Beach House Summer by Sarah Morgan

Author:Sarah Morgan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2022-07-12T02:25:50+00:00

15

Joanna

It felt strange to be back in Silver Point, walking along the pretty cobbled streets, gazing into shop windows, some familiar, some new. The old-fashioned candy store that Joanna had visited with her father had been replaced by a gallery, and there was a new coffee shop on the corner of Ocean Drive that hadn’t been there when she left. But much of it was the same. There was the gift shop with its quirky window displays. Frozen Flavor, the ice cream parlor that she and Mel had frequented every week, still there and with the line stretching out of the door. Martinello’s, the Italian bistro that had been in the same spot, run by the same family for three generations. People came and then fell in love with the area and stayed, and today it wasn’t hard to see why. The early-morning mist had cleared, the sun shone and colorful blooms billowed from pots and window boxes. It was fairy-tale pretty, but Joanna found it almost impossible to relax.

When Ashley paused to admire a pair of earrings in a window, Joanna checked over her shoulder. It was a habit that was hard to break, particularly knowing the story that was brewing.

They’d come. She knew they’d come. But that wasn’t the thought uppermost in her mind.

“Do you think the blue ones are pretty?” Ashley pointed at a pair of delicate earrings and Joanna tried to focus.

“Very pretty. You should have them.” Was Nate feeling unsettled, too? Had he felt the same way she had? It was unnerving to feel anything at all after twenty years. Why would that happen? Was it nostalgia? Memories?

It had surprised her to see him there, running the place. He’d had plans. Ambitions. A lust for travel. She hadn’t thought he’d end up running the family restaurant. She hadn’t thought the Surf Café and Silver Point would be enough. She’d been even more surprised to discover that Mel was working there, too. When she was young, she’d had other plans.

But wasn’t that true of all of them?

It was obvious now that Nate hadn’t told his twin sister anything about the ending of their relationship. And maybe that wasn’t such a surprise. Nate had always been protective of their relationship. I just want you to know, he’d told her once, that what happens between us is between us. I’d never talk about it with anyone. By “anyone,” he’d meant Mel, his twin, and Joanna had liked that because it had made what they had special. It meant that there was a part of Nate that was hers and no one else’s. But she could see now that by not being truthful about the breakup, he’d caused Mel pain.

“I’m going to look around first, in case I see something I like more. I have a strict budget, so I need to make sure I spend it well.” Ashley glanced at her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“You look a little freaked out. Are you stressing about someone seeing us and calling the press?”

“I’m not stressed.

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