Page 15 of The Cottage on Pelican Bay

When he came to another traffic light, he looked over at her. “When time passed and I thought my folks were finally accepting what I was telling them, that’s when they began doing crazy stuff. Stuff they’d never done before.”

“Like what?”

“Earlier I mentioned the reason I had gone to Catalina Cove that night was due to my father’s accident. What I didn’t tell you was that he’d decided to join a parasailing team. He got injured while parasailing. Mom, on the other hand, decided to become a chef.”

She shrugged. “I don’t see where there’s a problem with your mom becoming a chef. That would mean more tasty meals for your dad, right? However, your dad joining a parasailing team...umm? How old is he?”

“He’ll turn sixty-four his next birthday. And as far as Mom becoming a chef and learning to cook a lot of different meals, might seem harmless until she almost lost a finger with one of those high-powered knives she’d ordered off the television.”

“Ouch.”

“Yes, and her accident occurred just six months before Dad’s.”

She recalled him saying his mother had almost cut her finger off and had to get stitches. “Your parents waited awhile to have you?”

“They married straight out of high school. They wanted kids right away, but it took them almost ten years of trying before they succeeded. I was their one and only.”

He got quiet for moment and said, “There were a few more minor accidents with them after that night we met, and I knew it would only be a matter of time when I would have to make decisions where they were concerned. When I broached the subject of them moving to Seattle, they—”

“Seattle?” she interrupted to ask. “You were living in Seattle before moving back here?”

“Yes. I played professional football there for a while, and after leaving the team I decided to stay there.”

“I recall picking up on your Northwestern accent that night we met.”

“Yes, you did. Anyway, when I suggested to my parents that they move to Seattle, they let me know that not under any circumstances would they leave Catalina Cove. For me, that meant at some point in time, I’d have to move back home.”

“The thought of that bothered you?”

“Let’s just say it wasn’t anything I had figured on. When we are kids, we think our parents are going to be around forever.”

She would have to agree with him. Neither she nor Vaughn had been surprised when their parents had decided to move to Paris. What she and Vaughn hadn’t counted on was two years after the move, they would be killed in a boating accident.

“When it seemed the older they got, the more mishaps they were getting into, I decided to move back home. I love my parents and owe them everything,” he said.

She digested his words before saying, “That night we met, you said you were not involved with anyone, Saint. Are you seriously involved with someone now?”

“No.”

“So, what’s your story? Why aren’t you?”

8

Saint’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. She was asking him something he’d rather not talk about. But then he figured she probably hadn’t wanted to share anything about what a prick her boyfriend had been, but she had. At least his story, as she’d put it, wasn’t that bad. There hadn’t been any betrayal. What there had been was no desire for a commitment, which basically meant no love.

He said, “To fully explain why I’m not involved with anyone now, I’ll have to explain my prior relationship with my ex-girlfriend.”

“Okay.”

He slowed the car at another traffic light and said, “Mia and I met at a wedding. She was one of the bridesmaids and I was one of the groomsmen. We hit it off and after a few dates we became an exclusive couple. We enjoyed our relationship and after a year and a half I felt we were both ready for more. I asked her to marry me. She turned me down, saying it was too soon, and that we should live together for a while to see if we were compatible. So, we did.”

“Were you compatible?”

“I thought so. We got along great. Everyone said we complemented each other. We rarely had an argument and we liked being together. Like I told you, my parents thought the world of her, and her parents said I was the son they always wanted. Our parents even struck up a close relationship and began doing things together. Everything seemed perfect.”

“But?”

“Two years after my first proposal, I assumed the time was right. We’d been together four years and weren’t getting any younger. I thought we should settle down, make everything legitimate and consider starting a family. I asked her to marry me for a second time.”

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