Page 21 of Tempting the Heart

As I switched channels, I heard the shower turn off, and within minutes, Mae remerged in a sundress, high-top sneakers, and sunglasses propped on her head.

“Ready to see why I fell in love with my little shack?”

I stood and shook my head. “It’s not a shack. It’s a cottage.”

“I’ll show you pics of what it looked like beforehand,” she assured me. “It was barely standing.”

“You’ve always been a visionary,” I said admirably.

And it was true. She was one of the reasons I wanted to hang out at the Evans’ house so much.

Sure. Brad and I had been best friends, but Mae always made me feel like anything was possible. No matter what I wanted to conquer, she was right there with her brother to lend a hand.

I doubted she even remembered any of it.

Why would she?

She had a happy family, many friends, and a life she’d built independently.

But I’d held onto those memories with her and the rest of the Evans fiercely. The moments where I’d cried so hard from laughter, the times I stayed for dinner, which led to an overnight sleepover, the seconds I had alone with Mae when no one was around to notice I was like a lost puppy dog in her presence.

All the times they’d saved me from having to return to my home at night when my dad was having one of his moods.

That was what my mom would call them.

Usually, it meant he’d gambled away his paycheck.

“I don’t feel much like a visionary.” She laughed. “A hopeless romantic, a dreamer with a side of delusion. But not a visionary.”

Her smile was exactly as it always had been— warm and welcoming.

“You’ve always dreamed big,” I told her. “Remember when you convinced me and Brad to build that go-cart and enter the race when I was in ninth grade?”

She nodded, grinning. “I do remember that. Brad was in seventh grade and got so mad he didn’t get to qualify since he wasn’t officially a freshman. You both spent all summer in our garage.”

“It was one of the best summers of my life,” I said softly. “But I never would have even thought about doing it if you hadn’t convinced me I could.”

She hugged herself and cocked her head slightly, looking baffled. “Really?”

I nodded my head. “Yeah. You believed in me and your brother, told us to imagine the trophy in our bedrooms and that we could share it. Brad could have it one week, and I could have it the other. You even went to the library and gave us a whole bunch of books on building go-carts.” I shrugged. “Anyway, that’s just one of many times you proved yourself as a visionary to me.”

Her gaze caught mine, and I felt my heart skip a beat. Her fierce green eyes softened, and she shook her head.

“I’m surprised you remembered.” She smoothed her hands over her sundress and glanced toward the door leading to the back yard. “Anyway, we should get going.”

I nodded, taking a deep breath and following her out back.

“There’s the path we can take to get down to the beach,” she said, pointing toward a narrow dirt path dipping into the cliffs. “I cut back all the blackberry bushes, so we shouldn’t get scratched up.”

I nodded, following her along the compacted dirt trail. The muffled sound of the waves crashing against the shoreline reminded me of what I’d missed leaving this part of the world so many years ago.

It was part of the reason I sought out property in the Carolinas, but it didn’t have the same sound, the same crashing and slapping against the rocks as it did in Washington.

“I have to confess that it’s nice bumping into you,” she said, calling over her shoulder.

“Yeah? Your brother’s best friend isn’t annoying you like I used to?” I teased.

She stopped on the trail, and I nearly bumped into her as she spun around to face me.

---