Page 23 of Beginnings By the Sea

I nodded. “Trust me. I was praying the entire time.” I waved a hand in the air. “But enough about that. How did it go fishing today? Did you and the guys have a good time? Did you catch anything?”

Miles nodded excitedly, his expression filled with enthusiasm. “We had a great time. Jensen was an amazing boat captain. We caught a ton of fish.” He patted a hand on the hood of his car. “It just so happens that I packed some of that fish up in a cooler. I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to bring it to your place, or you come to where I’m staying.” He shrugged. “Or we can do something else. I didn’t know if you wanted to talk around Noah and Luke, or if you had other plans in mind.”

Mine and Autumn’s previous conversation echoed in my head. It was a small town and if the locals saw me with Miles, it would bring up questions I didn’t want to answer. But if I invited Miles back to my house, we would be alone and away from prying eyes. The only problem with that was Cohen; he wouldn’t like it.

He was just going to have to trust me. It was only for one evening, and I was probably never going to see Miles again.

“Let’s go to my house,” I suggested, hoping the nerves in my stomach would calm down. “We can cook some of the fish for dinner.” My stomach growled. “I’m starving.”

Miles beamed. “Perfect. I’ll follow you there.”

I hopped in my Jeep, and he followed me to my house. I was so nervous for him to see it. There was a time many years ago when he mentioned he wanted to retire to a beach house. What he wanted was exactly what I got. I didn’t plan for it to happen like that; it just did. It was another reason why it was hard to forget about Miles. Every time I was at the house, it reminded me of what he wanted for our future, a future I never thought to envision.

I pulled into the driveway and watched Miles’s face in the rearview mirror. His eyes widened, and he opened his door slowly. When I got out, he looked at me, his face full of shock.

“Do you know what this place reminds me of?”

I nodded. “I know . . . your retirement home.”

He chuckled. “Exactly.”

He turned to me and sighed. “I’m happy for you, Nyla. Honestly, I’m a little jealous right now.”

He walked over to the side of the house where I knew he’d be able to see my dock and the boat. The second his mouth dropped, I knew that was what he saw.

“You have a boat?” he called out, mouth gaping in shock.

I laughed and shook my head. “It’s Jensen’s. This house was his, but he sold it to me when he and Everleigh decided to move into her place.”

Miles walked back over to me. “Yeah, he told me that.”

I narrowed my gaze. “What else did he tell you?”

Miles shrugged and leaned against his car. “Not much. He told me how Everleigh asked you to be her partner at Seaside and how everyone in town loves you.”

I waved him off. “Please. That’s not true.”

And just then, a familiar voice shouted from across the road. “Good evening, Dr. Clark!”

I turned to see George waving at me from his front porch. With a warm smile, I waved and hollered back.

“Good evening, George! Are you and Rose doing okay?”

He pointed toward the door of his house and continued to rock in his rocking chair. “We’re doing great. My bride is in the kitchen making lemon bars for tonight. She wanted to try something different from the cookies. I’ll bring you some over in the morning.”

I clutched my stomach so he’d know I was ready for them. “Can’t wait! I’m looking forward to them.”

I turned back to Miles and he lifted his brows. “I rest my case. The people here love you. There’s no denying that.”

I tilted my head in George’s direction. “I’m lucky that I have great neighbors. George and Rose are like grandparents to me. Rose made some lemon cookies the other week that I demolished.”

Miles laughed. “And now she’s making you lemon bars. We didn’t have people like that in Boston.”

I shook my head. “No, we didn’t. Oak Island is seriously another world entirely. I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”

A sad expression crossed his face, but he turned and opened his car door, pulling out the small blue and white cooler.

“How about you show me to the grill, and I’ll cook us some dinner.”

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