Page 86 of Love At The Shore
“Yup. And we’re good.” Lucas gave him one last squeeze before releasing his hold on Nick’s shoulders.
Jenna waited for them to catch up, pausing at the edge of the fire pit to admire the waves, tipped pink by the blazing sunset.
She’d miss this place.
She’d miss feeling the sand between her toes and the salty taste of the ocean on her lips. She’d miss the sound of gulls crying overhead and moonlit waves as the background music to her late-night writing sessions. She’d miss Tank’s scruffy face and his jaunty little trot.
But she’d miss her neighbor most of all.
“All right, throw it in,” she said.
In unison, they tossed the wood into the fire and stepped back to watch the flames lick higher.
Good riddance.
Ally challenged Nick to a race back to the house, and in a flash they were gone, leaving Jenna and Lucas alone with everything that had once stood between them now lying in a pile at their feet. In the distance, she could hear the laughter of her children and Tank’s happy yips, and joy blossomed inside her.
Lucas slipped his arm around her waist. She leaned into him, resting her head against his shoulder.
“I don’t want this summer to end.” She whispered so quietly that the ocean should have swallowed her words, but Lucas still heard them.
“It doesn’t have to.”
Jenna sighed. “Yeah, it kind of does. We have to head back tomorrow.”
“What if your rental agent said you could stay longer?” There was a smile in his voice, and it made her laugh.
“That’s sweet, but logistically…” She started to rattle off a list of reasons why their relationship was doomed to fail, but then she stopped herself.
Because what if it wasn’t? What if the fence was truly gone for good?
“We’ll make a plan,” he said with a nod.
Shedidhave a certain fondness for plans. She liked them almost as much as she liked neatly organized bins, cozy cardigans, and beating Lucas at beach volleyball.
She peered up at him. “You think we can make this work?”
“We made the last five weeks work. We can makethiswork.” He spun her around to face him and brushed her hair from her eyes with gentle fingers. “Now, I have one more question for you.”
“Okay.” She searched his gaze, looking for a hint of what was to come.
“Can we go back to rule number one?”
The kissing rule.
Her knees turned to water, and she smiled wide. “Yes, please.”
And as the surfer-next-door kissed Jenna Turner again, with her feet in the sand and her heart on her sleeve, she thought about new beginnings instead of endings and how sometimes a story’s sequel could be even better than its opening act. Most of all, she thought about the dog days of summer and these past few cherished weeks on the island, her favorite summer at the shore.
Epilogue
Lucas married Jenna on acrisp autumn day—the time of year when the sea turtle nests on Tybee Island hatch, spilling tiny baby turtles onto the shore to make their way home.
The wedding took place exactly a year and one month from the date they’d torn down the fence, in a modest church overlooking the sea. Ally made the groom’s cake—triple chocolate, of course—and Nick walked his mother down the aisle. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house, except maybe Tank’s. His tail wagged throughout the entire ceremony, leaving him so exhausted that he napped his way through the reception. Which was really a shame, because Ally had been training him for weeks to catch the bouquet.
Maureen and Ian offered to keep the kids so Lucas could whisk Jenna away on a private honeymoon, but it didn’t feel right. There would be time for that later when Nick and Ally went to visit their dad. Lucas hadn’t only married Jenna—he’d chosen them all, and starting a new lifetogetherseemed important.
So the night after he said “I do,” Lucas stood alongside his three favorite people, licking ice cream cones while they waited for a fireworks show to start.
