Seaside Sunsets Read online

  Jessica had no idea what was going on, but she covered her mouth to keep from laughing at the look on Bella’s face.

  Jenna and Amy clung to each other’s arms with one hand and stifled their laughter with the other. Bella pressed her lips together, barely suppressing a laugh.

  “How about it, Vera?” Theresa yelled across the pool deck. “You up for a Thong Thursday swim?”

  Jessica looked up at Vera with wide eyes.

  “Oh, I think I’ll spare you the imagery. Thank you, though,” Vera said.

  Jessica chanced a peek at Theresa, whose eyes were still pinned on Bella.

  “Actually, I think I’ll go run a few errands. You girls enjoy the afternoon.” Theresa pulled up her shorts and stomped out of the gate.

  Amy and Jenna ran to Bella’s side, whispering and laughing. Jessica looked at Vera, who motioned her over to the table where she was sitting. She handed Vera the towel she’d covered her butt with and sat across from her.

  “Hi, I’m Jessica. Thank you for covering my butt. I think.” She drew her brows together, still confused by what had just happened.

  “Bella’s a prankster, and Theresa is the property manager. As you probably guessed, thongs aren’t allowed at the pool.”

  “Oh.” Jessica chewed on her lower lip. “Gosh, I hope I’m not going to get in trouble. I had no idea, and the sign…”

  “Bella made the sign. Every year, Bella plays tricks on Theresa. She’s been doing it since she was a kid, and every year Theresa ignores her. But this year, it looks like Bella’s getting a little payback.”

  Jessica scrutinized the three girls, still laughing and carrying on about Theresa’s thong. She was a little envious of their fun.

  Vera reached across the table and patted Jessica’s hand. “Don’t take it personally, hon. This wasn’t about you. You should be proud of that body of yours.”

  Jessica felt herself blush. “Thank you. They look like they’re a fun group.”

  “They are fun. Some of the nicest women you could ever meet. How long are you here for?”

  “For the summer.” She turned back toward Vera. “I’m here through the beginning of August, I think.”

  “You think? Where are you from, dear?”

  “I’m from Boston. I’ve rented the apartment in the big house for the summer, so I’ll probably stay if nothing comes up at work. Where are you from?”

  “I’m from Boston as well, and I’m also here for the summer. I come every summer.” Vera smiled.

  Jessica glanced at the girls again.

  “Why don’t you go join them?” Vera nodded toward the others.

  “Oh goodness, no. I couldn’t do that. It’s been a long time since I’ve had friends like that. I really have to be going anyway.”

  “Do you have a date?” Vera lifted her thin, gray brows.

  “A date?” Jessica laughed. “It’s been even longer since I’ve had a date than since I’ve had friends like that. No, no date.”

  “Well, then, why don’t you come by Wellfleet Harbor tonight and listen to our little concert. Do you know where that is?”

  “Yes, I think so. That’s where the WHAT Theater is?” The Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater was a small theater located beside the harbor.

  “That’s right. Just down the road, across from the beach are tennis courts, and beside that there will be a tent set up where I’ll be playing in a string quartet. I’d love it if you would stop by and listen. There won’t be many people there. There never are.”

  A string quartet? She debated making up plans to escape going, for fear of the music spurring her on to pick up her cello, but in a split second the excitement of seeing Vera play stole any chance she had at conjuring up an excuse. “I would love to go. Thank you. What instrument do you play?”

  “The violin. I used to play with symphonies all over the world.”

  Jessica’s pulse quickened. She could hardly believe that she’d found someone she had something in common with in the little community. She wanted to tell Vera that she played the cello, but she didn’t want to talk about her career, or worse, be asked to play something. The minute she picked up her cello, she’d remember the beauty of it against her, the vibration of the music, and her much-needed hiatus would be kaput. She was purposely not picking up her cello for a few days to separate herself from her love for it. She needed that space in order to make clearheaded decisions about whether this hiatus was temporary, or the beginning of a new direction altogether.

  Chapter Three

  JESSICA SAT WITH her feet buried in the sand and a dozen red roses in her lap, which she’d bought to give to Vera. She looked out at the harbor while she waited for the quartet to begin playing, having arrived early with the hopes of enjoying the view of the bay and pulling her thoughts together before the concert. The air was crisp, and it carried the salty, fishy scent of the bay. She wrapped her cardigan around herself and drew her knees up to her chest. She’d come to the Cape once as a teenager with a friend. It had been the one and only time she’d lied to her father about where she was going, and she’d felt so guilty that she’d come clean a few days later. He’d grounded her for a week, but his vibrant blue eyes had betrayed his words. I’m disappointed in you, he’d said, but it felt like his eyes conveyed that he was proud of her for breaking the rules. She was used to disappointing her mother. It seemed every missed note was a disappointment. But her father had never been critical of her playing, or of her. And when he’d said he was disappointed, it had crushed her. The combination of his stern words and that look had confused her for years, until her first year at Juilliard, when her mother had been disappointed in one of her performances, and her father, standing beside her mother, had said, Next time you’ll do better, but his eyes clearly relayed the message, I’m so damn proud of you. At that moment she’d understood how very alike she and her father were—both willing to kowtow to her mother—and how very different they were from her mother.

  She inhaled the sea air and blew it out slowly, sending her negative memories into the night. She’d been thinking about Jamie, the girls from the pool, and Vera, all afternoon and evening. For the first time in her life, she was free from the strings of performing that had bound her for so many years. She had time for friends, like the girls at the pool, or Vera, whom she was sure she could talk to for hours.

  She also had time to date.

  Date. She’d gone on a few dates in recent years, but without fail, her dates would go on and on about something and her mind would fall back to her need to practice. Or, maybe most embarrassingly, she’d simply rather spend time playing her cello than with any of the men she’d dated. But now, as the breeze brought the music from the string quartet to the beach across the street and the notes threaded their way around her like an old friend, images of Jamie and the idea of dating danced closely together.

  She couldn’t shake the look in his eyes as they rolled down her body, drinking her in as if he were dying of thirst. He probably thought she hadn’t noticed, but that quick look had sent an unfamiliar, and surprisingly welcome, shudder through her. He had an easy smile, and when she’d lost her mind and snapped at him, he hadn’t gotten angry or taken it as a personal affront. He’d simply offered to help her understand how to use eBay.

  She’d put off thinking about how she’d lost that bid, too. She’d wanted so badly to win that auction that even now, thinking about it, made her throat swell. The music stopped, and she inhaled deeply, rose to her feet, and gazed across the street to where the string quartet was playing. The white tent rippled in the breeze as she made her way across the cool sand to the parking lot.

  The music started up again, and she crossed the parking lot, her eyes on Vera, sitting proudly, playing her violin. She looked regal in a long black cotton skirt and blouse. Jessica had no hope of stifling the smile on her lips as she lowered herself to one of the metal chairs in the front row. Vera was right; there were only a handful of people in the audience.

&
nbsp; A breeze picked up the hem of her dress, and she settled the bouquet she’d brought for Vera over it. She probably should have worn something longer to ward off the chill, but she loved the summery feel of the dress, and she felt more her age in it. She was so used to dressing conservatively for the symphony and social events surrounding her career that when she’d gone shopping for her vacation, she’d had to ask the salesgirl what women her age were wearing these days. She hadn’t realized how out of sync she was with other twenty-seven-year-olds.

  “Hey there.”

  She turned at the sound of Jamie’s deep voice. She was so caught up in the music that she didn’t realize he’d slid into the seat beside her, and now she couldn’t take her eyes off of him in his slate-blue long-sleeved shirt, which looked so soft and worn that she wanted to cuddle up to him, and a pair of jeans that had the faded marks of an old favorite where his muscular thighs tested the strength of the denim.

  “Hi,” she whispered. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

  “My grandmother is playing.” He nodded at Vera. “Vera Reed, on the violin.”

  “She’s the one who invited me here. I met her at the pool.” She glanced at Vera, who was watching them with a smile. “She plays beautifully.”

  “She does. I love to listen to her.”

  “Shh.”

  They turned, and a white-haired man sitting behind them pointed to the stage.

  “Sorry,” they said in unison.

  Jessica knew better than to speak during performances, but she could barely restrain herself from talking with Jamie. Jamie lifted one shoulder in an easy shrug.

  They listened in silence to the rest of the concert. Jessica felt the heat of his gaze as he stole glances at her, and it took all of her efforts not to shift her eyes to him. She held on to the bouquet to keep herself grounded. When the music ended, she finally allowed herself a good look at Jamie. His dark hair was rustling from the breeze, and his warm, contagious smile reached his eyes as he applauded and lifted his chin in Vera’s direction. He glanced down at Jessica, and she didn’t know if it was her newfound sense of freedom, the lingering loveliness of the music, or the way his lips turned up at the end and slipped into something more flirtatious, but butterflies took flight in her stomach.

  She felt herself grinning like a sixth grader crushing on a boy when she spotted Bella, Amy, Jenna, and a beautiful, tall brunette coming toward them. She dropped her eyes, hoping they wouldn’t notice the way she was swooning over him.

  “Hey, handsome.” The tall brunette embraced him. She, like the others, had on jeans and a hoodie.

  “Sky, this is Jessica.” Jamie touched Jessica’s arm. “She’s renting at Seaside. Jessica, this is Sky.”

  She wished she could pretend that Jamie touching her arm had meant something, but his other hand was on Sky’s lower back, and she realized they must be dating.

  “Nice to meet you.” Jessica shifted her eyes away from Jamie’s hand connecting him with Sky and hoped the disappointment in her voice wasn’t as evident to them as it was to her.

  “Sky’s my fiancé, Pete’s, sister. She hangs out with us a lot,” Jenna explained. “I’m sorry about the whole thong thing,” she added.

  “Yeah, that was meant for Theresa, but we didn’t expect that you’d be there when she came down,” Amy added.

  “I did,” Bella said. “That was the whole point, for all of us to do what we’re not supposed to.”

  Amy elbowed Bella.

  Jessica didn’t know how to read Bella. If everyone was supposed to wear a thong, how come she was the only one who didn’t?

  “What?” Bella’s brows knitted together at Amy. She sighed, and her voice softened. “Okay, so here’s the deal. Theresa’s a stickler for rules, and I like to break them. So…yeah, I knew you might go down to the pool, and if you did, I, like Jamie, hoped you’d wear a thong—”

  “Don’t bring me into this.” Jamie held his hands up in surrender, which made Jessica laugh. “I wasn’t even at the pool.”

  Maybe he wasn’t dating Sky after all.

  “Anyway, it was way more fun with you wearing one, but I never expected Theresa to bare her ass.” Bella laughed. “What was up with that?”

  “Oh my God, I know.” Amy’s eyes were wide.

  “What’s wrong with wearing a thong?” Sky asked.

  Jenna explained Bella’s prank to Sky, and Jamie leaned down close and whispered, “Sorry you got caught in the crossfire.”

  “Your grandmother saved me. She covered my butt with a towel before Theresa saw me.”

  Jamie glanced at Vera. “Did she? Good old Gram.”

  “Hey, are you guys up for a few drinks?” Sky asked. “We could go to the Beachcomber.”

  “I’m up for a few drinks, but I’m not sure I can handle the Beachcomber tonight. Why don’t we light a bonfire in the quad?” Amy suggested.

  “The quad?” Jessica asked.

  “That’s what we call the grassy area between the cottages. I have no idea why, but Bella said it one night when she had too many glasses of Middle Sister wine, and the name stuck.” Jamie touched Jessica’s arm again. “It’ll be fun. Join us?”

  “Sure.” She tried to ignore the heat his hand was causing to sear through her veins.

  “Okay, but there aren’t any single guys at the quad, so you blew my chance at a hot date night.” Sky set her hands on her hips. “Are you single, Jessica? Maybe you and I should hit the Beachcomber.”

  I guess Jamie’s not your boyfriend after all.

  “I am single, but I’m not really up for a bar tonight. Thank you anyway.” No Jamie, no bar. Quad, here I come.

  “Excuse me a sec.” Jamie went to help Vera with her violin, and when he returned with Vera on his arm, Vera ran her eyes over the group and sighed.

  “Do you know how much it pleases me to see all of you here?” Vera met Jessica’s gaze. “Together.”

  Jessica handed her the bouquet. “These are for you. The consonance was lovely, and the capriccio at the end…” She covered her heart with her hand. “Took my breath away.”

  “Why, thank you.” Vera exchanged a look with Jamie that Jessica couldn’t read. “Do you play?”

  “A little,” Jessica answered. It was hard for her not to talk about her career, but she knew it would lead to all sorts of questions about how someone so young played with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and then Vera would want to know why she’d taken an extended break. She wasn’t ashamed of her reasons, but she also wasn’t ready to give up being a regular person yet. Being a regular person, it turned out, was really fun.

  “What’s a capriccio?” Amy asked.

  “A quick improv. The spirited piece they played at the end,” Jamie answered.

  Holy cow. You just got a million times hotter.

  JAMIE HELPED VERA out of the car and into the small cottage. “Are you going to join us for the bonfire, Gram?”

  “I think I’m going to turn in. We had a nice turnout tonight, didn’t we?” She sat on the couch, and Jamie spread a throw blanket across her lap.

  Jamie had enough money to buy one of the million-dollar estates overlooking the water, but he loved the three-bedroom cottage and the memories it held. Before his parents were killed in a freak accident while on safari, they summered at Seaside as a family. In addition to the few memories of his parents he’d retained over the years, the friendships he shared kept him in the community.

  “Yes, and I got shushed.” He laughed, remembering the look in Jessica’s eyes when the man behind them had shushed them. Her cheeks had pinked up, and she looked so damn cute he’d nearly pulled her against him.

  “That little Jessica is a sweet gal, isn’t she?” Vera picked up her book and set it in her lap.

  “She’s not so little, Gram. She’s probably in her mid-twenties, but yeah, she is sweet.” He hoped to find out more about her tonight. “Do you want me to make you some tea?”

  “No, thank you, dear. You go ahead an
d have some fun. I’ll be just fine.” She opened her book and leafed through the pages.

  Jamie gazed down at the woman who had raised him. He loved her so much, and he knew how lucky he was that she was still in good health. She was the only family he had left, and he feared the day he would lose her, too. He wanted to spend as much time with her as possible, which was why he’d arranged to spend the entire summer here at the Cape, and now he felt a little guilty for hurrying out to the quad to see Jessica.

  “Gram, I loved listening to you play tonight.”

  “Thank you, Jamie.” She smiled up at him, then turned back to her book. She’d always been a big reader, and of course a music lover, and she’d traveled the world playing with some of the most prestigious orchestras. That was before Jamie’s parents had been killed, when Vera said goodbye to the best parts of her life to raise him.

  “I probably don’t tell you enough, Gram, but thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I couldn’t have become the person I am without you and Grandpa there to guide me.” He wrapped his arms around her. “I love you.”

  She patted his back in the comforting way she always had. “I love you, too, dear. Now go see that pretty little thing before Tony arrives and steals her out from under your nose.”

  “I’m not looking for a girlfriend, Gram.”

  “Whatever you say, dear.” She kept her eyes trained on the book.

  “Besides, what’s a six-two surfer got over a six-two computer nerd?” He rose to his feet and spread his arms out.

  Vera shooed him away with her hand. “He’s got nothing on you, but why give him a head start—even if you’re not looking for a girlfriend?”

  Behind the cottages, the fire blazed in the large hibachi that Pete Lacroux’s brother had made as a gift for the community earlier in the summer. Hunter Lacroux worked with steel, and his hibachis and sculptures were favorites all over the Cape.

  Bella and Caden sat together on a wooden bench, his arm slung casually over her shoulder. Jenna and Pete sat on the other side of the fire in deck chairs pushed so close together they could be sitting on the same one, with their female golden retriever, Joey, at their feet.