GAVIN LEFT WORK early to make sure Harper was okay. He’d offered to come home when she’d called and told him about Harvey’s passing, but she’d assured him that she was fine, and she was going to work on revising the article about him. But as the hours passed and the day trudged on, he hated the idea of her being alone when she was sad.
He wasn’t surprised to see her sitting on the dock with her feet dangling in the water. Beside her, a rock held down a notebook with a few loose papers sticking out. He admired the familiar scene from afar for a moment. It was one of his favorites. A few strands of her hair lifted in the breeze and she tucked them behind her ear. His heart squeezed. They’d talked about her offer to return to LA, and though she hadn’t come to a decision yet, he had.
He walked down the path to the dock, trying to imagine what it would be like to come home to an empty house again. Whether she went to LA for a day, a week, or longer didn’t matter, because he’d feel like a piece of him was missing every single second she was gone.
She turned as he stepped onto the dock. Her hair blew across her cheek, reminding him of the first night he’d seen her again at the bonfire with their friends.
“Gavin!” She tucked her hair behind her ear and popped to her feet, hurrying toward him in her long gauzy skirt and crop top. She looked full of life and happier than he expected after the news she’d received.
He loved that outfit. Hell, he loved her in anything as much as he loved her naked.
She ran into his arms and kissed him like she’d been waiting all day to do it. God, he loved her, and he loved the way she loved him.
“You’re doing okay?” he asked.
“Yes!” she said loudly, stretching her arms out to the sides. “I’ve had a revelation. I thought I wasn’t happy in LA because of everything that happened there, but it wasn’t that. Any of that stuff could have happened when I was here. I was unhappy because I didn’t fit there. I have bigger aspirations for my writing, but that doesn’t mean I want to leave my home or my family and friends. And I know you don’t want me to make decisions based on us, but we both know our relationship has to play into any big decisions. Otherwise what are we doing together? Don’t worry. I’m not saying my decision is based on our relationship. I’m saying there’s no sense in pretending I didn’t weigh in the idea of being away from you for however long they want me. And my decision?” She laughed and twirled around. “It’s based on laughter, Gavin. I want to laugh and be happy and write. And yes, I want to make my mark within the industry, but not at the expense of my happiness. Going to LA gives someone else the power to pull the rug out from under me again. I don’t want that!”
He tried to keep up, but she was talking so fast he had trouble deciphering what decision she had made.
“If they want me to do rewrites, I’ll do them from here. Take it or leave it. That’s what I’m going to tell them. And I know I don’t have anything solid here yet—but yet leaves lots of room for success, right? I’m almost ready to put feelers out for my current script. And maybe I screwed myself with that guy from the plane because I was too bitchy, but that’s just one guy, one company. If he even runs a streaming service like he claimed. For all I know, he might have lied. But I believe in myself again, Gavin, and I believe in the project I’m working on. It’s good writing and a great story. And you know what else? Tegan needs help if or when she takes over the amphitheater, and it would be fun to do that. I know we’d get along. Jana would help, too, and even though it’s not a moneymaker, it would make me happy. I want to be that guiding hand like you were for me. I want to pay it forward, because that will make me happy.”
“You’re staying?” Damn, that got him all choked up.
She twirled back to him and pressed her hands to his chest, her eyes dazzling with excitement. “What do you think, Mr. Wheeler? Am I nuts for choosing happiness over seeing my name in lights?”
“Not even a little,” he said. “Selfishly, I want you right here in my arms, and I’m happy to set up lights across the back of the house. Hell, across the sky. Big, flashy lights that spell out your name so you never feel like you’ve missed out on a damn thing.”
She poked her finger into his chest and said, “You just got major nooky points, Mr. Wheeler.”
They kissed and laughed, and between those relieved kisses, he said, “Harper, if you ever do get the LA bug, there are all sorts of options to make that area more appealing. I bet you’d enjoy LA if we were there together. I can arrange to work from afar for a week or two if need be.”
“You would do that?”
“There’s nothing I won’t do for you. I’d have to work it out with Serena, but you’re not alone in any of this anymore, sweetheart. You don’t have to choose between here and there when there’s a huge amount of middle ground.”
“Middle ground, okay. I’ll think about that, but my gut tells me not to try to find that middle ground right now. I still have a bad taste for the LA lifestyle and a delicious taste for this.” She kissed him again, long and deep and deliciously seductively.
“Let’s celebrate,” he said.
“I don’t have anything to celebrate yet. I haven’t even told them my decision. They might turn down my offer to do rewrites from here.”
“We’re not celebrating your career move, sweetheart. We’re celebrating the fact that you’ve embraced your instincts on all levels.”
“In that case, kick off those shoes and take off all your clothes,” she said as she stripped off her shirt and wiggled out of her skirt. She pushed off her panties and whipped off her bra, tossing it at him as she said, “Race you!” and ran off the end of the dock.
Gavin stripped naked and followed her in. He swam underwater, tickling her ribs as he broke the surface. She squealed, futilely trying to swim away, and he pulled her against him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, out of breath and panting as he treaded water for the both of them.
“I wish I had stayed in Romance, Virginia, and come back to the Cape with you,” she said with droplets of water dripping down her cheeks.
“I lived in Boston then.”
“Close enough, because eventually we would have landed right where we are, and we wouldn’t have lost out on so much time together.”
“That’s the beautiful thing about time, Harp. It’s on our side.”
Her brow knitted. “What if we die tomorrow?”
“Then we’ve lived, loved, and laughed today.” He lowered his face toward hers and said, “I, for one, plan on making it a hell of a good day.”
Chapter Eighteen
THE FOURTH OF July arrived with sunshine and the buzz of excitement in the air. The sight of waving flags and smiling faces as Uncle Sam made his way down the main drag of Provincetown on wobbly stilts brought a rush of cherished memories. Memories of Harper’s teenage years and beyond, when she had finally been able to attend events like the Provincetown parade with her siblings. The outlandish and artsy community wasn’t her conservative parents’ favorite place, but Harper and her siblings loved it. Harper and Gavin had arrived early enough for Harper to conduct interviews with retailers, residents, and tourists before the big event. By the time the parade started, they’d put her bag in the car and met up with Colton, Jana, and Hunter. Brock and Cree had gotten held up in traffic, and they were meeting them in front of the town hall in ten minutes. Later, they were meeting Emery and their friends at her brother Ethan’s yacht.