Page 6 of Broken Hearts (Hibiscus Hearts #1)

I want to go upstairs with Sage and that fucking asshole, Pat, but I know I have no right to do that, regardless of the number of years I’ve been working here.

I know why he’s here, and I really shouldn’t be surprised that he’s already heard about Mitch’s daughter coming to town and has got his ass down here, pronto. He’ll be fucking salivating when he finds out she lives in New York and has zero interest in a surf shop halfway around the world.

Well, at least I think she has zero interest in it. She hasn’t been here once in the nine years I’ve been working here. Not to mention that Mitch never talked about her, so why the fuck would she care about this place now? My guess is she’s never even seen a surfboard before, let alone used one.

She’s probably only come out here to claim her inheritance and then fuck back off to the mainland.

But just as soon as that thought enters my head, so does another one. A memory of her eyes last night when I asked her why she and Mitch didn’t talk. They weren’t just filled with sadness and confusion, but something else too.

Something that looked an awful lot like regret. Maybe guilt too.

Which made the words she uttered, “it wasn’t him”, make a bit more sense.

“Fuck,”

I mutter, blowing out a breath as I drop my surfboard around the back of the shop, before heading home to take a quick shower and change.

I’ve been in the shop maybe thirty minutes or so when Sage appears, her half-drunk coffee in her hands. She looks better than she did earlier this morning, not just because she’s obviously had a shower and changed, but her eyes aren’t as puffy and bloodshot either. If I had to guess, it wasn’t just the jet lag and time change that was affecting her and somehow it makes me feel a little bit better that Mitch’s death is hard for her too, regardless of how distant they were.

“Hi,”

she says, stopping in the back doorway.

“Hey,”

I say, giving her a quick smile before turning back to the iPad. I want to ask her about what happened upstairs so bad, but I can’t. Can’t put any ideas in her head until I know what she’s thinking.

“Is there…is there anything I can do to help?”

she now asks, and I swear she almost sounds nervous.

It’s an automatic reflex to say no, not wanting to have her around here, a place she has no claim to despite the fact it belongs to her dad. But just as I’m about to tell her that, I stop, wondering if maybe her being here isn’t a good thing. A chance for her to see what this place is and what it means to the locals and to the tourists.

So maybe she might think twice about taking that asshole up on his offer.

“Sure,”

I reply, turning to face her. “You can price that box of stuff if you want,”

I tell her, pointing to the box of bikinis and trunks that got dropped off yesterday. “Here,”

I add, handing her one of those old-school pricing guns.

“How much do I make them?”

she asks, opening the box. I hand her a price list, and she offers me a small smile. “Thanks.”

She moves down to the other end of the counter, carefully removing each of the swimsuits, putting a price on them before stacking them in a neat pile beside the box. It’s almost like she’s trying to take up as little room as possible. I don’t bother making conversation as I scan through the rest of the orders we’re expecting.

“So, do you work here every day?”

she eventually asks, and when I look down at her, she’s busy pricing and not looking at me.

“Yeah, mostly,”

I say. “I pretty much surf with Mitch every day, and then just hang out here, working,”

I add, immediately realizing what a loser that makes me sound like.

Before I can clarify that I do have other shit going on in my life, the bell above the door rings, and when I look up, I see Kai, dressed in nothing but boardshorts, his hair dripping with the remnants of the ocean, walking in. I already know his custom-made board will be propped against the front of the shop, waiting for him to walk back out, cross the street, and head back into the surf. Guy pretty much lives in the ocean when he’s not working, which is hardly surprising considering his family’s business.

“Nate, dude,”

he says, walking up to the counter with a huge grin on his face.

“Hey,”

I reply, clapping the hand he offers me.

Kai casts a long look at Sage, who lifts her head and offers him a quick smile before she puts the swimsuits she’s been pricing back into the box and walks off. As soon as she’s left, Kai turns back to me, brows raised and that same goofy grin on his face.

“Who the fuck is that?”

he mouths, jerking his thumb over his shoulder in case it wasn’t clear who he’s talking about.

I shake my head. “No one. Doesn’t matter,” I reply.

Kai chuckles, glancing over his shoulder at Sage again before turning back to me. “So, two things. One, I need some more wax.”

“Easy,”

I say, grabbing a tub of the Quick Humps orange wax I know he uses. “And the second?”

Kai grins, throwing some notes on the counter that are slightly damp from being clutched in his hand. “We still on for tonight or what?”

I blow out a breath, looking over Kai’s shoulder at Sage, who is now busy hanging the swimsuits on the rack. I’m not sure if she’s listening to us. It’s entirely possible she is because the shop isn’t that big, and Kai is currently our only customer.

I hear Kai chuckle, and when I glance back at him, his grin is cheeky as he leans in and murmurs, “Tell me you don’t wanna tap that.”

Again, he motions toward Sage in case I’m not clear who he’s talking about.

“I don’t wanna tap that,”

I reply, deadpan.

His grin widens, giving Sage one last look as he says, “Sure you don’t. So, tonight, we on or what? I wasn’t sure what with everything…”

I shove a hand through my hair, knowing that I feel the same way. It feels wrong to get together, given everything that’s happened, but at the same time, I know it’s what Mitch would want us to do. The last thing in the world Mitch would want is us sitting around with our thumbs up our asses, wondering what the hell we’re going to do without him.

Plus, after my earlier comment to Sage, I kind of want to hang out with my friends in a way that doesn’t involve surfing or work. Prove I do have more shit going on in my life besides that.

“You know what,”

I say. “Fuck it, let’s do it.”

“Nice,”

Kai says, giving my hand another clap before he picks up the wax and turns to leave. Just before he walks out though, he stops by the door, a huge grin on his face as he calls out to Sage, “Bye, pretty lady.”

Sage and I don’t talk much for the rest of the day, mostly because the second Alana walks in, she takes care of that for me. I swear that woman could talk to anyone about anything and for once, I’m grateful.

The shop is busy too, almost like word’s gotten around that The Pipe Dream is still open despite its owner having died. I’m sure everyone has a million questions about what’s gonna happen to the place, and I certainly don’t miss the second looks Sage gets anytime a local walks in.

No one asks about her or the shop though, and I’m glad because honestly, I’m not really sure what answer to give them.

By the time we’re closing up, I can tell Alana is practically chomping at the bit to get out there, and I can’t help but smile, glad today is back to normal, even if we are just surfing.

“We heading out?”

I ask her, a smile on my face because I already know the answer.

“Hell yes!”

she says, clapping her hands together. “Sage, you wanna come surf with us?”

she now asks, turning to Sage.

“Oh, no, thank you,”

Sage says, offering a small smile. “I actually can’t surf.”

I swallow down my surprise and the snarky comment I want to make about how the hell the daughter of Mitch Harris could possibly not know how to surf. I feel like that’s something that Mitch would never let slide and once again, I can’t help but wonder what the fuck happened between them.

“Oh, I can teach you!”

Alana cries. “On my next day off, I’ll give you some tips!”

She smiles at Sage before heading out the back to change, clearly not caring what Sage’s thoughts are on that.

I take advantage of the fact she’s gone as I turn to Sage. “So, some people will be over tonight,”

I say, tipping my head toward the yard at the back of the shop. “We’ll try not to be too loud.”

I don’t bother inviting her, nor do I explain any more, as I turn and head over to my place to change and grab my board.

“To Mitch,”

Kai says for the third time tonight as he holds his Corona out, waiting for each of us.

“To Mitch,”

I repeat, tapping my bottle against his. Miles and Tanner do the same, echoing the toast.

We all take a long swig in silence, the four of us staring into the lit firepit as we try to ignore the empty seat beside me that was always occupied by Mitch.

I don’t know when this tradition actually started, probably long before I came along. But for as long as I can remember, every Wednesday evening would find the five of us sitting around drinking beers and talking about the waves we’d caught.

Tanner and Mitch were best friends. They’d grown up surfing together, and when Tanner started his business making surfboards, Mitch opened the shop that would stock and sell them. Miles and Kai are Tanner’s sons, working with him in the board shop. They have known Mitch their entire lives, and when I came to work at The Pipe Dream and live in the guesthouse, I became friends with them too.

I have no idea what Sage thinks about the four of us sitting by the fire drinking. I haven’t seen her since I got back from surfing with Alana. I’m not even sure she’s upstairs in the apartment, although considering she knows no one but us, I don’t know where else she could be. Maybe she’s hanging out with Alana again.

“So, what’s gonna happen with this place?”

Kai asks, giving my foot a nudge.

“Dunno,” I shrug.

“Maybe you can just take over,”

Tanner says. “Run the place like Mitch probably always expected you to.”

I take a long pull of my beer, having no clue if that’s what Mitch ever expected from me, especially considering he never even told me he had a daughter. I haven’t asked Tanner if he knew about Sage, haven’t mentioned her at all. But considering the comment he just made about the shop, maybe he doesn’t know.

Still, that doesn’t mean Mitch would just leave this place to me. I was always close to him, but I always assumed that was because of the fact I lived in his guesthouse, not because he had any allegiance or whatever to me. He might have saved me from a whole heap of shit back when I was younger, but I’m certain that was always a bigger deal for me than it was for him.

“Dunno,”

I say again, just as Sage now walks around the side of the building.

And it’s like she’s a fucking magnet for everyone’s eyes, which all turn to her, openly staring at this gorgeous blonde woman who has just walked into the backyard, dressed in a pair of tiny shorts and a tank, her iPhone flashlight once again lighting her way.

“Well, hey, pretty lady,”

Kai calls.

Sage looks up, a small smile on her face. “Hi, sorry, not intruding, just going upstairs.”

“Nah, don’t go,”

Kai now says. “Come join us.”

Anger curls in my gut at her presence, even as I feel the look Tanner shoots me, the one that is both curious and surprised and just a tiny bit relieved. I ignore it, my eyes never leaving Sage, who stands nervously by the stairs.

Why the fuck is she here? Why is she messing up everything?

I’m out of my chair before I’ve even finished my thought, crossing the yard toward Sage, intent on telling her to go. To just pack her bags and leave. She sees me coming, taking a step back into the shadows as an uneasy look crosses her face.

“I’m sorry, I…”

she starts.

“Why are you here?”

I ask, my words low. I have no idea who this woman really is or why she’s come into my world and turned it upside down, but I need some answers.

Sage blinks, those huge blue eyes of hers practically pools of black right now. “I don’t know,”

she whispers, the words catching in her throat.

My hand moves to her hip as though it has a mind of its own and I don’t miss the way her breath catches at the contact. “Yeah, you do,”

I press, even if I don’t know exactly what I’m asking anymore.

She takes a breath, letting it out slowly as she whispers, “I thought…I thought I could get to know…get to know my dad.”

It feels like the first honest and real thing she’s said to me, and for some reason, it softens something inside me. I still have no idea what that asshole Pat said to her today, but I do know it wasn’t a long conversation.

I have to hope that maybe, just maybe, the more Sage gets to know Mitch, the more she wants to hang onto him. Which means she wants to hang onto his shop too. It’s selfish as fuck of me, but I don’t care. I’ll do anything not to lose this place.

“These guys,”

I start, swallowing hard, unable to believe I’m actually going to do this. “They’re my friends. They’re Mitch’s friends too.”

“I get it,”

she replies quickly. “I’ll go.”

She moves to walk away and my thumb presses into her hip, pushing her further into the shadows. She blinks again, the warmth of her breath brushing against my neck and face as she looks up at me. Her eyes are so fucking dark, so deep and full of despair and longing and something else I don’t recognize.

And I don’t know what the fuck is going on right now, but whatever this is, it’s freaking me the hell out. Suddenly all I can think about is backing her up against the side of the shop and kissing her.

And I can’t fucking do that, no matter how much my body might be telling me otherwise.

“I’ll—”

My thumb brushes against her hipbone, cutting off whatever she was about to say as I find myself stepping closer, closing the distance between us. “You can stay,”

I whisper, having no clue where these words are coming from. “Stay.”