surprised you wanted to return to the scene of the crime,” Tessa said, scooping up one of the sinful fries.

  “It would take a lot more than that to get me to stay away,” I said, taking a bite of the french fries. They were even better than I remembered.

  “So back to business,” Bethany said. “How do we get Tori to stay?”

  “I love you for wanting me to hang around a bit longer, but it’s not in the cards. I’ve got my whole life back home.”

  “And where’s that again?” Tessa asked.

  “Upstate New York. In a town called Skaneateles.”

  “That’s a tough one to say,” Tessa said.

  “Why don’t you tell her how you landed in Skaneateles?” Bethany said.

  “Nah. No need.” I waved at her in a shush motion.

  “It might give her a general feeling of who you are, fairly quickly.”

  “How so?” I questioned.

  “You’re a hopeless romantic who thinks she’s not, and you’ve dotted your life with metaphor and meaning based off of—”

  “Fine,” I cut her off before she had a chance to really do damage.

  “Skaneateles is a Iroquois word which means long lake.” That was it. That was all I needed to say.

  Tessa leaned in on her elbows toward Bethany and whispered, “That tells me nothing.”

  “It would do that to most people.” Bethany turned to me. “Keep going.”

  “Fine. Whatever. Have it your way. I just didn’t feel like embarrassing myself this afternoon.”

  “I think your stomach already did that for you,” Tessa piped up, grinning.

  I playfully scowled. “Whose side are you on anyway?”

  “Don’t know yet.”

  “I knew I liked Tessa,” Bethany chuckled. “Now spit it out, Tori.”

  “I was in love with Daniel Day Lewis. The Daniel Day Lewis from The Last of the Mohicans not necessarily anything else.”

  “Still not following…” Tessa took another bite of the fries.

  “I loved everything to do with The Last of the Mohicans, and before I decided to move from home, that movie had been one of my escapes. So when I picked a place, I wanted it to have meaning.”

  My cheeks warmed at the realization that Bethany knew me more than I knew myself. I never really analyzed much about why I chose Skaneateles. But both my sister and I loved that movie more than any other. Everything about it made us swoon and tear up. We binge watched it on our DVD player before binge watching was a thing, and Bethany had known all along why I needed to be there.

  “Anyway, I chose Skaneateles because it was a beautiful name with a beautiful town that had a connection with a movie I loved growing up.”

  Tessa looked at me blankly and Bethany came to the rescue. I assumed everyone knew the story line of The Last of the Mohicans.

  “The Iroquois were one of the tribes that played a central part in the story.” Bethany filled her in.

  “There was a particularly brutal moment when the Iroquois attacked a central figure. I don’t want to give anything away in the story, but that’s how I came upon Skaneateles. The ironic part is that I loved Daniel Day Lewis and his character was based on an Eastern Algonquin tribe, the Mohicans or Mahicans, so I’m not sure why I didn’t find a town connected more to his character, but whatever. I loved the name Skaneateles,” I added, and that was when it hit me what a big nerd I was…that and the expression on Tessa’s face.

  “Wow. That is an impressive way to choose a place to live. I don’t think I’ve heard of something quite like that before.”

  “It runs in the family,” I assured her.

  “I think something like that would have to.” She smiled, and I was grateful she didn’t press. I didn’t feel like revealing how my parents came to live on Fireweed Island. “You know what I think?”

  “What?”

  “I think you should find someone who would check off your bucket list with you. I know I haven’t known you for that long, but it seems like a good idea. You’re definitely a romantic.”

  “You said yourself how freeing it was to be single,” I countered.

  Tessa shook her head. “It was freeing to be away from him, but I’m not averse to finding someone. He just wasn’t the right someone.”

  I shrugged my shoulders as my phone rang. “We’ll see. But I’m not a romantic. Not any longer.”

  I pulled my cell phone out of my purse and saw that it was Mason. My heart sank at the thought of him canceling.

  “I’ll be right back. I need to get this.” I slid the phone on and left the table.

  “Hello?” I whispered, as I walked down the stairs to the pier.

  “Victoria, It’s Mason. Sorry to bother you. But something’s really been eating at me and I had to get it off my chest. I wasn’t completely honest about things.”

  “About what?” My mouth went dry. I should’ve known there was a catch. There was always a catch. I let my guard down and shame on me.

  “You know how you said everything had a price?”

  I nodded to myself but didn’t say a word as my heart raced wildly.

  He took a deep breath in and continued, “I wanted to be clear about what I expect in return.”.

  I paced back and forth at a speed my legs weren’t accustomed to, and the burn spread into my quads as I waited for Mason to show up at my house. He refused to tell me what his expectations were over the phone and to say my imagination ran wild would be an understatement. There was a part of me that was intrigued and another part that was completely disappointed in my lack of self-control and judgment.

  I heard his truck turn down the driveway and looked out from behind the drapes and backed away from the front window, slowly letting the linen curtains glide back into place. I looked around the entry and my heart filled with unexpected delight. The white bench that sat under the banister looked extra inviting and the small rustic pine table next to it called for a floral arrangement. The soft blue on the walls reminded me of a cloudburst and complimented the well-worn wood floors. A natural, woven rug would be perfect in this area. A small twinge of guilt crept in as I thought about putting the home on the market so quickly after my father’s death. A double knock at the front door threw me out of my rabbit hole of scrutiny, and I gladly opened it to see Mason.

  Even though I was skeptical of Mason’s true intentions, my heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. Seeing him standing in front of me wearing a green, long-sleeve thermal and a pair of slouchy jeans made the flitter-flutter come back, and I wasn’t completely prepared for the sensation. It was impossible not to notice the definition beneath the fabric of his shirt. He cleared his throat and my eyes flashed to meet his
and I knew I’d been caught.

  Again.

  “Come on in,” I said, forcing the blush away.

  The storm door smacked its way shut after Mason stepped through the door and he laughed.

  “Forgot about that one.” He closed the door and followed me into the kitchen. “I might be here morning, noon, and night.”

  If there was a God, yes!

  “Do you want a beer, tea, water?” I asked, sliding the last thought out of my mind.

  “No. I’m fine right now. Once I get to work, maybe I’ll change my mind.”

  My hand shot up and fluttered at him as I shook my head. “After that last phone call, I’m not so sure about you. There might not be any work you have to do.”

  His grin widened and his blue eyes sparkled as the mystery of his intentions filled the room. He took a step closer toward me, and I swear I felt a charge run between the two of us, but that just wasn’t how it worked in the real world.

  Or was it? Had I missed out all these years?

  Instead of opening my heart up, I crossed my arms in front of my chest and raised a brow. “So what is it that you expect from me? I knew it was too good to be true, you know. I mentioned that if I remember correctly.”

  I wanted to keep things as light as possible because at this point, I was extremely confused.

  Mason’s eyes fastened on mine, and he shook his head. I noticed a subtle flex along his jawline, and my entire body responded to the strength of his gaze. He reached for my hands, and I surprisingly found myself unfolding my arms and giving them to him. He cupped both of them in one of his and pulled me into the family room.

  Silence sat between us as my mind ran through all the possible strings he wanted to attach to this deal. Did he want payments later or a portion of the sale? Or was it personal? Was there more that he wanted from me? I pushed away the last thought and hid my embarrassment. The chances that his intentions were sexual were slim to none, and the fact that I was standing here daydreaming about the possibility made me want to jump off the cliff.

  Mason freed my hands and took a deep breath in as he gazed out the large window. He stood quietly for several minutes taking in the beautiful view of the sound. Three sailboats dotted the water, and even I had to admire how special this place was, even in its dilapidated state.