Coming Home to Seashell Harbor (Seashell Harbor #1) - Miranda Liasson Page 0,77
a memory hit her. A big, intimate one. The first time they’d made love. They’d played hooky all right, leaving their high school graduation celebration early, bringing blankets to the beach. They were ecstatic about graduating but all they wanted was each other. The surf was sounding its gentle roll and the moon was a big bright crescent above them and his face…his face above her…his sweet, precious face. And he’d whispered to her, Are you sure, Had?
And she’d said, I’ll never be more sure.
And he’d said I love you. And then—
She was suddenly choked up and badly in need of air. Worse, she realized that he’d stepped out into the hallway to make a call.
She rotated the ring on her finger. She was falling for him all over again. Yes, she was afraid. To trust herself after being hurt. To start something when they had so much unresolved between them about the future of her grandmother’s building. Not to mention all the uncertainties about her own future.
Maybe she didn’t have all the answers. But maybe she could let herself…take a chance. Take a trip down memory lane with him to a time when she was really happy.
It was only an afternoon, right?
“We’re all set,” he said, pocketing his phone as he walked back in. “I’m going to drop us off at home and then I’ll pick you up in a half hour. Dress for the beach.”
“Okay, let’s do it,” she said, sweeping scattered papers into the box. She realized that for the first time in a long time she was…excited. To go to the beach. And to be with him. She looked up at his handsome face and smiled. “Let’s get out of here.”
Chapter 20
Cam sat behind the wheel of his ’65 Mustang convertible, watching Hadley toss a beach bag into the back seat and climb in. She looked pretty as a picture wearing a white swimsuit cover-up, a floppy sun hat, and a big smile.
One afternoon. He had that much time to show her that they were the same people they used to be when they weren’t standing on opposite sides of a fence.
He needed to do it, for reasons that he didn’t fully understand. But it had something to do with Nick and lost opportunities and not letting the best relationship of his life go.
Plus other things Nick had said were worrying him. Cam had made success his all-time goal.…He needed to be the best at everything he did. Was he still really struggling to prove his worth, even though their mother was long gone? Who exactly was he trying to prove himself to?
Hadley was shaking her head.
“What? What is it?” He hadn’t even had a chance to put his foot in his mouth yet.
“Of course you’d buy a red sports car,” she said, the corner of her mouth tipping up in a smile.
“Well, it beats that red Chevy Astro I had back in high school, right?” Before he could stop himself, he reached over and rubbed a little blob of sunscreen off her nose. He was pleased her breath hitched at his touch. If she was feeling the same things he was feeling, he intended to find out. Today.
“I wouldn’t call that old Astro red exactly,” she said. “Unless you’re defining rust as red?”
“Ha!” he said. “Those were the days.”
The soft expression in her eyes melted him. “We had fun times,” she said.
He dropped a hand from the wheel and it accidentally grazed hers. He met her gaze again. “Especially the times we played hooky.”
“We only did that a few times,” she said.
“Because you wouldn’t skip class.”
“You talked me into it,” she said, “and we both got detention.”
“It was worth it.” He suppressed a grin. “Buying T-shirts on the boardwalk was fun.”
She punched him in the arm. “I don’t remember anything else we did.” But she was smiling.
He wanted her to remember. And from what he was going to show her today, she’d remember even more.
“So where are we going in this flashy car?” she asked.
“Somewhere you’ll like.” In answer to her puzzled expression, he impulsively reached down and squeezed her hand. He couldn’t stop himself. And…it just seemed right. To him. But to her?
She glanced down at their hands, then up at him. “Okay,” she said softly. “You’re in charge of the afternoon.”
“Is the car too flashy for you?” Most women fawned more over his car than over him. But not Hadley. She was about to give him grief about it, he could tell.