Page 68 of Under the Northern Lights
Aurora felt guilty, but allowing herself to feel that way because a good friend wanted to meet up with her was silly. Especially when she and Gage had no sort of commitment between them.
“Well, I’d better go get our rain gear ready so we can get down to the dock. Time is running out,” Gage said as he rose to his feet.
As if Aurora needed any reminding of that fact.
“I’ll walk out with you,” Reed said.
Gage looked at Aurora. “I’ll meet you out on the porch when you’re ready.”
She nodded, watching them go.
“I hope things work out for you,” Constance said as she stood and began clearing the dishes from the table.
“There really isn’t anything to work out,” Aurora told her. “Ben and I didn’t have the kind of relationship that I truly want with the person I intend to spend the rest of my life with.”
“Honey, I was referring to your magazine assignment,” she said. “I hope it works out and you get that in-house job you’re hoping for.”
“Same,” Julia said. “Although I really wish things had turned out differently for you and my brother.”
“I really like Gage.”
“I hear a ‘but’ coming,” Julia said.
Aurora smiled. Gage’s sister was perceptive. “If I get an offer for a full-time position withWorld Adventures Magazine, I’ll be traveling more than I do already. Not just to places in the states. I’ll be flying to other countries too.”
“Oh,” Constance said, her expression one of disappointment.
Aurora nodded. “I know Gage’s life is here. He loves Conley Island, and I can certainly see why. I’ve learned that the starsdon’t always align the way you hoped they would,” she admitted. “I’m just grateful to have met Gage and all of you.”
“Same,” Julia said with a soft smile.
Aurora glanced toward the retreat’s main entrance door. “I shouldn’t keep Gage waiting.” Standing, she said, “Thank you for breakfast. It was delicious, as usual.” That said, she stepped away from the table and made her way out to the porch where Gage waited patiently for her to join him.
“Are you standing out here sniffing one of Mom’s candles?”
Gage lowered his arm, along with the scented wax-filled jar. It wasn’t something he could deny. Reed had caught him red-handed. “It was sitting on the table by the door when I went out,” he replied, and then felt the need to add, “I bought it for her.”
“Well, that makes all the difference,” his brother replied as he moved to stand next to Gage. “Sniff away.”
“This is from the 1820 House’s special candle collection,” Gage told him. “It’s called Beautiful Aurora. She loves this scent.”
“Sniffing a candle, no matter how good its scent is, is not going to keep Aurora here on Conley Island,” Reed said, as if Gage didn’t already know that. “Are you really going to let her get away?”
Gage looked to his brother, who was pulling on his rain boots. “You have to have someone for them to get away from you,” he told Reed with a frown.
“You were so close to reeling her in,” his brother insisted.
“Aurora isn’t a fish.”
“True.”
His brother was hitting far too close to home. “I’m not fishing,” Gage snarled in frustration, the phone call Aurora had received that morning still fresh in his mind.
“Okay, she’s not a fish,” Reed agreed, his tone calm. “When you spend most of your days out on a boat, that’s the kind of analogies you make. But in all seriousness, I’ve seen the way you and Aurora are when you’re together. There’s something special there.”
“I think you all are so eager to see me in a relationship again that you’re reading more into what you see between me and Aurora.”
His brother’s frown mirrored his own. “It has nothing to do with our wanting to push you into a relationship. We want you to move past what Jess did to you,” Reed told him. “I know how she made you feel. Like you weren’t enough.” He looked around. “Like this wasn’t enough.”
