Seaside Sunsets (4 page)

She inhaled the sea air and blew it out slowly, sending her negative memories into the night. She’d been thinking about Jamie, the girls from the pool, and Vera, all afternoon and evening. For the first time in her life, she was free from the strings of performing that had bound her for so many years. She had time for friends, like the girls at the pool, or Vera, whom she was sure she could talk to for hours.

She also had time to date.

Date
. She’d gone on a few dates in recent years, but without fail, her dates would go on and on about something and her mind would fall back to her need to practice. Or, maybe most embarrassingly, she’d simply rather spend time playing her cello than with any of the men she’d dated. But now, as the breeze brought the music from the string quartet to the beach across the street and the notes threaded their way around her like an old friend, images of Jamie and the idea of dating danced closely together.

She couldn’t shake the look in his eyes as they rolled down her body, drinking her in as if he were dying of thirst. He probably thought she hadn’t noticed, but that quick look had sent an unfamiliar, and surprisingly welcome, shudder through her. He had an easy smile, and when she’d lost her mind and snapped at him, he hadn’t gotten angry or taken it as a personal affront. He’d simply offered to help her understand how to use eBay.

She’d put off thinking about how she’d lost that bid, too. She’d wanted so badly to win that auction that even now, thinking about it, made her throat swell. The music stopped, and she inhaled deeply, rose to her feet, and gazed across the street to where the string quartet was playing. The white tent rippled in the breeze as she made her way across the cool sand to the parking lot.

The music started up again, and she crossed the parking lot, her eyes on Vera, sitting proudly, playing her violin. She looked regal in a long black cotton skirt and blouse. Jessica had no hope of stifling the smile on her lips as she lowered herself to one of the metal chairs in the front row. Vera was right; there were only a handful of people in the audience. 

A breeze picked up the hem of her dress, and she settled the bouquet she’d brought for Vera over it. She probably should have worn something longer to ward off the chill, but she loved the summery feel of the dress, and she felt more her age in it. She was so used to dressing conservatively for the symphony and social events surrounding her career that when she’d gone shopping for her vacation, she’d had to ask the salesgirl what women her age were wearing these days. She hadn’t realized how out of sync she was with other twenty-seven-year-olds.

“Hey there.”

She turned at the sound of Jamie’s deep voice. She was so caught up in the music that she didn’t realize he’d slid into the seat beside her, and now she couldn’t take her eyes off of him in his slate-blue long-sleeved shirt, which looked so soft and worn that she wanted to cuddle up to him, and a pair of jeans that had the faded marks of an old favorite where his muscular thighs tested the strength of the denim.

“Hi,” she whispered. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“My grandmother is playing.” He nodded at Vera. “Vera Reed, on the violin.”

“She’s the one who invited me here. I met her at the pool.” She glanced at Vera, who was watching them with a smile. “She plays beautifully.”

“She does. I love to listen to her.”

“Shh.”

They turned, and a white-haired man sitting behind them pointed to the stage.

“Sorry,” they said in unison.

Jessica knew better than to speak during performances, but she could barely restrain herself from talking with Jamie. Jamie lifted one shoulder in an easy shrug.

They listened in silence to the rest of the concert. Jessica felt the heat of his gaze as he stole glances at her, and it took all of her efforts not to shift her eyes to him. She held on to the bouquet to keep herself grounded. When the music ended, she finally allowed herself a good look at Jamie. His dark hair was rustling from the breeze, and his warm, contagious smile reached his eyes as he applauded and lifted his chin in Vera’s direction. He glanced down at Jessica, and she didn’t know if it was her newfound sense of freedom, the lingering loveliness of the music, or the way his lips turned up at the end and slipped into something more flirtatious, but butterflies took flight in her stomach.

She felt herself grinning like a sixth grader crushing on a boy when she spotted Bella, Amy, Jenna, and a beautiful, tall brunette coming toward them. She dropped her eyes, hoping they wouldn’t notice the way she was swooning over him.

“Hey, handsome.” The tall brunette embraced him. She, like the others, had on jeans and a hoodie.

“Sky, this is Jessica.” Jamie touched Jessica’s arm. “She’s renting at Seaside. Jessica, this is Sky.”

She wished she could pretend that Jamie touching her arm had meant something, but his other hand was on Sky’s lower back, and she realized they must be dating.

“Nice to meet you.” Jessica shifted her eyes away from Jamie’s hand connecting him with Sky and hoped the disappointment in her voice wasn’t as evident to them as it was to her.

“Sky’s my fiancé, Pete’s, sister. She hangs out with us a lot,” Jenna explained. “I’m sorry about the whole thong thing,” she added.

“Yeah, that was meant for Theresa, but we didn’t expect that you’d be there when she came down,” Amy added.

“I did,” Bella said. “That was the whole point, for all of us to do what we’re not supposed to.”

Amy elbowed Bella.

Jessica didn’t know how to read Bella. If everyone was supposed to wear a thong, how come she was the only one who didn’t?

“What?” Bella’s brows knitted together at Amy. She sighed, and her voice softened. “Okay, so here’s the deal. Theresa’s a stickler for rules, and I like to break them. So…yeah, I knew you might go down to the pool, and if you did, I, like Jamie, hoped you’d wear a thong—”

“Don’t bring me into this.” Jamie held his hands up in surrender, which made Jessica laugh. “I wasn’t even at the pool.”

Maybe he wasn’t dating Sky after all.

“Anyway, it was way more fun with you wearing one, but I never expected Theresa to bare her ass.” Bella laughed. “What was up with that?”

“Oh my God, I know.” Amy’s eyes were wide.

“What’s wrong with wearing a thong?” Sky asked.

Jenna explained Bella’s prank to Sky, and Jamie leaned down close and whispered, “Sorry you got caught in the crossfire.”

“Your grandmother saved me. She covered my butt with a towel before Theresa saw me.”

Jamie glanced at Vera. “Did she? Good old Gram.”

“Hey, are you guys up for a few drinks?” Sky asked. “We could go to the Beachcomber.”

“I’m up for a few drinks, but I’m not sure I can handle the Beachcomber tonight. Why don’t we light a bonfire in the quad?” Amy suggested.

“The quad?” Jessica asked.

“That’s what we call the grassy area between the cottages. I have no idea why, but Bella said it one night when she had too many glasses of Middle Sister wine, and the name stuck.” Jamie touched Jessica’s arm again. “It’ll be fun. Join us?”

“Sure.” She tried to ignore the heat his hand was causing to sear through her veins.

“Okay, but there aren’t any single guys at the quad, so you blew my chance at a hot date night.” Sky set her hands on her hips. “Are you single, Jessica? Maybe you and I should hit the Beachcomber.”  

I guess Jamie’s not your boyfriend after all.

“I am single, but I’m not really up for a bar tonight. Thank you anyway.” No Jamie, no bar.
Quad, here I come.

“Excuse me a sec.” Jamie went to help Vera with her violin, and when he returned with Vera on his arm, Vera ran her eyes over the group and sighed.

“Do you know how much it pleases me to see all of you here?” Vera met Jessica’s gaze. “Together.”

Jessica handed her the bouquet. “These are for you. The consonance was lovely, and the capriccio at the end…” She covered her heart with her hand. “Took my breath away.”

“Why, thank you.” Vera exchanged a look with Jamie that Jessica couldn’t read. “Do you play?”

“A little,” Jessica answered. It was hard for her not to talk about her career, but she knew it would lead to all sorts of questions about how someone so young played with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and then Vera would want to know why she’d taken an extended break. She wasn’t ashamed of her reasons, but she also wasn’t ready to give up being a regular person yet. Being a regular person, it turned out, was really fun.

“What’s a capriccio?” Amy asked.

“A quick improv. The spirited piece they played at the end,” Jamie answered.

Holy cow. You just got a million times hotter
.

JAMIE HELPED VERA out of the car and into the small cottage. “Are you going to join us for the bonfire, Gram?”

“I think I’m going to turn in. We had a nice turnout tonight, didn’t we?” She sat on the couch, and Jamie spread a throw blanket across her lap.

Jamie had enough money to buy one of the million-dollar estates overlooking the water, but he loved the three-bedroom cottage and the memories it held. Before his parents were killed in a freak accident while on safari, they summered at Seaside as a family. In addition to the few memories of his parents he’d retained over the years, the friendships he shared kept him in the community.

“Yes, and I got shushed.” He laughed, remembering the look in Jessica’s eyes when the man behind them had shushed them. Her cheeks had pinked up, and she looked so damn cute he’d nearly pulled her against him.

“That little Jessica is a sweet gal, isn’t she?” Vera picked up her book and set it in her lap.

“She’s not so little, Gram. She’s probably in her mid-twenties, but yeah, she is sweet.” He hoped to find out more about her tonight. “Do you want me to make you some tea?”

“No, thank you, dear. You go ahead and have some fun. I’ll be just fine.” She opened her book and leafed through the pages.

Jamie gazed down at the woman who had raised him. He loved her so much, and he knew how lucky he was that she was still in good health. She was the only family he had left, and he feared the day he would lose her, too. He wanted to spend as much time with her as possible, which was why he’d arranged to spend the entire summer here at the Cape, and now he felt a little guilty for hurrying out to the quad to see Jessica.

“Gram, I loved listening to you play tonight.”

“Thank you, Jamie.” She smiled up at him, then turned back to her book. She’d always been a big reader, and of course a music lover, and she’d traveled the world playing with some of the most prestigious orchestras. That was before Jamie’s parents had been killed, when Vera said goodbye to the best parts of her life to raise him.

“I probably don’t tell you enough, Gram, but thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I couldn’t have become the person I am without you and Grandpa there to guide me.” He wrapped his arms around her. “I love you.”

She patted his back in the comforting way she always had. “I love you, too, dear. Now go see that pretty little thing before Tony arrives and steals her out from under your nose.”

“I’m not looking for a girlfriend, Gram.”

“Whatever you say, dear.” She kept her eyes trained on the book.

“Besides, what’s a six-two surfer got over a six-two computer nerd?” He rose to his feet and spread his arms out.

Vera shooed him away with her hand. “He’s got nothing on you, but why give him a head start—even if you’re not looking for a girlfriend?”

Behind the cottages, the fire blazed in the large hibachi that Pete Lacroux’s brother had made as a gift for the community earlier in the summer. Hunter Lacroux worked with steel, and his hibachis and sculptures were favorites all over the Cape.

Bella and Caden sat together on a wooden bench, his arm slung casually over her shoulder. Jenna and Pete sat on the other side of the fire in deck chairs pushed so close together they could be sitting on the same one, with their female golden retriever, Joey, at their feet.

Jamie shifted his eyes to Tony, sitting between Amy and Jessica on the longer bench, leaving two empty chairs. Sky sat beside Blue Ryder on Jessica’s other side. Blue was one of the best carpenters on the Cape. In addition to being the contractor of choice for the Kennedys, where he handled everything from new construction to renovations on their multi-home estate in Hyannis, he’d built an art studio on Pete and Jenna’s bay-side property for Jenna, and he’d quickly become friends with the group.  

“There’s the man.” Tony got up, pulled a beer from a cooler by the bench, and handed it to Jamie. “We had extras from this afternoon, so you gotta help me finish them off.” With a quick shake of his chin, his dirty-blond hair flopped out of his eyes and then fell right back to center. Tony had on a tank top and board shorts, despite the chilly night. Every goddamn muscle was on display. Tony put an arm around Jessica and one around Amy with a
Hey man, it’s all cool over
here
grin on his face.

Hard to get his back up over a friend, but that didn’t mean the streak of jealousy that tore through Jamie didn’t make him stand up taller and pull his own broad shoulders back.

“Thanks, man.” Jamie took a long pull on the beer and sat in a chair across the fire from Jessica.
Too damn far away
.

“Thanks for showing up to watch Vera tonight, you guys. It meant a lot to her.” Jamie stole a glance at Jessica. She was still wearing the dress and sweater she’d had on earlier. Her exquisite long legs were crossed at the knee, and her foot kicked up and down nervously. He’d give his left leg to be Tony, with his arm around Jessica right then.

Jessica caught him looking at her and pressed her lips together in a sweet, embarrassed smile that brought out her adorably sexy dimples. Damn, what was it about her that had his interest so piqued?

“I really enjoyed hearing Vera play. She’s very talented. Does she play every night?” Jessica lifted a wineglass to her lips.

Jamie was too busy watching her lick her lips to respond.

“Weekly,” Amy said. “And sometimes she plays out on the deck here, which I personally love.”