Brothers of Paradise Series

How could they not?

10

Hayden

The present

Returning to Paradise Shores hadn’t been an easy decision to make. I understood well enough that showing up here would open old wounds, reawaken things that I’d fought so hard to keep under cover. But my uncle was getting older, and I wanted to talk things out with him face to face. I wanted to see the place where I spent so many years.

I wanted to see Parker and Rhys.

And I really wanted to see Lily.

Parker throws me one of the downhauls. “Fasten this, will you?”

I tie a quick, familiar knot. It’s been a long time since I was on a sailing boat, a vessel made for speed and fun as opposed to defense and war.

He flashes me a grin. “Been a while since we did this, brother.”

“It’s good to be back out here.”

“We’ve missed you around here.”

I nod, not knowing what to answer. Parker was always liberal with his words, his offhand comments made in good nature but often meaning far more than he intended them to.

“You entertained Mom real good yesterday,” Parker continues, jumping down to sit on deck. “She was talking all evening about how glad she was to see you again.”

That strikes me as unlikely, even if I’d tried to lay the charm on pretty thick at the party. The older I get, the more gratitude I feel toward the Marchands. They’d paid my tuition at Paradise Shores Prep for seven full years. Uncle Gary’s handiwork was good, but it was definitely not worth the thousands upon thousands of dollars in perks.

Talking with them reminded me rather uncomfortably of the huge debt I owed them.

“Thanks,” I say.

“Sorry about Lily acting weird, by the way.”

My head snaps up. Parker’s not looking at me-his gaze is fixed on Turner. He’s standing at the bow of the boat, a hand on the wheel and his eye on the horizon.

“What do you mean?”

Parker shrugs. “I think she was taken aback by you returning. She was… well, she was pretty shook about you leaving so abruptly. You know, back in the day.”

“I can imagine,” I say, because I truly can. Familiar feelings of guilt and shame ripple through me. Leaving her felt like cutting off a limb, like relinquishing the most valuable and treasured part of me.

“She’ll come around. But you might have to grovel a bit.”

“I intend to.”

Parker shoots me a sideways grin. “Don’t tell her I said this, but she was very fond of you, you know. I think she saw you as an extra brother.”

Unexpectedly, I feel like laughing. It takes a bit of effort to school my expression into a neutral smile. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

The sight of Turner, serene look on his face at the back of the boat, wipes any mirth away. “She’s working with Turner now, huh?”

“Yeah. Property development.” Parker shakes his head. “Dad is thrilled she’s following in his footsteps. Not just Henry, but Lily too. Puts Rhys and me to shame.”

“It never seemed like her kind of thing,” I venture, hoping to get more out of him. I know I should just ask Lily, but we’ll start arguing again, and I’ll get distracted by her flashing eyes or her pretty mouth, and I’ll learn nothing at all.

Parker shrugs again. “I suppose not. But it’s a bit artistic, you know, with those models and all? And I know she handles all of the decor decisions.”

“And dating the boss?” I ask, nodding toward Turner. It takes effort to make my voice dry, to shape the very serious question into a joke.

“Yeah, isn’t that a mindfuck?” Parker shakes his head. “I think it’s a new thing, though. Nothing serious or anything.”

“Yeah.”

When I first made the decision to return to Paradise Shores, I’d known there was a high chance that she was taken. I was keeping myself well-informed enough to know that she wasn’t engaged or married, but that left a wealth of possible boyfriends.

If her relationship with Turner wasn’t serious, was it more of a…casual arrangement? The need to find out was like an itch I couldn’t scratch. Parker was an exhausted source of information, and I couldn’t very well ask Turner. The man had pined after her in high school, had likely never stopped. I recognized a fellow spirit when I saw one.

But she’d gone to the party with him.

I had watched them arrive from a distance, her hand tucked under his arm. Her beauty had struck me again, like it had a few days prior, with the force of a physical blow. She’d been a cute teenager and had grown into a gorgeous woman.

Her auburn hair was still long, but it wasn’t the same wild mass I’d been used to. It was shaped and softened, framing a face as freckled and opinionated now as it ever was. The body under the white, form-fitting dress was slightly fuller, too. Shapely curves that I ached to explore-to learn the ways she was different and rediscover all the ways she was the same.

It had driven me half-mad to see her angle her face up toward Turner and give him her pretty smiles.

I know you, I wanted to say. We might have been apart, but she wasn’t fooling me. I know you inside and out, and you know me, better than anybody. And not time, not distance, not all the Turners in the world can change that.

And I’m going to remind you of that.

The house on Elm Street is modest for Paradise Shores. It’s close to the ocean, but not within view. It’s two stories, but it doesn’t have a pool.Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

Still, it’s leaps and bounds above anything I ever dreamed of when I used to live in this area. It has a large kitchen, a large living room, and a guest bedroom.

It’s late on Saturday evening when I finally close the door to my house and get in my car. There’s a chance she’ll say no. Actually, the odds are probably overwhelming.

But I have to try.

I know her, and I know there are things she wants to say to me. Things she has to say, if there’s any possibility to mend what we once had.

And I had been a coward once, running from what I wanted, toward what I thought I needed.

But never again.

Despite myself, my heart is in my throat as I park outside her house. She might not be home. She might even have guests.