Summer on Lovers' Island (Jewell Cove 3)

Of course. I’ll check in later at the office.

Not necessary.

She, too, added a smiley face, just as he had earlier.

Take a day off and spend it with your family. And give Jess and Rick my congrats.

And that was that.

He opened the door to Jess’s room, but no one noticed him there. Meggie was holding Liam now, and Sarah was getting Jess some water and a muffin from the bag. Abby and Tom were standing together, Tom with one arm looped around his wife’s waist, and Rick was sitting next to Jess, the picture of contentment. It was like everything fit into a perfect place and there was no room for Josh. He knew it wasn’t true. But it felt true. He was the odd one out.

Today he really wasn’t needed anywhere.

CHAPTER 15

After cabbing it to work, Lizzie spent the day keeping everything to a brutally efficient schedule. The last appointment of the day was slotted for three o’clock, and she managed to finish all the appointments by quarter to four and paperwork by four thirty, with a list of follow-up calls for Robin to make the next day and a stack of filing to go with it.

Lizzie had hit her second wind about 2:00 p.m. but now, with the work done, found herself at loose ends.

What she really wanted to do was drive to Josh’s house, go inside, strip all his clothes off, and continue what they’d begun last night.

And that would be a big mistake. Engaging in an affair was risky enough. But she didn’t have to be totally stupid about it. In the past Lizzie wouldn’t have cared, but it was a different situation with Josh. Until this past year, she’d always kept her work and social life distinctly separate. Neither interfered with the other and it worked perfectly. And then Ian had come along, and for the first time she’d blurred the lines. It had been an unqualified disaster, and she didn’t want to make the same mistakes. She had to look at the big picture.

The big picture said that Josh was a hot single doc who wasn’t looking for anything permanent and she was temporary and definitely attracted. That part of it worked. What didn’t work was that she was discovering she had feelings. Attachments. Like how she hadn’t wanted him to get out of bed this morning. Like how it had hurt just a little that he didn’t even consider asking her to go to the hospital with him. She wouldn’t have, but the offer might have been nice.

This wasn’t like her. Usually she welcomed the distance. Like when she was a kid and didn’t like different foods touching each other on her plate. Compartmentalizing worked.

It was different in Jewell Cove. Everything seemed to blend together. Friends, neighbors, work, play … and, most of all, Josh. And that was very, very troubling. Josh Collins was getting under her skin.

What she really needed was a sounding board, so she picked up the phone and called Charlie. Lizzie hadn’t spent a lot of time with her best friend lately, and it was time to remedy the situation. Charlie was thrilled with Lizzie’s offer of pizza for dinner, particularly since Dave had taken on a moonlighting job for a few days, working on someone’s boat up in Bar Harbor.

One Gino’s special later, and Lizzie was on Charlie’s doorstep.

The first thing Lizzie noticed was that Charlie had really expanded over the last few weeks. “Look at you! You’re huge!” Lizzie said bluntly, but smiled from ear to ear. “How many weeks have you got left again?” It seemed like only yesterday she’d shown up to find Charlie with a baby bump, and now she looked ready to pop.

Charlie laughed. “Nearly six. And I’m hitting that point where I feel like I am ready to move things along. It’s like walking around with a basketball sitting on your bladder.” Charlie waggled her fingers for the pizza box. “Come on in; we’re starving.”

Lizzie went in and slid off her sandals. “Hey, did you hear? Jess had a baby boy this morning. Over eight pounds and all ten fingers and toes. The family is over the moon.”

“Oh yay!” Charlie’s smile was wide. “And lucky Jess. I’m starting to understand how she’s felt for the last month.”

“I’m really sorry I haven’t been around more,” Lizzie apologized as she followed Charlie into the kitchen and put the pizza on the butcher block. “Work’s kept me a bit busy, but I’ve been to see my mom, too, and I’ve been running on the beach a lot. Turns out I do okay with solitude. Who would have thought it?”

Charlie chuckled as she went for plates. “Lizzie darling, I think you’re ready to hear something.”

Lizzie finished opening the pizza box and faced her friend. “Oh?”

“Honey, you always had to go from one thing to another without stopping and you never really took time to be with yourself. I don’t know why that is, but I think it’s wonderful that you’re actually comfortable enough with yourself now to enjoy your own company.”

Lizzie sank down on one of the bar stools. “Cripes, Charlie. That’s profound.”

Charlie raised an eyebrow. “It happens now and again. I’ve probably just burned up my one remaining brain cell with that bit of insight.” Charlie handed Lizzie a plate.

The pizza was still hot and Lizzie thought about what Charlie’d said as she slid a slice onto her plate. It was true, she supposed. She worked hard, and she’d played hard, too. She’d kept up a pretty active social life, but how meaningful had it really

been? Not one of those friends had checked in with her since she’d left Springfield. Not one. And that might have stung a little except Lizzie realized she didn’t really miss them, either. What did that say about her relationships?

Instead she found herself thinking about Josh. His smile, the way he kissed, how he looked steering the boat into the leaning dock at Lovers’ Island and talked about searching for buried treasure. She was going to miss that when she left town.