town during low season. I loved walking along the quiet beach at sunset. Yeah, it was breezy, but I liked the wind whipping around my legs. And I loved the feel of the cold, wet, mushy sand sinking beneath my feet and squishing between my toes.
To avoid being whipped in the face by my own hair, I’d piled the mass of blond waves onto the top of my head, and I held my oversized sweater closed with my arms wrapped around myself.
Usually I was content here. But for a while now, I’d felt a disquiet. A dissatisfaction I didn’t understand, considering mine was a pretty good life.
Not to mention the events in town lately were more than a little unsettling.
Even though I shouldn’t be, even though he’d hurt me, I was worried about Jack.
We’d all known that Deputy Freddie Jackson was a bad egg. He used his position as a police officer to intimidate people, specifically for the Devlin family.
Yes, Jack had hurt me. Yet that didn’t change the fact that his eldest brother had just been murdered by Freddie Jackson.
I wondered how Jack was feeling. He didn’t get along with his brother. He’d laid him out a few times in the past. He’d helped trap Jack into a life he didn’t want. There were moments when I’m sure Jack hated his brother. But Stu was his brother.
And he’d been murdered.
I couldn’t even imagine the mess Jack’s emotions were right now.
My chest felt tight with pain for him.
And suddenly he was there.
Catching sight of the lone figure standing on the beach, staring out at the ocean, my steps faltered. He was wearing running clothes, including a hoodie with the hood up, and yet I knew it was him.
I’d know Jack anywhere.
The closer I got, the clearer his profile got, his face peeking out from his hood.
Tall, lean but muscular, it didn’t matter what Jack wore, he wore it well. He was just that guy that made clothes look great. Even jogging pants and a hoodie.
If it had been anyone else, I’d have chickened out and walked away. But Jack Devlin gave me the courage to push through my insecurities. He always had. And even though it had led to the kind of hurt I’d been avoiding the last nine years, I slowed to a stop at his side.
He barely turned his head. Just flicked me a look. If he was surprised by my approach, he didn’t say anything.
The turmoil in those blue-gray eyes devastated me.
Jack looked back out at the water and I turned, my hand almost brushing his to gaze out at the ocean too. I heard his breath shudder a little and fought the urge to throw my arms around him.
I couldn’t give him that. But I could give him this.
I stood with him, watching the sun lower beyond the horizon.
Time passed.
Until there was only a flare of orange and pink where the sea met the sky.
Gathering my courage, I reached for Jack’s hand and clasped it in mine.
He squeezed my hand.
Tight. So tight.
I waited for him to let go.
He took awhile.
But eventually his grip eased.
I brushed my thumb along the top of his hand.
And then I released him.
I knew I didn’t imagine his eyes on my back as I strolled down the beach toward my house.
I always knew when Jack was watching me.
I always had.
15
Jack
Present day
Five minutes ago, the thing weighing most heavily on him was his selfish inability to leave Emery Saunders alone. He’d been doing well. He’d stuck it out and avoided her like she’d asked after he fucked up last summer. But ever since she’d approached him on the beach three months ago, to comfort him over Stu’s murder, it had been a daily battle to stay away from her.
Jack was pissed at himself for going to her store and unfairly pissed at her for her coldness.
Now, for the first time in a long time, Emery had been shoved to the back of his mind.
Ian had allowed Rebecca to return home for Stu’s funeral, but then he’d sent her right back to England. If Jack didn’t already hate the man who’d spawned him, he’d hate him for that. Anyone could see Rebecca was a shadow of who she used to be. Worried about her, Jack had kept in contact with her almost every day since she’d returned to London. And when she’d asked him to arrange her secretive return to Hartwell, Jack didn’t think twice. He did it.
Rebecca had been living in his house