Summer at Oyster Bay: A gorgeous feel good summer romance (22 page)

“What about work?”

“It’s only about an hour and a half flight from Richmond. I can fly in for a few days and then do the rest of my work remotely, but only if you want me to stay.” He took her hand again.

“I want you to stay every single day.”

He smiled, affection for her in his eyes. “I’d love to.” He leaned down, took her face in his hands, and kissed her—just one quick kiss. The feeling of it was more like coming home for Emily than seeing the house. She was flying.

They went upstairs, and all the rooms were just as they had always been, but brighter, cleaner—perfect.

“I made just a little change to Gram’s room. Let me show you.” He took her into her Gram’s old room. It had been repainted; the walls were highly glossed white panels with thick crown molding and baseboards.

There was a small button on the wall and she walked over to it. “What is this?”

“Press it.”

She pushed the button and heard a hum. Then, the panel opened revealing a small elevator that had been hidden in the wall.

“It will take your grandmother to the hallway downstairs.”

“Oh, Charlie, that’s wonderful,” she said.

Emily turned, startled as Gram came out of the bathroom. She’d been hiding out in there.

“Gram! What are you doing here?”

“Charlie called when he’d finally finished this place and I asked if I could be here to see your reaction. I’m glad I did,” she said, her whole face lighting up. “I just love his changes. They’ll make it so much easier for me to get around every day.”

“So you’re not going to Florida?”

“Not if you want me to stay.”

“Absolutely, I want you to stay! It’s
your
house!” She walked over to Gram and gave her a big hug. “Will you?”

“Of course.” She leaned on her cane for support, but she stood a little straighter today. “Now that I’m not hidin’ in the bathroom, I’d like to give this elevator a whirl and head downstairs so I can read on that beautiful patio.” She was obviously allowing Charlie and Emily more time to themselves.

As Gram got into the elevator, Charlie led Emily out into the hallway. “Let me show you your room.”

He took Emily’s hand and they walked together. The wooden floors gleamed, the walls all painted in a bright island pink the light coming in through the windows. They entered her room and she couldn’t believe her eyes.

There was a new addition. It was a real life doghouse in the corner. It was white with black shutters just like the farmhouse and it had the name “Flash” painted on a plank of wood above the rounded doorway. Inside it was a big fluffy cushion. The whole thing sat on a rug that protected the hardwoods beneath it.

“I love it,” she said.

Charlie turned her around to face him. “You’d said I should show you how I felt about you…” he said, his eyes so familiar now, that smile playing at his lips.

Emily wrapped her arms around his neck for the second time. She pushed herself up on her toes to reach his lips, but he didn’t kiss her. Instead, he ran his fingertips down her neck, causing a slight shiver through her arms, and then slid his hands up until his fingers were in her hair, his face serious. Slowly, he leaned down toward her, his lips excruciatingly close to hers, his breath deliciously near, and pressed his lips to hers. It was an intoxicating feeling, sending her head whirring as his lips moved on hers, his hands sliding through her hair and back down her back.

She now knew, without a shadow of a doubt, what it was like to feel that kind of indescribable spark that Gram had always talked about with Papa. She had no idea what would happen between them in the days or weeks or even years to come, but she knew one thing: She wanted to find out.

When she’d finally floated back to earth, Emily pulled back and asked, “But what about the clearing? They’re clearing the land by the inn.”

“Yes. I altered the plans to expand on part of the land, leaving a considerable amount of property, including trees, between it and the house. You won’t even know it’s there. I promise. I sat in a meeting with the architects and we thought long and hard about what would be the best way to use the land so that we could still expand but provide the privacy you’re used to here. The expansion will be on a smaller scale than I’d planned, but it will pull in enough revenue to make it attractive to buyers and still provide income for Clearwater.”

“So Rocky let you split the rezoning request into two different zones?”

“When I told him why, he rushed it through for you.”

She smiled. “That was nice of him.”

“Yes it was.”

“Charlie, this is unbelievable.”

“I’m so happy that you like it.” He leaned in for another kiss. “I have one more surprise. But we have to go outside.”

She followed him down the newly painted steps—not a creak beneath her feet; they were strong now and sturdy. They walked outside and through the yard together, headed down a new path. She heard Eli’s whinny and tears sprung to her eyes. They didn’t fall, though, until she saw the barn. It was classic red with white trim, all new hay feeders along the side of the brand new fencing. Eli was standing by the feeders. But then, she spotted something and her lip began to quiver. Nuzzling Eli was a pony—white like an angel.

“We brought her in a few days ago. Eli took to her immediately. I thought I’d let you name her.”

Without even thinking, she blurted, “Hope.” Because that was what she had today. She had so much hope for the future that she couldn’t imagine anything better than this.

“Hope, it is then. Now, let’s go get Flash at the condo and bring him over. We’re having a family party tonight. Rachel is bringing Clara to the house in a little while and your Gram’s here. I’m sorry we couldn’t have Jeff come. Rachel said it wasn’t a good idea.”

“I’m sorry too. Maybe one day…”

He smiled. “Well, we should get going. I have a caterer for later tonight. He’ll prepare all local seafood, and I’ve stocked the bar in the kitchen. What do you say we break in Francine’s glasses tonight?”

“That sounds perfect.”

“
W
atch this
,” Charlie said, hitting a switch inside the closet in the hallway. “I added one improvement for
you
.” Immediately, music poured through outdoor speakers and into the house.

Emily leaned toward the open window to hear it.

“I have it set to the channel that you had on the little radio last time.”

“You’ve thought of everything,” she said.

“I wanted it to be perfect.”

“It is.”

When they went outside, Gram was in a rocker on the patio. “You know,” she said, “I always loved this view, but I never knew how absolutely magnificent it was until I could see it from this height. Charlie, you have really outdone yourself.”

“Thank you,” he said, clearly proud. “I’ve never had a renovation project of this size that I’ve done myself, and, while I had a huge team working for me, I made sure to oversee it all to get every detail just right or it wouldn’t have the impact that I wanted it to have.”

“It is a grand gesture, Charlie.” Gram was smiling, her happy self. She, too, was flying and Emily loved to see it.

“I was actually nervous,” he admitted, and he looked over at Emily. “I’ve never done anything like this for someone, and the pressure to make you happy, Emily, was unbelievable. It was more stressful than any business deal. Making you happy was my number one priority.”

Emily nearly stopped breathing. “What did you just say?” She made eye contact with Gram, and tears surfaced in her grandmother’s eyes. Emily’s gaze slid back over to Charlie, and she didn’t even notice that Rachel had arrived. “Did you just say that my happiness was your number one priority?”

“That’s what he said,” Rachel said from the doorway, clapping her hand over her gaping mouth as she looked at him. Clara pushed past her and ran to Gram, climbing onto her lap.

“What?” Charlie asked, his eyes darting from one person to the other. “What did I say?”

Emily swallowed to keep herself from crying too with happiness. “You just said the most perfect thing.” Suddenly, she wondered if Papa was there with them, for those all-too-familiar words of Papa’s that Charlie had just uttered made her feel like her grandfather somehow had a hand in all this.

“Oh,” Charlie said with a smile. “You had me worried there for a second.” He took her hand and kissed the back of it.

Rachel shut the door behind her and settled on the patio, Flash running out from the woods to greet her. He hadn’t stopped running since they’d gotten home.

Before long, the chef had arrived to cook their meal and Charlie went inside to get him acquainted with the kitchen.

“Any word from Jeff?” Emily asked. Clara was swinging down by the beach and Emily used the moment to check on her sister. It just didn’t feel right without him there. She wanted Rachel and Jeff—the couple. She missed their laughter together and their love for one another.

“No. I haven’t seen him. I texted him to let him know about the house and that we’d be here, but I got no response. He’s avoiding me, I think. I missed him so much last night that I couldn’t sleep. I even thought of giving up the job, but I know that wouldn’t be the right thing to do.” She fluttered her hands in the air the way she did when she didn’t want to burden anyone with her troubles. “Don’t worry about me!” she said. “I think Charlie has something else to show you.”

“You’re welcome to talk some more if you’d like,” Charlie said as he returned from the kitchen, concern on his face.

“It’s fine, Charlie. My problems will still be here when you get back.”

“Get back?” Emily asked, eyeing Charlie.

“Yes. We have to take the boat for this. It’s my last surprise.”

They walked down to the pier, Flash following behind, then Charlie pulled the new wooden boat over by its rope. Emily stepped in, taking his hand to steady herself.

“Whoa!” Emily laughed as the boat shook. She tried to keep it from wobbling as Flash and Charlie got in, the three of them snug in the small vessel. Charlie rowed it out past the pier. “You’re going to take us all the way out to the island at this speed,” she said, watching in awe as he rowed.

“I want to show you something and I’m excited.”

It didn’t take her long to realize where he was headed—the pier through the woods that Papa had built all those years ago. She stretched to try to see what other surprises he had in store for her, and as they neared it, she was blown away yet again.

“How did you—?”

The entire pier was there, covered in candles in tall, narrow glass vases to keep them from going out, their flames dancing in the soft breeze. “I didn’t touch this pier,” he said. “I did nothing to it. I wanted to leave it in its raw state. This was the place where you finally stopped crying all those years ago, isn’t that right?”

She nodded as Charlie hopped out of the boat, Flash following. He pulled it up onto the sand and held out his hand so she could get out.

He held onto her hands and looked down at her. “Right here, right now,” he said. “I want you to know that, just like that day, you can stop being sad. Because whether you feel the same for me or not, I have fallen in love with you, and I will do my very best to make you happy.” He pulled her close.

Emily felt as if her life could begin right from this moment. Everything that had happened, everything she’d prepared for, had led her to this. “I’ve never felt I could talk to someone like I can with you,” she said, pulling back and looking into his eyes. “When I thought you were gone, I missed you so much. I’m blown away by what you’ve done here for me, and I don’t quite know how to ever repay you.”

“You’ve taught me what it’s like to really care about someone. You are the first person I want to see in the morning and every time I have to leave you… Well, I don’t want to. As soon as I realized that, I knew I couldn’t go back to New York.”

“You’ll have to return at some point to work,” she said, voicing her concern as she wrapped her arms around his torso, clasping her fingers at his back.

“Yes. But I will have a whole lot waiting for me here. That will certainly encourage me to finish quickly.” He kissed her nose.

Emily looked out at the pier again, its entire surface glowing with those beautiful flames. “Thank you,” she said at a loss for words. How could someone thank a person for a gesture like this?

“No, thank
you
. In a way, you saved me. You saved me from a life of never knowing what this feels like.”

She held on to him. Just like Papa had held Gram’s hand that day on the pier and then never left her side, Emily made a silent promise to do the same as long as Charlie wanted her to. And she would show him every day how thankful she was, not only for what he’d done, but also for him.

“Shall we leave the boat for now and take the tractor up to the house?” he asked with a grin, and it was only then that she saw it parked where she’d always left it when she drove to this pier. “I need to get back to check on the chef.”

“That sounds perfect,” she said, unable to control her smile.

“Oh,” he said turning toward her. “I got oysters…”

She offered a devious look. “Well I hope you have wine for later, too,” she said with a wink.

W
hen they returned
, Rachel and Gram were touring the house together while Clara played with her dolls on the living-room coffee table. More candles were lit on the old farm table in the dining room, the wax bubbling in jagged drips down each candlestick, and the whole table was set with plates, silverware, and some of Francine’s painted glasses. The chef had set several covered silver dishes on the serving table along the side of the room.

“Take a seat,” Charlie said, pulling out her chair. “I’ll round everyone up.”

As they all trickled in, Clara climbing up on a booster seat at the end, Gram and Rachel on either side, and Charlie sitting next to Emily, she looked around at her family and prayed that she wasn’t dreaming. But she knew she wasn’t when the chef came in and collected the extra plate on the other side of Rachel. If it had been a dream, Jeff would’ve been there, too.

“This is a feast of a supper, Charlie,” Gram said, looking small against the large furniture. Emily was so glad she’d decided to stay. She couldn’t imagine this house without her.

“Well, I wanted to celebrate.” He turned to Emily. “And, not talking to you for so long was killing me, but I would’ve struggled to keep this a secret. I wanted enough food tonight to keep us here for a while. I want us to talk so long that we run out of things to say.” He winked at her.

The doorbell rang—it sounded like wind chimes, the old broken buzzer gone. “I’ll get it,” Charlie said, putting his napkin on the table. He stood up and left the room. When he returned, to Emily’s surprise and excitement, Jeff and Jason were with him.

“Daddy!” Clara nearly fell out of her chair trying to get down. Jeff steadied her and held her in his arms, his attention on Rachel.

Rachel tore her eyes from her husband to greet Jason. “Hey there!” she said. “Long time no see! We’re about to eat. Come join us for dinner.”

“Oh, no. You all are having a family meal,” Jason said. “I was just dropping Jeff off.”

“Stay,” Gram said. “There’s plenty. And you’re lookin’ right skinny these days. They got food in Nashville?”

“Ah, I was only there a little while.”

“Why don’t you sit down and eat,” Gram said. “And then, if you would, you could play some of your new songs for us. I know you’ve got that guitar out in your truck.”

Jason laughed. “I do.” He took a seat at the other end of the table. Jeff set Clara back down and then pulled out the chair next to Rachel. The chef returned the plate and silverware, and also added a place setting for Jason.

“Rachel,” he said. “I came to tell you something, and I don’t mind saying this in front of our family and friends.” He set his hand on top of hers on the table. “I’m so sorry. I needed to be away from you to realize that you are more important than any plan I have for how my life should play out. I love you as much as I did the day I married you, and I was miserable without you.”

Rachel twisted her hand under Jeff’s and intertwined her fingers with his, tears brimming in her eyes.

“I’ll support you in whatever makes you happy,” Jeff said.

“He was a complete sap,” Jason said from the end of the table. “He blabbered on about you so much that I wrote a song about it. It could be a hit actually,” he said with a laugh.

“You must play it for us later,” Gram said with a little giggle.

“Definitely.”

The wine was poured, the dishes filled, and a family was finally sitting around a table again in that old house. Emily looked around the room, and for the first time, she could see her future right there in front of her.