Page 1 of Secrets of the Past (Secrets of Mustang Island #3)

Nicole Reyes had never worn a pair of high heels in her life until tonight. Her toes were pinched, her feet ached, and her dress clung too tightly around her ribs. But none of that mattered. Not really.

Because tonight, she was going to marry Dustin “Tripp” Masterson.

She glanced sideways at him, the boy she’d loved since she was sixteen.

He was tall with dark hair and big brown eyes that glittered when he gazed at her.

He looked too perfect in his navy blazer and khakis, like he belonged in a Ralph Lauren ad instead of this over-decorated country club on the edge of Mustang Island.

He turned toward her with a warm smile, the kind that always made her heart stumble.

“You okay?” he whispered.

“Yeah,” she breathed, even though she wasn’t. Not entirely.

Yesterday, they’d walked across their high school graduation stage. Everyone had cheered. Her mother had cried. His mother hadn’t even clapped.

Now here they were, two kids standing in the middle of a crowd full of expectations and champagne flutes, pretending to belong, when they both knew they didn’t.

Their time together was running out, and Tripp’s mother couldn’t be happier.

Tripp’s parents had made it crystal clear: end things with the poor girl from the wrong side of town, or lose your college money.

And even her parents, who had once smiled warmly when he visited their tiny home, had started pushing her toward the future. College. Independence. Forgetting Tripp.

But she couldn’t forget him. She didn’t want to.

She looked up into his golden brown eyes, fear bubbling up inside her. “Are you sure?”

He didn’t hesitate. “Yeah. Are you?”

She swallowed hard, her heart pounding. She loved him like she loved the air in her lungs. Like she loved the ocean. Like she loved the sunrise on Mustang Island when everything was quiet and full of promise.

“Yes,” she whispered. “But your parents…”

“They’ll be furious,” he admitted, his voice steady. “But what can they do?”

She blinked at him. “Disown you?”

“They’ve already threatened to.”

“They threatened to cut off your tuition if you didn’t go to Baylor.”

“I know.”

Nicole winced. “You told them you wanted to go to UT with me. That we were going to law school together. That we had plans?—”

“They didn’t care. What is more important? Money or being with you? I think you’re the most important person in my life, and hopefully they’ll come around.”

But what if they didn’t? Nicole couldn’t imagine not speaking to her family again. Even for Tripp, she’d have a hard time letting them go.

“Tripp…” Her voice broke slightly. This was such a drastic step, and yet, the thought of living without him was terrifying.

He reached for her hand and gave it a firm squeeze. “My mom wants to control everything. My dad... sometimes I think he lets her because it’s easier. But this is our life, Nic. Not theirs. We said we’d be together. We made a promise to one another.”

They had. A thousand promises whispered under moonlight and kissed into skin. They’d talked about opening their own firm one day. Masterson she had to convince him.

“I’m eighteen. I just graduated from high school.”

The man frowned. “You’re awfully young.”

They gazed at one another.

“I’m pregnant,” she said. “We want to keep our child, and our families will make us get an abortion.”

The man shook his head. “All right.”

She wore her sundress and the white veil she’d hidden under her bed for two months. Tripp looked at her like she was the only thing that existed in the universe.

When they spoke their vows, her voice trembled. His didn’t.

“I promise,” he whispered, “that nothing and no one will ever come between us. Until death do us part.”

Nicole’s eyes filled with tears. “Together, we are invincible.”

They kissed, and the world shifted. They were husband and wife, until death did they part.

After they signed the marriage license, they ran out of the chapel, laughing.

It was done. Not the wedding she’d dreamed of, but that didn’t matter. They were together, and soon, they would be attending college.

“I love you,” Tripp said.

Nicole sighed and kissed him. “I love you. Let’s go celebrate our wedding night.”

Tripp grinned at her and started up the Mustang. “I can’t wait a moment longer.”

The banging on the door rattled the tiny house. Maria Reyes sat bolt upright in bed, her heart clenching, sending up a prayer that all her children were safe and sound in their beds.

“Dios mío,” she whispered. “Who’s knocking like that at this hour?”

Francisco swung his legs over the bed and reached for the nearest shirt and pants. By the time he opened the door, Suzanne and George Masterson were already halfway inside.

“What the hell?” he muttered.

“We need to talk,” George said, brushing past him, beginning to pace the floor of their small home.

“What’s going on?” Maria asked, stepping into the living room. Instantly afraid that something bad had happened to her daughter and that boy she thought she couldn’t live without.

Suzanne’s voice was ice. “Your daughter has trapped our son.”

Maria blinked. “Excuse me?”

Nicole would never trap a boy. The woman was high-society loco.

“They eloped,” George said. “They’re probably married by now.”

“No.” Maria’s knees went weak. “Nicole would’ve told us. She’s leaving for school in a month. How do you know they eloped?”

Oh God, she hoped and prayed they had not gotten married. She hoped and prayed that she was not pregnant.

The woman wore evening clothes and looked completely out of place in their modest home.

“Because I questioned Paige and she finally told me the truth,” his mother said. “She said they were eloping because we’ve been trying to get Dustin to end his relationship with your daughter.”