Page 24 of The Sandy Page Bookshop

Leah squeezed the cold bottle hard in her hands.

She wished they hadn’t strayed into this territory.

But then Luke did something she didn’t know she needed; he rested a hand on her back.

The breadth of his palm was steadying and warm.

She could feel the heat of it through the thin cotton of her shirt and instantly she felt herself exhale.

“It’s a lot to let go of,” Luke said, gently. “Is that why you came home?”

She took a long swig of her beer. “That’s just the beginning. I won’t bore you with the rest of it.”

“You’ve yet to say anything that I find boring.”

And so she told him. About her old job at Morgan Press, and her debut author, Luna, who she was so excited about.

About the morning the story broke that someone had done some digging: Luna’s story was not true.

At least, not truly hers. The news hit the stands before it hit Morgan, and the rush to put out the fires was fast and furious.

In the end Leah’s job went out with the flames. All the while, Luke listened quietly.

“I think what you’re doing is bold,” he said when she was done. “It takes guts to come back home and start over.”

“Thank you.” Tears pressed at the corners of her eyes. It was the nicest thing anyone had said to her since she’d left Boston.

“This is a pretty healing place.” He nodded to the beach below.

An older couple was walking the shoreline hand in hand.

A couple of teens threw a Frisbee. Farther down a few sunset seekers were already setting up their beach chairs facing west. “I wasn’t engaged or anything like you, but I did come out of a relationship about a year ago. It’s hard starting over.”

Leah pulled her knees against her chest, and rested her cheek on them, staring at him.

Luke had such a strong profile, she hadn’t noticed before.

“Have you started over?” she asked. He hadn’t mentioned anyone.

And he was here up in the dunes, with her, on a Friday night.

But suddenly she had doubts. Maybe there was someone waiting for him back at home.

When he turned to her, his blue eyes were flecked with green, not unlike the ocean in the late day sun. “No,” he said. “Not yet.”

Up in the dunes there was no other sound but the waves below and the call of shorebirds. Leah swallowed hard, her eyes traveling across Luke’s face. So familiar, and yet so new to her now.

And just like that Luke leaned in. Without thinking, Leah found herself leaning in, too. A sudden thundering sound erupted and from out of nowhere Scout was upon them. The dog zoomed about, stopping only to shake, spraying them both in sand and salt water.

“Scout, no!” Luke cried. Laughing he held Scout off with one hand, leaning across Leah to shield her from the spray with the other.

Together they tumbled back onto the sand as the dog happily raced off.

The dunes went still. When Leah opened her eyes, she was looking up into Luke’s.

There was nothing except the sand beneath her, the sky overhead, and Luke Nickerson in between.

When he lowered his mouth to hers, Leah closed her eyes.

Luke kissed her once, his lips like a summer plum, plush against her own.

And then he pulled away. “Leah, is this…”

“Yes.” She reached for him, pulling him back to her, her mouth searching for his.

Luke tasted like cold beer and salt. Like a summer day.

And all she wanted was to get lost in him.

Luke Nickerson’s arms were strong as they encircled her waist, and she rolled over in the sand with him until she lay on top of his chest. Feverishly they kissed, pressed together in the shallow of the dunes where no one could see.

Leah did not care if they did. She kissed him until she couldn’t breathe, until her head rushed with dizziness.

And then the thoughts came, tumbling like a landslide into her mind. Brad’s words: schoolboy crush . The shop. Boston. Greg…

Leah reeled back. The waves were still rolling, the gulls still crying. She looked around trying to get her bearings.

“Leah?” Luke hoisted himself up on his elbows. “Are you alright?”

“I’m sorry.” She brought her hand to her lips, raw from the kissing. “I’m sorry, Luke, but I can’t.” What was she doing? Now Luke would have the wrong idea. She should never have come.

Hurriedly she began packing up, gathering the beer bottles that clinked alarmingly in her rush.

“Leah, slow down.” Luke hopped to his feet, scooping up the empty bottles and the wrappers from their lobster rolls. Their hands brushed against each other as they reached for the six-pack at the same time, and Luke gripped hers in his own. “Please. Look at me.”

Heart in her throat, she tried. But she could not. Instead her eyes slid to his and away, so he wouldn’t see her embarrassment. “I should go home.”

There was no hiding the confusion in his expression, but he didn’t press her. “I’ll take you.”

The whole ride home Leah stared out the window.

Scout, still damp from the beach, perched between them, his sandy paws rough against her thigh each time he shifted, but Leah barely noticed.

She’d made a huge mistake. Worse, she’d given someone who’d been nothing but good to her the wrong idea.

Never before had Leah rushed into things.

Since leaving Boston it was all she seemed to do: running home, opening the shop, and now this.

Brad was right: Luke still harbored strong feelings for her.

Besides Luke she didn’t have any real friends here.

Her mother had died, her father had moved.

Her engagement was off, and her job had been lost. It was one thing to get swept away with a cute guy on a summer night.

It was another thing to give the one person whose friendship she relied on so much false hope.

When Luke pulled up outside the shop, she pushed the door open before he had a chance to come to a full stop. “Leah, please wait.”

Hand still on the door handle, she stayed in the truck. She owed him this much.

“Is it something I did?” His expression was full of hurt, which only made her feel worse.

“No. You were… wonderful.” She paused, unsure how to make him understand. “This is not about you.”

Luke didn’t say anything.

“It’s just… too much. Too soon.”

He turned to her, stricken. “Leah, that’s not why I brought you there.”

“I know that,” she told him. Luke had been nothing but a gentleman. “I’m the one who should be sorry if I gave you the wrong idea. You’ve been nothing but a good friend.”

She could see how the word hit him right in the middle, but it needed to be said.

Despite his sweet gestures and good looks and the million little things Luke Nickerson had done right since the day he walked through her shop door, Leah needed to remind them both of the friendship.

Because the truth was she’d felt something on the beach tonight that she’d not felt in a really long time.

Maybe not ever. And it scared her to death.

Luke was looking at her the same way he had after they’d stopped kissing, like he didn’t understand how they got here. How badly she wanted to tell him she didn’t, either.

“Good night, Leah.”

When his truck pulled away, Leah did not watch him go.

Instead she looked up at the handmade sign hanging over her shop’s door.

At the steps he’d shorn up. His hands were all over her new start.

Luke Nickerson probably didn’t understand what happened tonight; she didn’t expect him to.

She needed his help with the old house. But shoring up her life was on her.

And it was something she needed to do on her own.