Page 4 of The Vineyard Bride

Chapter Two

Amanda’s favorite beachon Martha’s Vineyard was along the coastline of the nature reserve Menemsha Hills, on the western edge of the island in Chilmark.Later that week, when the temperature spontaneously jumped up to the mid-seventies, Amanda headed out of her mother’s law offices early and walked straight to the Sunrise Cove to beg Sam to find a way out of work that evening.“Please, Sam.It’s the perfect night to watch the sunset...”

Sam’s smile was electric.He hustled around the front desk of the Sunrise Cove, the very inn Amanda’s grandparents had operated tirelessly, kissed her gently, and whispered, “Didn’t I tell you?I don’t have to work tonight.I just came in to give Natalie a heads-up about what was happening in Room 22.”

Amanda’s heart leaped into her throat.“What is happening in Room 22?”

Sam waved a hand.“The young woman in the room is in a wheelchair, and the wheels keep getting stuck on the rugs around the inn.I had the rugs put in the back room this afternoon to make things easier for her.”

The goodness of this man.

“You two have fun tonight!”Natalie called from the doorway that led toward the back office.“Oh, to be young again.”

Sam laughed and waved a hand toward Natalie as Amanda tugged him back out onto the front porch of the Sunrise Cove.There, she lifted her chin, closed her eyes, and kissed him with a bursting love, the kind that seemed to take up every square inch of her body and mind and make her float a full inch off the ground.Since she’d first seen him at the Sunrise Cove last year, Sam had never been far from her mind.He’d also proven himself an essential part of the inner mechanisms of the Sunrise Cove Inn itself, thus making everything much, much easier on the Sheridan family as a whole.It couldn’t have pleased Amanda more.

“So, let me guess.You want to go out to...”

“Menemsha Hills...”Amanda finished his sentence.“Of course.”

“You’re so predictable, Amanda Harris.”Sam curled her dark hair around his finger as a sneaky smile played out across his face.“Luckily, I had a hunch this would happen and already packed up a bottle of rosé and a few other snacks.”

Sam had recently purchased a second-hand dark blue convertible from an older gentleman who lived part-time on the island and frequented the Sunrise Cove Bistro.When seated in the driver’s seat with his sunglasses on, Sam looked like the most handsome man on the island (in Amanda’s eyes, at least).There beside him in the passenger seat, Amanda dropped her head back as the soft May breeze blew through her curls.The car’s speakers howled with an old song from the seventies, which Sam sang along to, nearly getting every word correct.

“You’re outrageous,” Amanda told him, bubbling with laughter.

“You signed up for this, baby,” Sam shot back.

“I really did, didn’t I?”

The drive out to Menemsha took about a half-hour, stretching south and west toward the Aquinnah Cliffs.Throughout, Amanda and Sam half-argued about what to listen to, swapping between the oldies’ station and the current station, where Amanda’s favorite songs played upward of three times an hour.

“If you’re going to make us listen to this, then I need you to sing every word.”Sam cried, cranking the volume as they sped toward the beach.

“Sam!You know I can’t sing.”

“Those are the rules, baby.”

“Stop calling me baby,” Amanda teased, her smile widening.

In truth, she adored being called that.Her ex-fiancé, Chris, had hardly ever given her a nickname, which had made her feel unwanted and not special in the least.Eventually, Chris left her at the altar in front of all her family and friends, which was much worse than never getting a nickname.To Amanda, it was in the top-ten worst bridal stories she’d ever heard, up there with a friend whose ex-fiancé had left her a month before the wedding for her sister.Well, at least it wasn’t that bad.

Sam parked the convertible on the outer edge of the natural reserve, then pressed a button on the roof of the car to bring the top back up.

“Just in case it rains,” Sam said as Amanda laughed.

“I’ve never seen a more beautiful day in my life.There’s no way it’ll rain.”

“We live an island life,” Sam countered.“You know that weather can change in the course of five minutes.The only thing we can do is expect the unexpected.”

“Wow.Are you a philosopher now?”

“Maybe I am, Amanda.Open yourself up to the secrets of the universe.”

Sam leaped out of the convertible and retrieved the tote bag of rosé, plastic cups, and little snacks.Amanda leafed through the back trunk, which was already swirling with chaos despite the fact that he’d had the car for little more than two months, hunting down a picnic blanket.

“Ah-ha.”She dragged out the scratchy orange and yellow blanket from the back corner, smacking it against the side of the car to get the dust off.

“There’s that thing!Looked everywhere for it,” Sam cried.

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