Page 17 of A Heart to Find (Sweetheart Island #2)

Today was the day. The day Keira planned to confess that she’d never stopped loving him, that no one had ever taken his place in her heart, and she didn’t want to waste any more time. She wanted to be one of those instalove couples who had their lives planned out before leaving the island. She wanted reassurance that though their past goals had been different, they were now on the same page.

She wanted a family. Sooner than later. But she also wanted to join him on a trip or two. They hadn’t talked about it, but she hoped he’d be willing to move back home to Healing Springs. If he didn’t?

She’d figure that out later.

Healing Springs, though she’d always love the town, didn’t have the same magnetic power it once did. She thought she’d never leave because she was so firmly rooted to her home turf, but she had lost everyone who had once kept her planted there.

A thrill rose up in her belly, tickling her insides and growing a smile.

Did she actually want to consider moving?

To sell her home? To find a new job elsewhere?

Slow down.

She needed to fully process what all of these thoughts meant. She couldn’t go throwing her life away over an infatuation.

Even as she tried to reason with herself, she knew she didn’t need to. What she felt for Jared went far beyond infatuation.

This was the real deal.

She trusted him fully with her heart. Sure, they had each made mistakes. But they would find their way through future issues, even if he never meditated with her.

She had faith in him. In them. In love.

She perused herself in the mirror one more time, noting the flush in her cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes. Symptoms of thinking of Jared.

She smoothed her hair one last time and then grabbed her purse and went to meet him in the lobby.

Would the sight of him ever stop making her heart pound and her gut clench? How could he look so handsome in something as casual as jeans, a navy blue shirt, and an unbuttoned wool winter coat? Not to mention the look of pride on his face as she approached.

Pride in her.

“Ready for your surprise?”

He held his hand out to her, and she joyfully accepted, wrapping her fingers around his as they strolled together toward the door. The world looked different today. Heart décor around the lobby no longer blended in with the surroundings but lit up as if each dainty heart was encased in neon. Everyone around the lobby seemed to be smiling. She half expected the world to burst out in song and dance like the musicals she grew up watching with her grandmother.

She couldn’t stop herself from staring up into his square-jawed, movie star handsome face as they walked.

“You’re in a good mood this morning.”

He returned her smile and, if she wasn’t mistaken, maybe even blushed a bit.

“I am,”

she confessed.

“Is it because you’re insanely excited about the morning date I planned for us?”

She squeezed his hand and rested her head on his shoulder for a moment as they walked.

“Something like that.”

The morning coffee and bagels they grabbed on the way to the date—which he still wouldn’t give her details about—tasted better than usual. The air smelled sweeter. The sun shined brighter. The barking dogs at the dog park they passed sounded melodic.

Happiness fit as snug and warm as the kitty footie pajamas she wore every year for her classroom’s pajama day.

And the knowledge that he knew he had hurt her once before and would never want to do it again helped her feel more secure than she dreamed possible.

Thanks, Nana.

“Almost there. Better finish that bagel.”

“Last bite.”

She displayed the evidence before popping it in her mouth, delighting at the final taste of cinnamon swirl dissolving around her tongue. So delicious.

“All right. Here we are.”

She looked around at the various storefronts until her eyes settled on a colorful sign.

“Ceramics painting? No way!”

“Throwback to our very first official date. I’m not sure if they’ll have any Hello Kitty merchandise, but if not I’m sure we can improvise.”

Moisture gathered in her eyes. She had never thought of him as the nostalgic type. Or the kind of guy to remember a date they had gone on when she was fifteen.

“Promise not to sabotage yours by ‘dropping’ it when you realized I was a much better painter?”

Teasing him came so easily.

“I’ll promise, but I might have my fingers crossed behind my back. Just sayin’.”

Giddy at the chance to relive a happy memory from their past, she bounded into the studio with him close on her heels.

“I don’t see any Hello Kitty,”

he said, his voice mournful and his eyes betraying his tone by lifting at the corners.

She twisted her lips and playfully glared at him.

“Believe it or not, my tastes have changed a bit since my teens.”

She’d have to remember to hide her Hello Kitty pillow before he visited her house.

“In the absence of Hello Kitty merchandise, I propose we make these.”

He spun around dramatically, revealing matching mugs. Each had a piece of bread with a smiling face and a hand that reached toward the other mug.

“And we’ll make them say, ‘You’re the peanut butter to my jelly.’”

“Or maybe they could say, ‘You’re the jam.”

“And you’re nutty.”

“You’re a buzzkill,”

she teased while crossing her arms over her chest. She eyed the mugs quizzically, tapping her chin as she playfully pondered.

“Promise you’ll use yours if we paint them?”

“Every day.”

He held his free hand over his heart as he made the pledge.

“Okay, I’m sold!”

She took one from his hand and brought it to an empty seat.

She thought he’d sit across from her, but those familiar shivers ran up her spine as his arm brushed hers when he leaned over to set his mug down at the spot beside her.

“I’ll grab paint.”

She nodded in response. Her throat wouldn’t work.

By the time he returned with paper plates of various colors squirted on the perimeters, she had regained her ability to speak. They spent the next couple of hours chattering about random topics while they painted. He feigned frustration at having to go over every detail three times for best kiln results, and she chastised him for making a huge mess of his plate when he tried mixing colors. The more they teased, the louder their laughter grew.

After leaving their mugs—their gloriously tacky mugs—with the person manning the counter, they slipped back into the still late-morning air.

“Definitely the calm before the storm.”

Jared sniffed the air.

“You’ve been saying that forever.”

“But it’s coming. Not much longer.”

She pulled her phone from her purse and opened her weather app.

“Sorry, buddy. You appear to be wrong. Yet again.”

“Not a chance.”

He grinned a smug grin.

“Your weather report is wrong. Wait and see.”

“Mmhmm.”

“Anyway, before the storm comes, I have another special event planned for you. I’m glad you followed my advice and dressed in warm layers.”

“Where are we going next?”

“You’ll see.”

Refusing to reveal the surprise, he led her into the chocolate shop and picked up a basket that had been pre-ordered and held behind the counter, another shop where he picked up two blankets—a thick quilt and a fuzzy red throw. They then boarded the trolley and got off at a stop she hadn’t yet seen, where he then told her they had to walk a short distance to their destination.

After a few minutes of wondering if this was a romantic escape or if she had upset him and he was going to lose her in the wilderness, the sound of waves and the smell of salty air alerted her to where they were going.

Minutes later, they emerged from the woods and onto a small, secluded sandy beach. She shivered against the wind, and he stopped to place the things he carried on the ground before wrapping the fleece blanket around her shoulders.

“We’re almost there,”

he promised, and then planted a tender kiss on her forehead, sending warmth along her body to cast away the chills.

They approached a wooden dock, and he shifted the quilt over the arm that carried the basket and then grabbed her hand to walk her to the dock.

Seagulls flew overhead, eager to savor dropped crumbs.

“Will you tell me what’s in the basket yet?”

He shrugged and placed the basket on the dock before spreading the quilt beside it.

“You’ll see in a minute.”

“I can’t wait for my turn to plan the super secret surprise date for you. It’ll be payback.”

The crease in his cheek deepened.

“You were never good at waiting for the reveal.”

He gestured for her to sit.

“Warm enough?”

She nodded, hugging the blanket closer to her before remembering that he might be cold, too.

“What about you? I can share.”

He raised his eyebrows before winking.

“I’m okay for now, but I will definitely take you up on the offer after we eat.”

He leaned over and dragged the basket onto the quilt, lifting the side and then closing it quickly when she tried to sneak a peek. He did that a few times before moving it closer to her. The delightful scent of chocolate wafted to her nose before he snapped the cover closed again.

“I know you’re drooling for dessert first, but I have a little something else for you.”

He lifted the other side of the basket and pulled out a small fondue pot and a container that held bread and chopped vegetables. He lit a small burner under the ceramic pot, and then reached back into the basket and emerged with two fondue forks. Placing one of the forks on his bent leg, he opened the food container and invited her to dig in.

Stomach growling, she dove in without hesitation.

“A fondue winter picnic.”

She chewed the soft, crusty bread and the warm, salty cheese around a moan of satisfaction.

“You could be quite the event planner.”

“Maybe that’ll be my next profession.”

He stabbed another hunk of bread with his fork and swirled it around in the creamy cheese.

“The water is beautiful. Serene, but I like how the waves break on the shore a little harder each time.”

“Storm is coming.”

“Oh, stop. I don’t think it’s ever going to snow.”

He gloated half an hour later over chocolate fondue dessert as snow flakes drifted over their carefully laid picnic. She hurried to eat as much chocolate-dipped fruit as she could as snow settled all around.

“I feel like I may have said something about a storm coming and you saying something about me being wrong…Hmmm, if only I could recall how that conversation went…”

“A few snowflakes does not a storm make.”

“Maybe,”

he acquiesced.

“But I think we need to pack up and get back to the lodge before the storm you don’t believe in turns into a giant monster that traps us on the shore.”

“Okay, but first—are you going to eat that last powdered doughnut bite?”

“This one?”

He held it up and waved it in front of her face, then brought it close to his mouth and opened wide. Then he swooped the treat back over to her and fed it to her, his fingers lingering on her lips as she closed them around the doughnut piece.

She averted her gaze after locking eyes with him long enough to spark a fire. Had she been cold? She couldn’t remember ever needing a blanket.

And yet her hands shook as she helped him repack the baskets and fold up the quilt. And when the snow increased in swirls around them, she ran alongside him all the way to the trolley stop, where they stood waiting for a few silent minutes before he turned to her and placed a hand on her cheek.

“Keira,”

his voice broke on her name as he searched her face.

Unable to withstand the temptation any longer, she stood on tiptoes and met him partway, where their lips touched and recreated the magic they had once known all those years ago.

The world fell away as they held each other close inside a snow globe storm. Never had she felt more connected to another human. Never before had she known beyond a reasonable doubt that she had been brought to this moment for this reason. Never in her life had she imagined she’d get everything she dreamed of if she only waited long enough.

He slowed the kiss and pulled away for a moment, staring at her as if she were the most precious jewel and he the explorer who discovered her after a long, grueling search.

“You are so beautiful,”

he whispered.

“Then kiss me again.”

“I will. I want to. But first I have something really important—really wonderful—to share with you. I’ve held off on telling you because I didn’t want it to influence your decision, but I want you to know?—”

“Whatever it is, I don’t care. I want you, Jared. That’s the decision I’ve made.”

She pulled him down for another kiss, and though he hesitated slightly, he surrendered to her urgency and once again met her full on.

He was her home. Wherever he wanted to go, she’d go with him. As he increased the intensity of the kiss, she knew that nothing would dissuade her from following him down whatever rocky path he wanted to lead her on.

He understood her. He respected her.

She hoped he loved her.

Lost in the feel of his cold nose bumping against her heated cheek and pulling his neck closer for a deeper kiss, she didn’t hear the car approach until someone was clapping her hands to break them up.

“Really sorry to interfere,”

the woman’s urgent tone cut through the fog of Keira’s desire.

“But please tell me you’re Jared Marshall?”

“That’s me.”

Jared stepped back slightly but clutched Keira’s hand tightly in his own.

“Oh good. I’ve been looking for you everywhere. You’ve got to come to the office with me right away. The cell towers are down with the storm and you need to call home right away. Something has happened with your daughter.”