She watched now as Calvin easily helped JT load her luggage into the back of the golf cart. The two men chatted casually as they went along.
She had felt the pull of sexual desire from plenty of men over the years, but none like what she’d experienced for Calvin.
Squaring her shoulders, she made her way slowly to the foot of the dock. She tried to focus on the dragonflies buzzing the water near the shoreline instead of the man watching her as if she were walking down a catwalk instead of the old dock.
“Hi.” She stopped and removed her glasses as he took her smaller bag from her hands.
“Miss Rothschild.” He nodded. “When I noticed your name on the registration, I thought it best to greet you myself.” He glanced back at the boat. “Your brother didn’t come with you?” He was treating her as if he’d never met her before. Did he even remember her? Maybe he didn’t? After all, it had been over six years since she’d last seen him.
He hadn’t changed much except for the slight dusting of dark hair over his chin and those new muscles she could see through his dress shirt. And he looked taller than he had before.
“No.” She frowned. “Why would he?”
He shook his head quickly. “No reason.” He reached for her guitar case, but she shook her head.
“I’ve got this.” She moved over to set it down on the seat in the golf cart.
His dark eyebrows rose slightly, but then he nodded and watched her. When she turned back to him, he shifted his gaze as the sound of a boat motor sounded in the distance.
“Shit.” JT groaned and tried to shrink behind Bella.
She glanced over, and her shoulders sagged slightly when she noticed Ben, Sarah, and Aurora standing at the helm of the boat as it docked next to the ferry. Her sister-in-law was holding Luna in her arms. Bella had last seen the two-year-old on her first birthday. The mass of fluffy blonde hair the girl had was now in short little braids.
Aurora, her oldest niece, was a few months shy of her fifth birthday. Both of Bella’s nieces were dressed in blue-flowered jumpers and white sandals and had white ribbons in their braided hair.
“You have to stick up for me,” JT said behind her back. “Tell them I had nothing to do with…” He stopped talking when Sarah rushed over and grabbed her in a big hug as she shifted Luna in her arms slightly so she didn’t smoosh the little girl between them.
“You’re here,” her sister-in-law said, holding onto her while Ben helped Aurora out of the boat. The four-year-old was very independent and trying to push her father’s helping hands away.
“I am.” She smiled. “I was going to call…” she started, but Sarah waved her off after she released her.
“We’re surprised, not upset that you didn’t call us.” Sarah ran her eyes over Bella. “I can see the fear in your eyes.” Sarah chuckled. “Really, I’m not mad at you.” Her eyes moved to JT and Calvin quickly, and Bella noticed both men shrink slightly.
It had only been a year since her brother and his family had visited her in LA, but still, Bella could see the slight changes in her sister-in-law and her brother.
Sarah set Luna down, and Bella was surprised to see the girl run up and down the dock on her own now.
She was pretty steady for a two-year-old, but Ben was still less than a foot away from both his daughters, hands at the ready in case either of them ventured too close to the edge.
“Hey.” Ben finally made it to her side. Aurora tucked herself behind her father’s leg as she looked up at her while Luna continued to jabber and play with a stuffed dog she had been holding onto as she plopped down at her father’s feet.
“Hi,” Bella said to her brother. She bent down to get on her niece’s level. “Hi, Aurora, do you remember me?” Before she could finish speaking, the little girl was shaking her head from side to side. Then her big blue eyes moved beyond Bella and grew larger.
“Cal!” the little girl cried out and released her death hold on her father’s leg. She rushed past Bella to jump into the man’s waiting arms.
Instantly, Luna glanced up and giggled. “Cal!” she mimicked her older sister and tried to get to her feet. Ben helped her, but instead of letting her rush to the man, he picked her up and held onto her himself.
“There she is.” Calvin chuckled and spun Aurora around in circles. “My favorite lady.”
“More,” Aurora giggled.
“This is why I don’t bring them here often. I think they have both fallen in love. Especially, Aurora.” Ben sighed and reached over to wrap his free arm around Bella. “Hey,” he said again, “how long are you here for?”
She closed her eyes and held onto her brother. Not wanting to tell him that she didn’t know herself, she threw out a number.
“Two weeks.” She placed a careful smile on her face before pulling away. “I thought it would be easier to stay…”
“Of course.” Ben squeezed her shoulder. “You don’t have to stay at our place. You’re welcome anywhere.” Her brother’s eyes moved up to where Calvin was still swinging Aurora in circles. “I take it you have my little sister all set up?”
Calvin instantly stopped moving, keeping the giggling Aurora hanging upside down in his arms so that he could talk freely. “Yes, she’s all set up in the Summer Suite.”
Bella noticed how much more relaxed the man was now that Ben was there.
“I don’t need…” She started to argue about being given the largest room in the entire resort, but Sarah stepped forward and nudged her to start walking beside her on the pathway.
“The men will take your things and the girls inside.” She motioned to the huge white building that loomed in the distance.
Bella fell into step with Sarah easily. She’d liked her from the moment she’d met her a few years back. Who wouldn’t? Sarah was so down to earth and friendly.
But where Sarah shined, her mother Crystal exploded. When she’d met Crystal Holley for the first time, she’d been welcomed into a new world. Both Sarah and her mother had this way about them that put everyone around them at ease.
Bella had been going through some really tough times when she’d first escaped to Silver Cove. She hadn’t known how to act around either of the women, having never really experienced a mother figure. It wasn’t as if her mother, Juliette, had filled that role at any point in Bella’s young life.
“So,” Sarah broke into her thoughts, “tell me what’s going on.”
“What makes you think…” Sarah tugged her to a stop by pulling lightly on her elbow. The look she gave Bella had her sighing. She should have known better. There was no way she could keep her voice or her eyes from giving her troubles away. It was the main reason she’d wanted to avoid seeing them until later. She’d hoped to have a few days to recover from the scare before seeing her family.
“Something’s up.” Sarah nudged her aside on the walking path until they sat on a stone bench under a large apple tree. “I know that your brother may be blind when it comes to you being unhappy, but I have eyes.” She smiled over at her. “You can tell me.”
“I know.” Bella closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. “I was hoping for a few days to collect my thoughts—”