Meet Me at the Beach (Seashell Bay) (19 page)

All that he’d gone through? What the hell did that mean?

Before Aiden could ask, Father Michael continued, “Rebecca decided to split the land up between the three of you, not just because she wanted her boys to live there, but because she wanted there to be only one way the land could be used for any kind of large-scale development. That was with the full agreement of her husband and both sons. It was the best way she could think of to protect her legacy.”

Okay, that made sense. That was just the sort of thing Aiden’s proud, canny mother would do. Force the three of them to reach some sort of consensus if they wanted to develop the land.

But she also would have known that Bram would always back their father—which would place the burden of the decision on Aiden. Had she deliberately planned
it that way? Probably, which made him want to let loose with a long string of curses.

He mentally dialed back his anger and frustration. “You’re saying, Father, that she anticipated exactly what’s happening now?”

The priest gave a little shrug as they circled behind the last row of gravesites. “You’ll draw your own conclusions about that, Aiden.”

Now he did mutter a choice curse, not caring if Father Michael heard him. “Yeah, I’m drawing the conclusion that she was leaving it up to me to stop my father from doing something she’d think was stupid and wrong.”

“I suspect that’s why she left you the block of land in the middle. Not the biggest parcel, certainly, but the prime one, is it not?”

Aiden swallowed that bitter pill. He’d always thought she’d bequeathed him that piece because the two of them had talked about how perfect it would be for his house, perched out on the bluffs. But he’d been only ten or eleven at the time of that discussion. When his mom made her final will, she’d pretty much resigned herself to the likelihood that he’d never return to Seashell Bay.

“Yes,” he said. Unlike his father’s scrubby acreage, Aiden’s land was on the bluffs, and that made it pretty much perfect for a resort.

They came to a halt at the edge of the cemetery, Father Michael regarding him with eyes warm with sympathy. “I know you’re greatly troubled by your brother’s situation, Aiden. It has pained me too, seeing Bram change for the worse.”

“I’m sure you’ve tried with him, but my stubborn-ass brother won’t listen to anyone.”

“My point, Aiden, is this. Coming into a significant amount of money will not necessarily help Bram. I fear the opposite might be the case, in fact, unless he agrees to get some help.”

Aiden grimaced. “I hear you.”

“As his big brother, you’re in the best position to convince Bram to get the help he needs. Otherwise, experience has taught me that a person in his situation is almost certain to fritter any amount of money away and end up in an even worse position. That’s the way it is with any addiction.”

Father Michael fell silent, waiting for Aiden to come to the inevitable conclusion.

And dammit, how could he disagree? “I get it, Father.”

“A windfall of money won’t fix Bram, Aiden. He needs a purpose, and he needs some kind of work to help him recapture his self-esteem.”

Aiden inhaled deeply, catching the faint scent of the pine trees in the grove behind the church. “But I’m afraid it may already be too late for Bram. Money might be the only answer we’ve got left to keep him from sliding further down the rabbit hole.”

Dusk was coming on quickly now, with the last rays of the setting sun casting long shadows across the headstones. But it was still light enough to see the frown on the priest’s face.

“I refuse to believe that, and neither should you,” Father Michael said. “Look, son, you may think I’m just trying to lobby you, and I won’t deny that I hope you’ll reject the developer’s plan for your lands. But I truly felt an obligation to honor your mother’s intent as faithfully as I could. If you think I’ve crossed a line, I sincerely apologize. I promise you I won’t raise the issue again.”

As frustrated as he was, Aiden had no doubt his mother would have agreed with Father Mike’s decision to speak with him. “No worries, Father,” he said in a quiet voice.

“Thank you, Aiden. I hope to see you on Sunday.” The priest sketched a quick blessing before turning and heading back to the church.

In the quiet of the darkening cemetery, Aiden stood as still as one of the gravestones. His mind churned with a thousand memories of his family and eighteen years of life on the island. Despite his Catholic upbringing, Aiden had never been especially spiritual or believed in a lot of woo-woo crap. But weirdly, coming home this summer was beginning to feel like some sort of destiny. He could almost laugh at the irony of it all—the guy who’d turned his back on Seashell Bay now held the key to its future.

H
ey, Lily?”

Lily glanced back to see Aiden get up from his seat on the starboard rail and make his way toward her in the wheelhouse.

She flipped up her sunglasses to peer at him as the sun suddenly disappeared behind a lone but massive cloud. “Something wrong?”

“Nope, but I was wondering if you could rearrange that birthday dinner with your parents tomorrow night.” He braced himself against the back of her chair. “That is, if you were to get a more… uh, unusual opportunity to celebrate,” he added, sounding almost sheepish.

Lily canted sideways to look at him while keeping one hand on the wheel. When this close to him, her body instinctively responded with a little shiver that skated over her skin. She forced her eyes to remain on his face, resisting the temptation to inspect a brawny frame showcased by the usual tight T-shirt and low-riding, snug-fitting jeans.

Not that looking at his face was any hardship. With his
dark stubble and rugged features, he reminded her of one of those male models or actors showcased in glossy celebrity magazines.

Except better, because Aiden was the real deal.

A real deal who’d been carefully keeping his distance all week, but now was suddenly invading her space in a big way. And honestly, she liked the way he loomed over her, all big and hard and masculine without being in the least bit threatening. At least not to anything other than her heart, that is. But why was he asking her about her birthday plans?

With a shock, she registered the slow build of heat in his dark eyes, and then she knew. He was going to ask her out on a date.

Her throat went tight. Not trusting her voice, she answered by tilting her head and giving him a silent, questioning look. She couldn’t fail to miss the wry cast to his smile, which told her that he knew his behavior was more than a little contradictory.

“I know this is a surprise and it’s pretty late to be asking, but I’d really like to do something special for your birthday.” His hand drifted to her shoulder. He gave it a light stroke, almost like he was petting her. “After all, I’ve got fourteen years to make up for,” he finished in a deep, sexy voice that made her stomach do a funny little flip.

Fumbling a bit, Lily grabbed the throttle lever and cut the engine. She was not going to have this discussion while the boat was still in motion.

“This is kind of out of the blue, isn’t it?” Predictably, her voice wasn’t much more than a squeak. She pulled in a couple of deep breaths to steady herself.

He shrugged. “I’ve had a lot of time to think out here
this week. My mind hasn’t been a hundred percent focused on lobsters and bait.”

Lily tried to recapture some control over the conversation. “No? Then you’ve been falling down on the job, mister.”

He laughed, and the sound lit her up like a falling star. Aiden so rarely laughed that when he did, it was like a bright burst of light.

“Really?” he said. “After we’ve been hauling in close to record catches? I don’t think so.”

“Don’t get cocky on me, Sternman,” she said in her best captain’s voice. But he was right. He’d been doing a magnificent job. They had formed a hell of a lobstering team, and her bank account was growing happier with each passing day. “But I’m all ears, so let’s get on with it so we can pull some traps while we talk.”

“Aye, aye, ma’am.” His dark gaze turned serious. “Lily, you’ve been working your tail off, and I think you could use a break. In fact, we both could. And before you tell me I’m crazy, I’m not suggesting we lose any fishing time. I’m talking about doing something late tomorrow and Sunday.”

She’d already made it clear to him that despite it being her birthday, they’d be hauling until four o’clock, the legal limit on Saturday during the summer. There was no chance she’d miss a day of fishing when the traps were filling up every day.

“I’m listening,” she said.
I’m listening so hard my brain might pour out of my ears.

Aiden nodded, and now she thought he looked a little awkward, which was definitely intriguing.

“Like I said, I want to do something special for you.
Something fun. I talked to a buddy of mine by the name of Cole Rogers. He was a senior on the Peninsula baseball team when I was a sophomore. You wouldn’t know him, because he graduated before you were in high school.”

“I remember hearing the name.”

“Cole flew helicopters in the navy for years, and now he’s got his own charter operation in Portland. Flies corporate types mostly, but does some tourist excursions too. Anyway, he’s all set to fly us up the coast late tomorrow afternoon.”

Lily stared at him, mystified. “You want him to take us on a helicopter tour of the bay for my birthday?”

“No, not a tour. He’ll fly us up to a resort—a place he recommended on Penobscot Bay, not too far from Castine. We’ll spend the night there, and then he’ll come and take us back to Portland late Sunday afternoon. So I was hoping you could postpone dinner with your parents to Sunday.”

She felt her eyes go wide. “You’re saying we would spend the night up there?” This time her voice came out in the Minnie Mouse register.

Lily had indulged in more than one fantasy since Aiden arrived, ones that involved the two of them naked and between the sheets. Well, naked other places too. Could he possibly be proposing what she thought he was proposing?

His smile was both tender and amused. “I guess I could have phrased that better. I’m talking about separate rooms, of course. I’ve already booked them, hoping you’d say yes. And the whole trip is on me, start to finish. All it’ll cost you is around twenty-four hours of your time. Nonfishing time.”

Separate rooms, of course.

Well, that certainly squared with the way he’d broken off their steamy session on the beach. But it hardly fit with his body language right now. Despite his casual grin, he loomed possessively over her, and she thought his hot, dark eyes were sending an entirely different signal.

Lily decided to stall for time until she could figure it out. “What resort is your friend talking about?”

She’d visited the quaint little coastal town of Castine two or three times. Home of the Maine Maritime Academy, it was nearly three hours away from Portland by road but no doubt less than an hour by helicopter.

“It’s called Coastal Harmony Resort. I gather it’s only been around a year or so.” He gave another one of those shrugs that did such fabulous things to his shoulders. “I know it’s kind of a weird name, but Cole says it’s one of those green places—you know, focusing on harmony with the local environment and all that stuff.”

“Maybe he’s talking about ecotourism,” Lily said. It did sound interesting, and she vaguely remembered hearing something about an ecoresort being developed up the coast. But she rarely took vacations, and lobster fishermen didn’t go anywhere in the good weather months except out in their boats.

“I guess. Anyway, Cole said it’s one of the hottest resorts on the coast. High-end facilities, but with a casual atmosphere and a great restaurant. And I figured you’d probably like the green thing too.”

The way Aiden said
the green thing
, Lily couldn’t help a soft laugh. An ecofocused resort was hardly his cup of tea, she suspected. But it touched her that he’d come up with the idea for her sake, because he was right.
Environmental issues had always been important to Lily, even all those years ago when she and Aiden had been teenagers. Now, as a lobster fisherman and an islander, her way of life depended on the environment—the plentiful marine stock, the pristine coastal waters, and the natural beauty of the Maine coast. “You thought right,” she said softly.

Aiden’s big hand came up to cradle her chin, his rough fingers oh-so-gentle on her skin. He dipped his head a bit to meet her eyes. “Live a little, Lily. All you ever do is work your lovely little ass off. It’s time you did something nice for yourself, even if it’s just for a day. Let me take care of you, okay?”

While Lily’s brain insisted on recalling her mother’s warnings, her heart knew what it wanted. And her body was clearly on board too. Yes, their relationship was totally up in the air. Yes, she had no idea what would happen between them. But all that was just background noise that didn’t seem to matter, not when he was gazing at her with those dark, smoldering eyes, silently urging her to say yes.

“Well, I’m sure Mom and Dad wouldn’t mind rescheduling, but I’ve got an SDC meeting Sunday afternoon at three o’clock, and I can’t duck out of it. With the car ferry vote next week, we’ll be mapping out a last-minute blitz strategy. People would kill me if I blew that off.”

Aiden’s eyes narrowed for a brief moment, and her heart stuttered, but then he gave her a smile. “We can get you back in time. Easy.”

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely. So are we a go? Cole wants me to call this morning to confirm.”

A twenty-four-hour minivacation at a luxury resort, alone with Aiden Flynn. Honestly, what could possibly go wrong?

Plenty, but who the hell cares, at least right now?

Aiden was right. She deserved some fun. They both deserved some fun, and this sounded like a good way to get it. She’d deal with the consequences later. “We’re a go.”

Aiden parked behind a long line of junker cars about a hundred yards down from the Pot. He’d asked Bram to come with him, but his brother had elected to stay home playing online poker—again. When Aiden had given him mild shit about it, Bram had flared up, telling Aiden to fuck off before he ruined his winning streak. Aiden had responded by stalking out, resisting the temptation to rip the computer from its connections and toss it over the bluff.

The shitty scene had come at the end of an otherwise perfect day, although it blew him away that the word
perfect
could describe long hours spent on a lobster boat. Somehow the heavy traps had seemed almost weightless, and he’d barely noticed the ever-present muck and slime. And when a feisty lobster, flailing his claws like he was on speed as Aiden tried to band him, had sunk his damn pincher into his forearm just above the glove, he’d done nothing more than grumble a mild curse. That little injury—one that made Lily wave a finger at him—had been his fault, anyway. He’d been daydreaming about helicopters and resort bedrooms and Lily Doyle dressed in nothing but a red, lacy thong. He’d richly deserved the painful wake-up call from the desperate bug.

Did Lily actually wear thongs? Not likely, but whatever she wore next to her skin in those warm, soft places, he couldn’t deny how badly he wanted to get his hands inside it.

Yeah, he was going crazier every day with wanting Lily. And he couldn’t stand keeping his distance from her anymore.

In fact, staying away from her was beginning to feel… wrong. With every moment that passed, he felt an irresistible pull in her direction and the same weird sensation he’d had in the cemetery—that in some way he couldn’t explain, everything that was happening on the island this summer was meant to be.

So thank God Lily had said yes to his last-minute idea for a trip up the coast. He’d booked two rooms because he didn’t want to pressure her, but unless his radar had gone completely rusty, Lily was still feeling as much heat for him as he was for her. With any luck, the second of those booked rooms would remain empty.

He strolled down the road to the neon-lit Lobster Pot, taking his time and letting the small aches and pains of the day work themselves out. He and Lily had hauled well over two hundred traps, and she’d been almost delirious with joy when Billy-Pain-in-the-Ass weighed the catch. It made Aiden feel damn good that he was helping to get her financially back on her feet.

After they’d finished up, Aiden had tried to cajole her yet again into having a drink with him at the Pot, but she had other plans. A night out with Morgan, Holly, and maybe one or two other friends was a birthday tradition for her, just like dinner with her folks. So Aiden would have to enjoy her from a distance—and likely put up
with lobbying from one or two half-drunk locals about the damn car ferry—but it was still a hell of a lot better than staying at home with Bram. If Aiden had to spend one more night watching his brother on the fast track to nowhere, he’d go nuts.

Aiden stepped inside to see the place jammed to the rafters with what looked like half the town’s population. Behind the bar, Laura pulled on draft levers with practiced ease while her assistant bartender poured shots for a gang of paramedics, including Brett Clayton, huddled at the far end. Maybe a dozen islanders stood around talking or playing darts or shuffleboard.

He finally caught sight of Lily across the room, one of six women at a table near the dartboards. When Holly Tyler noticed him, she said something that caused Lily to twist around and give him a smile before returning her attention to her friends. Though it was girls’ night out, a couple of guys he didn’t recognize were standing around Lily’s table, beer bottles in hand. Reading their body language, he guessed the boys were making lame jokes and trotting out stale pickup lines, hoping to score with the best-looking women in the room.

From what Aiden could see, the guys were batting zero.

He spotted a free stool at the bar and sat down. Dooley, the assistant bartender, slid over, leaning into the bar on hands the size of catchers’ mitts. “What’s your pleasure?” he said in a voice that sounded dragged out over broken beer bottles.

“Beer,” Aiden replied. “Please.”

“We’ve got six on draft and twenty in bottles.” Dooley pointed at a row of longnecks lined up in front of the mirror behind the bar. “I can give you some time to work
through all the possibilities if you need it,” he added sarcastically.

“You’re a riot, but I’m too tired tonight to think. Just surprise me, okay?”

Dooley reached below the bar and plunked a bottle of Moosehead Lager down in front of Aiden, uncapping it. “This Canadian beer is about the best you’re gonna find around here, in my humble opinion.”

Aiden took a long swallow. “I think I agree with your humble opinion.” The lager was definitely what the doctor ordered.

“Damn hard work hauling lobster traps, eh? Guess you’ve had a tough week.” Despite the heavy crowds, Dooley seemed in no hurry to rush away. He started stacking glasses in a rack on the counter below.