Summer on Lovers' Island (Jewell Cove 3)

He didn’t know what to say. Everyone was milling around and he really wanted to respond, but now wasn’t the time or place. He should have realized that Summer had to feel the pressure to pair them up, too. It was fairly obvious. Before he could change his mind, he found himself asking her out.

“Listen, do you want to grab a bite or go for a walk or something … sometime?” Boy, he sounded like an idiot. “It’d probably be better to talk without an audience.”

She leaned a little bit forward. “That’d be nice,” she agreed. “And definitely better than dancing around the topic. I work at the café until seven tomorrow, but I’m free after that.”

“Sounds good. I’ll pick you up there.” He stood back and raised his voice slightly. “Thanks, Summer.”

“Anytime.” She smiled and moved on to the next customer while Josh took his banana split and plastic spoon and headed toward the picnic table where the rest of the family was waiting. Had he seriously just asked her on a date? This could be the perfect way to get people to leave him alone. Or it could just backfire in a big way. God, women were complicated—and that included his sisters and mother.

The kids finished their sundaes in record time and decided to go look for jellyfish beside the wharf. The adults sat around the picnic table, chatting in the soft summer evening. The conversation all centered around Jess’s progressing pregnancy, what Sarah’s kids were doing over the summer, and Mark’s “vacation” now that school was out for the year and he and Sarah could take the kids on day trips. Josh felt spectacularly left out, though he knew it was unintentional. These were their lives. He had his. If things had been different, he and Erin might have been here now, with a kid or two, talking about the same things. It certainly wasn’t Jess’s or Sarah’s fault and Josh certainly didn’t begrudge them a bit of their happiness.

The simple truth was that Erin hadn’t wanted his babies and their marriage hadn’t been a strong one to begin with. Everyone in Jewell Cove thought it was his grief over her death that kept him from exploring a new relationship, and he didn’t bother to disabuse them of that notion.

He simply refused to enter into a relationship that didn’t have a strong foundation. Things had to click from the get-go. They had to want the same things, have the same values and … well, whatever it was that made perfect couples mesh. That magical, special something that said someone was The One.

Erin hadn’t been his One. He’d known it and ignored it and he would never, ever do that again. He wouldn’t—couldn’t—settle.

He wanted a partner. Someone as committed to him as he would be to her. There had to be love and desire and trust and a best friend. The kind of partners his sisters had found, he realized. His cousin, too. They’d been incredibly lucky, he realized. It was a lot to ask of one person.

“Josh, how’s Dr. Howard making out?” Sarah was the first to pose the question, and he pushed his thoughts aside.

“Fine. More than fine, actually. She’s very professional, efficient, and sharp.” He shrugged a little. “Truth be told, her talents are probably a little wasted here in Jewell Cove. But Charlie was right on. She’s a great doctor.”

“Pretty, too,” Rick said, earning him an elbow from Jess. “What? I still have eyes, you know.” He sent his wife a soft smile. “Besides, no one is as pretty as my wife.”

Sarah made gagging noises that made everyone laugh.

“So what’s she doing here, then? If she’s such a hotshot?”

Josh considered what to say. Lizzie had confided in him a bit, but it wasn’t his story to tell, not at all. Her reasons were private, so he merely responded, “Charlie’s her best friend. And hell, it’d be silly to pass up the opportunity for a paid summer in Jewell Cove, wouldn’t it?”

That seemed to appease them for the moment, but not for long. Sarah leaned against Mark’s shoulder when her banana split was gone and studied Josh with an affectionate expression softening her face. “Josh honey, really, isn’t it time you started dating again? You’re a real catch, you know. Not that many handsome doctors around. And you can’t be alone forever.”

Would the woman never let up? He chuckled, though it felt forced. “Seriously, Sarah, can’t you focus on something more important than my love life?”

“Come on, Josh,” Jess teased. “When was the last time you got laid?”

“Jessica!” Meggie interrupted, but when Josh looked at his mother her lips were twisted as if she was trying not to laugh.

“I haven’t forgotten how, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I’m not listening, na na na na.…” Meggie covered her ears, but her eyes twinkled.

“Leave the guy alone,” Rick stood up for Josh. “He’ll get around to it. Sometime before he’s eighty.”

“Et tu, Brute?” Josh remarked, sending Rick a sideways glare. What the hell, he thought. Maybe letting the cat out of the bag would get them off his case. “For your limited information, I’m meeting Summer after she’s done work tomorrow night. So get off my back, all right?”

The teasing continued until even Josh had to laugh. Was he prepared or did he need to go to the drugstore, be home by midnight … it went on and on. He took it because he knew it all came from a place of love. They just wanted to see him happy.

“Okay, you hooligans,” he joked, getting up from the table. “I still have to work tomorrow. Time to head home.”

“Wow, you’re going to be a fun date tomorrow. Home by nine! Grampie needs his beauty sleep!”

Jess was on a roll tonight. It was good to see her come out of her shell more and more, a definite by-product of her happiness with Rick after her previous ordeal. “What can I say?” Josh replied, patting his hair and sucking in his cheeks. “I’m not just another pretty face.”

Everyone was laughing when he walked away, and when he glanced at the Dairy Shack Summer met his gaze and gave a little wave.

He really didn’t feel like heading home, though. The air was fresh and the waves were calling, so he drove down to Fiddler’s Beach, parked the truck, and decided to take a walk on the sand. This time of night there were only a few stragglers left, sitting around little bonfires on the beach, steaming clams and having a few drinks. A dog from one of the houses above the stretch of sand came galloping over and Josh paused to pat him, grinning at the tongue lolling out and the excited wiggle of the dog’s butt as he wagged his tail.