Page 33 of Patio Lanterns (The Blue Canoe Cottage #1)

“I think I might have some idea,” he said with a soft chuckle. “You kinda spelled it out in that letter you wrote.”

Ugh. She was never going to live that damn letter down. It’d probably end up printed on her tombstone.

“I was so stupid. I had no idea what the hell I was doing, copying those things straight out of one of my mom’s trashy novels,” she admitted. “I blame them for overstimulating my active imagination.”

“Not many fourteen-year-olds use words like ‘throbbing manhood.’”

She laughed along with him. “Dead giveaway, right?”

“Well, whether or not you wrote it yourself, I was flattered.”

“What? You were?”

He nodded. “It was shitty that things went down like they did when your folks found out about it. Nothing was ever the same between us after that.”

“I was mortified. I didn’t think I could ever look you in the eye again.”

He smiled. “But you’re looking at me now.”

She giggled nervously before taking a long pull from her beer. As she swallowed, Aidan took the bottle out of her hand and placed it beside his on the table.

“A lot has changed since those days,” he said, his voice low as his gaze fell to her lips.

She froze. Her heart pounded so fast it upended her equilibrium and made her senses wobble. What the hell was happening? “Aidan…?”

He leaned in closer and cupped her face, his warm, malty breath tickling her.

Holy shit. He’s gonna kiss me. On his couch. In his trottage. This is it. Everything I used to dream about. Only… only…

Only, I don’t think I want this anymore.

“No.” Robin sucked in a breath, pressing her hand flat against Aidan’s chest. “We can’t.”

He immediately pulled back. “But I thought this is what you always wanted.”

I thought so too. Or at least, I used to.

The old Robin would’ve impulsively jumped in with both lips, but now it seemed far too… reckless. Not to mention what it would do to Rick. Hurting him certainly isn’t worth a quick thrill.

Her fourteen-year-old self would probably kick her sorry ass for rebuffing Aidan’s advances. The very thought of playing tonsil hockey with him was all she used to breathe, eat, and sleep. Now that she actually had the chance to make out with him, she was blowing it. Blowing it!

Consider the consequences, Mrs. C said.

She was right again, as always. That’s some voodoo shit right there, I tell ya.

She sighed. “I’m so sorry, Aidan, but this just doesn’t feel right. We’re like… family.”

He flopped backward. “Yeah, I know,” he said. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

She didn’t want to hurt his feelings and tried to pump him up. “I swear, it’s not you. You’re great. Maybe if we’d been in another place and time. Or maybe, you know, I’d just built it up in my head for so long, it couldn’t possibly live up to my youthful expectations.”

Or maybe it’s because I’d rather be kissing your dad.

He shrugged, seemingly over it already. “That’s okay Robbie. Some people are only meant to be friends.”

She angled herself to face him. “Let’s not mention any of this to Lark, okay?”

“Don’t mention that I struck out with her sister?” Aidan smirked. “Won’t be a problem.”

“For some reason, she seems to think we’d make a good match. She’s been pushing me to go out with you.”

“Funny, she’s been pushing me to ask you out. Not that I didn’t want to, because I think you’re really cute and fun to be with. But to be honest, you’re not the type of girl I usually date.”

“Let me guess,” she said. “Tall, leggy brunettes with God complexes?”

He squinched up his face. “Merely a coincidence.”

Plot twist. Aidan was secretly in love with Lark. Knowing that he now understood the heartache of unrequited love, it was hard not to feel just a wee bit self-righteous and bask in the schadenfreude. My, my how the tables have turned.

“Does Lark know how you feel?”

He smirked. “You’re kidding right?”

“No, really,” she said. “You should tell her.”

“Oh sure, Rob. I’m just going to pour my heart out to her while her marriage is in shambles. No thanks. I don’t want come off like a creep who swoops in to take advantage of the situation.”

“Maybe you’re right.” Robin sighed. She reached for her beer on the table, accidentally knocking a small stack of papers to the floor. As she bent down to retrieve the loose pages, she immediately recognized the name—

“Polaris North Property Development Corporation?” Her jaw dropped. “Aidan, what the hell is this?”

“That’s my partnership agreement,” he said. “I made a copy for Dad to look over.”

The papers rustled in Robin’s trembling hand. “Polaris North? You’re in business with these guys?”

“Well, not yet, but I hope to be very soon,” he said, checking his watch. “Maybe as soon as tomorrow.”

“Mom received a letter from Polaris North about buying the Blue Canoe. It spelled out an offer for eighteen and a half percent over current market value, which is the exact same offer that the Koskies received for their cottage. The same offer that a few other neighbours around Lake Whippoorwill have been getting.”

Aidan exhaled. “Weird.”

“You think?” Robin tossed the pages onto the table. “Doesn’t that seem too coincidental to actually be a coincidence?”

“But I thought Polaris North was only buying prime locations on vacant land,” he told her. “No one told me they were buying up existing properties.”

“My guess? They’re targeting smaller, older cottages to make way for the sprawling estates they want you to build for overrated influencers and celebutants.”

“Well,” he said, crinkling his brow. “When you put it that way…”

“Aidan, don’t you see that if Polaris North mows down all the family cottages that make Lake Whippoorwill special, it loses its rustic charm?”

“Hey, I’m as much for rustic charm as the next guy, Robbie.

But celebrities don’t appreciate the same things that we do,” he told her.

“They want secluded waterfront mansions they can use to retreat from the public eye, but they also want all the high-end amenities their lifestyle affords them—the boathouses filled with toys, the spacious grounds, the stunning views. They don’t want neighbours spying on their every move, and they sure as hell don’t need older cottages driving down resale values. ”

She shook her head in disbelief. Aidan loved Lake Whippoorwill. Deep down, he had to know that all the years they spent there together were responsible, at least partly, for making him who he was today.

It dawned on Robin that she could say the same.

Who would she be, she wondered, if her parents hadn’t brought her and her sisters up to the lake?

The experiences they’d shared, good and bad, had shaped Robin’s life.

They’d sparked her sense of adventure, and in many ways, nurtured her fearlessness, having learned the value of taking risks—even ones that didn’t pay off.

They’d opened her eyes, her mind, her heart.

She may have complained and whined too much about it, but being at the lake always had a way of settling her soul.

The indelible memories, the lifelong friendships.

Each and every one was irreplaceable. And if they were all to be suddenly erased…

She blinked, snapping her back to the present. “Are you telling me that you’re actually okay with this?”

“Robbie, come on. It’s called progress,” he said. “I’m sure no one’s being forced out of their cottage. Eighteen and a half percent over market value sounds like a pretty decent deal.”

“Oh my God, Aidan, you’ve been drinking the Kool-Aid. Mom was sick when she received that letter. How do we know that Polaris North didn’t know that? That they haven’t been preying on cottage owners like her who might be in dire straits and eager to jump at the first offer that comes their way?”

Aidan pinched the bridge of his nose. “I refuse to believe that could be true. But I promise, I’m going to ask those questions and find out what’s really going on.”

She rose to her feet. “I—I’d like you to take me home now, please.”

“Robbie, please, I’m begging you, don’t say anything to Lark or Dove. Give me at least twenty-four hours to get to the bottom of this, okay?”

“Mom’s celebration of life is tomorrow,” she reminded him. “The last thing I’m going to do is say anything to spoil it. I hope you’ll remember that too.”

“Of course. I know how much it means,” he said.

They walked together to the front door and Aidan grabbed his truck keys when he stopped in the vestibule. “Look, I really don’t want us to end the evening this way.”

“I don’t either,” she said sadly.

“Would it be okay to ask you for a hug?”

Robin nodded. “Anytime.”

Aidan wrapped his arms around her, and they hugged tight.

Damn, he was a good hugger, she thought, as he held her with just the right amount of pressure and warmth and heart.

In every way, a good, long heart-to-heart hug with Aidan was much better than a kiss, and she felt a comforting connection, a sense of calm, a special bond.

It was not the hug of a coldhearted real estate developer.

“We’re gonna figure this out, Robbie,” he told her.

“I sure hope so,” she whispered into his shoulder.

SLAM!

They both jumped, startled by the sudden shockwave. It was like a gust of wind had nearly torn the door off its hinges and forcefully blasted it shut.

Robin gasped. “What was hell was that?”

A motor roared fiercely, and tires spun on the gravel. Aidan rushed outside to investigate as Robin followed closely behind.

Whoever had just been there, they were now nothing but a pair of red taillights in the distance disappearing inside a cloud of dust.