Summer on Lovers' Island (Jewell Cove 3)

She swallowed. “How’d you know?”

He chuckled as he selected a muffin from the assortment. “That’s Jewell Cove for you. Always there with a warm welcome and a helping hand.”

There was something in his voice that made her think he didn’t necessarily consider that a perk. “I think it’s a lovely gesture,” she answered.

“Hey,” he said, taking a bite of the muffin and chewing thoughtfully. He swallowed and frowned a little. “I obviously love this place. I grew up here. I moved back, right? But I’ll be the first to admit it can get a little too small and well-intentioned sometimes. “

Hmm. Curiouser and curiouser. “But you’re the town golden boy, aren’t you? I mean Charlie said—”

And then she stopped talking, rather abruptly, because she’d been about to say “after your wife died” and had realized how callous it would have sounded.

“Charlie said what?” One eyebrow lifted as he took another bite of muffin, catching a few crumbs in his hand.

She scrambled to come up with better words. “She just said that when you moved back, everyone was happy about it. That you belong here.”

His gaze sharpened, as if he was trying to puzzle her out. She wasn’t quite comfortable with the intensity of it. It made her feel rather transparent. A little bit naked.

“It can be a little claustrophobic at times. Very little privacy.”

She smiled at that. “Really? So you didn’t plan for your niece to have her checkup on my first day in the office?”

The answering grin he gave her made her catch her breath. It lit up his whole face, transforming it. He looked younger, despite the crinkles at the corners of his eyes. Lighter, less burdened.

“Suze is great, isn’t she? A real firecracker.”

“She asked if I had a boyfriend.” She wasn’t sure what prompted her to admit that, but Josh’s answering laugh made her glad she had.

“And do you?” he asked, and the smile slipped from her face. He put the nearly finished muffin on the countertop. “Bad question to ask?”

“It’s no biggie. I was seeing someone a few months back. It didn’t exactly end well.” She hoped Josh would leave it at that. How humiliating to admit that she’d been dating her boss. Particularly when she was talking to her new boss.

“Sorry,” he offered kindly. “That sucks.”

Truly, she felt way worse about the bigger situation in Springfield. The relationship had just been a casualty of that, really. No permanent damage. Not like that poor family—

“Elizabeth? You okay?”

He was looking at her with concern now, so she shook off the disturbing thoughts and smiled. “I’m fine. And call me ‘Lizzie.’ Please.”

“Lizzie,” he repeated, and their gazes caught once more.

CHAPTER 4

Josh loved the feel of the wind in his hair, the smell of the water, the taste of the salt on his lips. He loved pulling away from the dock in the morning, the vibration of the engine beneath his feet, sometimes in a secretive mist, sometimes to a bright-blue sky that somehow sharpened the lines of the rocks, cliffs, even the whitecaps on the waves. There was freedom in the openness that he craved. No orders to follow beyond his own. He could take the route he wanted, up the coast, out to the small islands, wherever the seals bathed in the sun, or out farther into the bay, searching for whales feeding. Being at the wheel, feeling the rise and fall of the swell beneath his feet, was just about as perfect as he could handle.

As he steered the Jewell’s Constant toward the slip, he wiped a hand over his face and pushed all his stress away. He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the brisk, salt-scented air. Focus on the positive, that’s what he needed to do. Live in the present. The afternoon had been a good one. The trip out of the bay had been smooth, and he’d encountered a pod of humpbacks after the first hour. Intrigued, he’d quietly adjusted his position and waited for the awesome moment when over thirty tons of mammal breached and splashed back into the water with incomparable force. He’d finished the trip by piloting around Aquteg Island, getting close enough to the south beach that he could see the seals, hear them grumbling bad-naturedly at each other. He and his cousins, Tom and Bryce, and best friend, Rick, had spent hours upon hours on the rock locals had dubbed Lovers’ Island, looking for the treasure rumored to have been buried there in the 1800s. They’d never found a thing, but Josh had good memories.

He enjoyed his life, and his level of contentment was one more thing he felt guilty about now and again. He was happier here than he’d ever been in Hartford. The life he’d planned with Erin was over. When it was all said and done, he’d wanted to be home. To have a small

practice, a little boat where he could get away, get lost in the vastness of the ocean. At least there he could breathe.

Once the Constant was secure, he hopped out onto the dock and gave a long, satisfying stretch. If he was honest, he wasn’t really grieving anymore. He could look back on the night the news had come and put it in perspective.

He remembered the slow footsteps, the hollow sound of them on the verandah, then the knock on the door. Not the doorbell. A fateful, heartless knock. He’d known what he would find on the other side before he ever put his hand on the doorknob. An officer. And a chaplain.

Josh had his whole life blown apart in the space of two minutes. There’d been shock, and anger, and more than a little guilt. But there was peace now. Particularly between himself and his cousin Tom.

Josh’s truck was parked in the wharf lot and he got inside, starting the engine with a growl. What he needed was some music, something upbeat to drive home to and shake away the doldrums. He flipped open the glove box and shoved his hand in, looking for a CD when a flash of pain shot through his hand.