“Not yet.” Their family hosted dune-side movies, but with everything Cait was going through, he wasn’t sure if she would be up for it.
“Oops. Sorry, honey. But now that the cat’s out of the bag, Cait, I hope you’ll join us Friday night for a dune-side movie on Rock Harbor Beach.” His mother said it so eagerly, he was pretty sure she wasn’t sorry. She was matchmaking. “It’s a community event, and it’ll be a lot of fun.”
“I’m working until six,” Cait said.
“Perfect! It doesn’t start until dark,” his mother exclaimed. “Brant, you’re handling the movie announcements this time, right?”
“Absolutely. Looking forward to it.”
“Wonderful. Then I’ll leave you two kids alone.” She gave him an approving look and went to join the others.
Cait reached for Scrappy. “Your mom is really nice.”
“I guess that means she didn’t scare you off?”
“I don’t need anyone else to scare me off. I’m pretty good at doing that myself.”
“Not from me, I hope.” He closed the small gap between them, feeling too far away. “Can we go back to my place and talk?”
“Yeah. I’d like that.”
He grabbed the doggy sling, and they started their goodbyes to his family. Joni chatted on about Tessa flying them and Jamison back to the Cape and Boston later tonight, and half an hour later, they finally got out of there.
“You have an amazing family,” Cait said, looking back over her shoulder.
“I have a loud, intrusive family, but I love them.” He put his hand on her lower back as they crossed the road. “Thank you for sticking around and putting up with us.”
“I really enjoyed it. Do you get together often?”
“Pretty often. My grandparents own this community. They inherited it from my great-grandparents, and they live in the big house at the entrance. My parents’ cottage is behind Randi’s, which is where we had dinner, and Tessa’s is around the corner.” He pointed to the end of the street as they climbed the porch steps.
“You all live here? Is this where you grew up?”
“No. We grew up in Silver Haven, by the Steeles and the Silvers. My parents moved here to help my grandparents after we all moved out. I was already renting my cottage, which I’ve since bought. Randi and Tessa used to share Tessa’s cottage, but Randi moved to her own a couple of years ago.”
He pushed open the front door. “After you. Excuse the mess.”
He followed her in, watching her eyes sweep over the wide-planked hardwood floors and open living area. The walls and ceilings were white with wood trim, and the rafters were stained to match the trim. The couches were blue and comfortable, the tables rustic and wooden. Built-in bookshelves separated the entrance to two bedrooms that shared a Jack-and-Jill bathroom at one end of the living room, and a fireplace anchored the other end by the entrance to the master suite. There was a small bar with a bay window in the dining nook just outside the kitchen and a laundry room and half bath on the other side of the kitchen. A plethora of family photos and nautical paintings, pictures, and gadgets decorated the walls. There was a blanket bunched up on the couch beside an open magazine, a half-full cup of juice on the coffee table, sneakers in the middle of the floor, flip-flops near the patio doors, and a wet towel hanging over a dining room chair.
“This is nice,” she said.
“Thanks. I live a pretty simple life, but I would have cleaned up if I’d known you’d be here. Can I get you something to drink? Beer? Soda? Water?” he asked as they made their way into the living room.
“Sure. Water is fine.”
“Water it is. Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be right back.” He went into the kitchen to get their drinks, and when he came out, Cait was standing in the nook by the bar, staring up at the surfboard hanging on the wall above it. Her face was white as a sheet. He set the glasses down. “What’s the matter?”
Her gaze remained trained on the dark blue board that had PARADISE written across the length of it in bold colorful letters. “If I tell you, I’ll sound crazy, and you already think I’m crazy enough.”
“How can you say that after meeting my crazy family?” He slid his arms loosely around her waist, drawing her eyes to his. “I do not think you’re crazy, but you look like you’ve seen a ghost, and I’d like to know why.”
She had a pained expression. “I feel like I’ve been here before.”
“Why would that make me think you’re crazy? Lots of cottages look alike around here.”
“Because I have been here before, but not in real life. Just in my dreams.”
He couldn’t stop the grin tugging at his lips. “You dream about me, huh?”
“Yes. A lot. Brant, this is too weird. I’ve seen these floors, and your couches, and that surfboard in my dreams. How can that be? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“That is strange, but does it have to make sense?”
“Yes. No? I don’t know. That’s the problem.” She paced, fidgeting with her hands. “I’ll just tell you what I came to say and then I’ll leave.”
He stepped into her path, and when she looked up, he swore the world stood still. She was so damn beautiful, it made her troubled expression even more heartbreaking. A lock of hair fell in front of one eye, and this time he didn’t hold back. He reached over and tucked it behind her ear. He had a feeling it was now or never to tell her how he felt. “When I saw you in Randi’s yard, gorgeous in that green knit top that brings out your eyes and the torn jeans I love, I was sure I was seeing things, and I’m glad I wasn’t. I don’t want you to leave, Cait. I want you to talk to me and trust me enough to explain what’s going on. We can sit outside if that would be easier.”
Her eyes flicked up to the surfboard, and he didn’t wait for an answer. He took her hand, picked up her glass of water, and headed out the patio doors, leaving them open for Scrappy. They sat on the wicker couch, and he said, “Is this better?”
“Yes, but . . .” Her shoulders sank, embarrassment rising in her eyes.
“Cait, we all have shit that makes us feel different than everyone else. You and I obviously have a strong connection, and the fact that you feel like you’ve been here before is part of it. I can’t explain it, but it doesn’t scare me. It makes me want to know more about you. Do you feel that way at all? Or am I alone in this?”
“Sometimes I want to know more about you, and other times our connection scares the crap out of me,” she said sort of jokingly, but he knew she was serious. “I’m sorry about last night. I feel horrible about how I acted.”
“It’s okay, but I would like to understand why you took off and why you sent me away, if you’re willing to tell me.”
She nodded, inhaling deeply and exhaling loudly. “I don’t mean to be uptight. Part of it is our connection because it’s so real, like the whole mermaid thing. You think you were saved by a mermaid. I told you about my mom’s necklace, but what I didn’t tell you was that after she died, I told myself she’d become a mermaid, and I fantasized about walking into the ocean and becoming one, too, so I could swim away and never look back.”