Love Redone in Hidden Harbor (Island County Book 2) (21 page)

Before I knew it, the cookie dough was on a sheet and my spoon was licked clean. I checked my email again and still didn’t get a response from Cole about bowling.

Now the old me would have wondered why I didn’t hear back from him. The new and improved me understood he probably just hadn’t gotten to it yet. After all, he had a brother to take care of and a house to remodel.

No.

Big.

Deal.

The buttery sugar aromas filled my home as I dashed down the hall to my bedroom and pulled out a pair of yoga pants and shirt. Maybe I’d hit a yoga session this afternoon and then deliver the cookies to their house.

As I was pulling on my yoga pants, the doorbell rang. I gave one more tug and ran over to my bedroom window. Scooting the curtains to the side, I glanced around the yard and didn’t see a car or anyone on my porch. It was probably just a package delivery. Those guys were always so fast. Drop, ring, flee.

I gathered my hair and put it into a ponytail and checked the yoga schedule on my dresser when the doorbell rang again, along with the oven timer.

I dashed to the front door and swung it open to see Cole standing there with three wrapped boxes.

“Come in,” I said, motioning him to step through the door.

The oven continued to ding.

“I’ll be right back.”

“It smells amazing in here,” Cole hollered after me.

“Cranberry oatmeal cookies,” I yelled back, grabbing a potholder and taking the tray out of the oven.

“My favorite,” he said, walking into the kitchen.

I glanced over at him and the sight of him took my breath away.

“What?” he asked concerned.

“Nothing. I mean, I know. I made these for you and your brother. I thought you two could use something other than takeout. I was going to drop them off, but since you’re here, you can take them home.”

“I don’t know that they’ll last.” Cole reached for a scalding cookie and took a bite. He looked like he’d gone to heaven and back with one bite. “You always used to make these for me.”

I liked that he remembered.

I scooped more dough onto the cookie sheet and shoved the tray into the oven as Cole ate another three.

“This place is so you,” he said, looking around my kitchen.

“Thank you. So have you fully recovered from being taken advantage of?”

“It might take some time.” He wandered out of the kitchen, and I followed him to the foyer where he’d put the boxes down. “These are for you.”

I glanced at the odd shaped packages and tilted my head toward Cole. “I don’t know whether to be worried or—”

“Take a seat and I’ll bring them to you. One is kind of heavy.”

I took a seat on the couch and he brought over the largest box and sat it on my lap.

“You weren’t kidding.”

I tore the red and silver wrapping paper away from the box and a smile spread across my lips.

“My very own bowling ball?” I looked at all the specifications and had to laugh. “Dry lane conditions, medium polish surface, and high performance. Who knew there was so much to consider?”

“It didn’t look like you enjoyed sticking your fingers in those holes.”

“So you
were
watching me.” I opened the box and managed to wrangle the glossy red and black ball out of the box.

“Closely.”

“Why?”

“Lots of reasons.”

“Can I hear at least one?” I asked, caressing the shiny ball.

“Hearing your laugh made me happy.”

“You could hear me laughing?” I set the ball on the couch and it rolled backward.

“You do it a lot. I like it.”

Heat formed in my cheeks as he watched me.

“Thank you for the bowling ball. I now feel like I won’t come home with something unwanted.”

Cole laughed and handed me another box. This one was lighter and I tore through the paper in record speed and opened the box.

“No, way. They make normal looking bowling shoes?”

“I wouldn’t call them normal,” he laughed, as I pulled out the red and black, Chuck Taylor looking shoes out of the box.

“More normal than what they’ve been making us wear for the last twenty years.”

“How’d you know my size?” I asked.

“I remembered.”

“And you’re a size twelve.”

His grin deepened. “So you remember?”

I rolled my eyes and opened the smaller package.

“No way. They make bowling gloves?” I stared at the red wonders.

“Always be prepared.” He looked like he was trying to hold back laughter.

The oven dinged and he stood up.

“I’ll get the cookies out while you marvel at your gifts.”

I chuckled and watched him go into the kitchen as my fingers ran across something under the gloves. I lifted them up and saw a bracelet.

But it wasn’t any bracelet. It was a promise bracelet he’d given me when we were sixteen. My fingers trembled as I picked up the sterling silver jewelry and turned it over.

Your laughter is my ray of light

Cole walked back into the room as I set the bracelet back down. Even in high school he knew how to impress. I might not have sent him the box of letters back, but I did send this bracelet back to him. A surge of guilt ran through me.

“You kept it?” I asked, my heart racing.

“You weren’t the only one wishing for something different.” He walked into the living room and took a seat next to me and the bowling ball.

“I understand not wanting to come back to the island because of your parents, but I still don’t understand most everything else.”

“Like what?”

“If you say you still loved me, why wouldn’t you come back for me?”

He took in a deep breath and nodded.

“I thought you were with Nick. I’d heard from friends off and on that you and Nick were together, always together.”

“But we weren’t,” I interrupted.

“I thought you were and because I thought that I didn’t want to ruin your happiness. All signs pointed that you were done with me, Natty. I sent letters and got them returned. I called and was told by your mom to quit harassing you. I heard you were always hanging out with Nick.”

My breathing slowed.

“My father has cheated on my mother the entire time they’ve been together. It’s made my brother and I keenly aware of what that does to a person. I would never cross that line and neither would my brother. I thought you were taken. Happily taken. Even though I wanted you, I thought you made your decision. If I knew what I know now would I have done things differently? Yeah. I would have fought for you with everything I had. I would have told your mom to stay out of it and would have driven you to Georgia. I would have told my father to piss off, and I would have—” he stopped. “But we can’t both keep living in the past.”

Cole slid his hand to my knee, and I slowly began to see the distorted past that so clearly shaped his present, our present, but I still didn’t know if learning any of this would change the possibility of a future.

 

“How is a man on crutches supposed to bowl?” I asked, resting my hands on my hips, noticing Anthony make his way onto the premises.

“The sad thing is he’ll still do better than you,” Tori laughed. “Nice outfit by the way.”

I tugged on my bowling shirt and tightened the Velcro on my gloves. “Say what you want, but I’ve been taking lessons. You gotta dress the part to feel the part.”

“Do you realize I’ve bowled more in the last month than I’ve bowled in my life?” Mason took a seat and began entering our names into the machine

“Doubtful.” Tori poked Mason, and he stopped typing to wrestle her down and kiss her.

I wanted that.

I looked over to see Anthony propping himself on crutches while a few teenagers asked him for an autograph and giggled. Cole still hadn’t appeared. He probably dropped Anthony off at the door.

I unzipped my bowling bag and lifted my shiny new ball out.

“Whoa,” Tori chuckled. “Should I be nervous?”

“Only if you’re afraid of losing.”

Mason smiled and shook his head, looking at a piece of paper as he finished typing our names in for the scoreboard.

“Hey, Anthony. Are you sure you should be on this slippery floor?” I asked, watching him navigate down the steps.

“If I had to stay at home one more night, you’d probably find me at the bottom of Oyster Bay.”

“It can’t be that bad,” I said, making sure he made it over to the bench safely.

“I don’t know how much you know, but things with my career have been a little crazy lately. I needed some downtime.”

“I’d heard.” I shrugged, glancing toward the door. Where was Cole?

“Anyway, little did I know I’d have to be listening to my little brother moan and groan the whole time we were at the house.”

Tori threw a glance in my direction and I smiled.

“How so?” she asked, switching sides with Mason.

“He’s got it bad.”

“Got what bad?” I asked.

“Do you want a beer or anything?” Mason asked, standing up.

“That sounds great,” Anthony said, reaching for his wallet.

“No need, man.” Mason scanned us for requests and we added ours to his list.

“Come on. I want to hear this before Cole comes inside,” Tori said.

“He lived with me while he was in college.”

“In Georgia?” I questioned.

Anthony nodded and continued. “I thought if anything would get him out of his doldrums having an older brother with a band and access to endless—”

“You can skip the details.” I held up my hand.

“Well, for two years that kid studied nonstop. He got Magna Cum Laude. Focused all his energy on studying and promoting our band. Cole even wrote several songs for us.”

My stomach tightened in knots.

“He loved you. He loved you so much it wasn’t healthy.” Anthony shook his head. “I tried to get him to go out and he wouldn’t. He spent two years of college focusing on nothing but studying and I mean nothing.” Anthony’s gaze focused on mine. “Then he spent the next three years throwing everything he had at our band and growing his business. Again, giving no time to dating.”

I liked where this was going and mentally did the math. Five years.

“Well, Natty hasn’t dated anyone since Cole,” Tori said, not realizing what spilled out until it was too late.

“Seriously?” Anthony’s eyes grew huge.

Thanks a lot, Tori.

I didn’t say anything one way or another so Anthony kept going.

“When we got our first recording contract, he started to take on other clients. He realized he was really good at what he did. Cole worked himself to death, but he grew the firm into one of the most well-respected agencies in LA, all before he hit the age of thirty.”

I’d done my research over the last few days. Cole’s agency spun the careers of several obscure unknowns into well-known actors, not to mention what he’d done for his brother and two other bands.

“I appreciate the picture you’re painting of Cole, but it’s hard to imagine he didn’t dabble a little,” I only half teased. “I mean he did come to Fireweed with a fiancée.”

Anthony scowled. “That was partially my fault. I pushed Cynthia on him. I don’t think either of us realized how manipulative she was or how—”

A few girls gathered near the shelves of bowling balls behind us and giggled. I motioned them over, and their eyes looked like they were about to fall out of their heads as they gripped their pens and any scraps of paper they could find and rushed to Anthony’s side.

Cole came in as Anthony began scribbling on the items being pushed in front of him, and Cole just shook his head, laughing as the girls began quietly shrieking as they took off toward the door.

“How cute.” Cole smiled, jogging down the steps.

“Your brother was just informing us about how you grew your firm,” Tori explained.

“Sounds riveting.” Cole took a seat next to me as Mason came back with several bottles of beer.

“It was. I had no idea you were Magna Cum Laude,” I told him.

“Wasn’t hard to do.”

“Yeah, I guess when all you do is study, things come naturally.” Anthony took a beer from Mason. “Thanks.”

“We’d gotten to the part about me persuading you to take Cynthia out.”

Cole’s jaw tensed, and he flashed a look of death toward Anthony.

“I don’t need to hear that part. I think it’s time we start our match or whatever we call it in bowling.” I glanced at the scoreboard. “I think there’s something wrong with our team’s screen names.”

“Nope,” Mason said. “I entered them just how Cole told me to.”

I squinted my eyes. “What is f-x-y-l-d-y?”

“Foxy Lady,” Cole said, laughing.

“Please, tell me you’re kidding.” I slapped his leg.

“Why would I joke about something so serious? Breakin’ the law. Breakin’ the law.”

“I can’t believe the one person who should have my back on something like this would instead have it glaring on a big screen in the middle of our town’s bowling alley.” I scowled at him playfully.

“I’m sure after this many years, not a soul remembers,” Cole whispered, bringing his mouth close to my ear, sending a stream of shivers through me. God, I loved feeling him so close.