With This Wish (Windswept Bay Book 9) Read online

  Still, as Trent stepped onto Lilly’s porch, he was ready to see Lilly. She swung the door open before he had time to knock. And she took his breath away. Her curly hair was pulled into a messy bun thing on top of her head and curls cascaded down everywhere. She wore a sundress that had a scooped neckline and was a rich yellow, shot with gold and orange. Her sandals were golden, with tiny sparkles on them. She looked cute and pretty and sexy at the same time. She took his breath away. He swallowed hard. “You look beautiful,” he blurted the instant he saw her and felt a little tongue-tied.

  She splayed a hand over her stomach as if to calm her nerves. “I’m hoping I look okay. I wasn’t sure what to wear and so I dug this out and ironed it.”

  “Our family gatherings are real laid-back so anything would work. Believe me, you’re more than fine.”

  “Thanks. I have to admit this is making me really nervous.”

  “Why? My family is great. And we love BJ. He’s like a brother already. We’ve lucked out on all the guys our sisters have married. You’ll be okay. Really.”

  She didn’t look convinced. “I’m glad you offered to pick me up. I honestly thought about canceling.”

  She was serious. It dawned on him that she’d spent a lot of time avoiding contact with her brother after losing her parents in that car wreck. “How old were you when you went to work with the parks?”

  “I was still seventeen. BJ didn’t like it at first but there was nothing he could do to stop me.”

  “So you left not long after the wreck?”

  “I did. I had to. I needed to get away. I went to Bahia Honda State Park in the Florida Keys with BJ not long after the funeral. That was our family’s happy place but I just couldn’t cope. I was having nightmares and constantly worrying about when something was going to happen to BJ too. In the end I just disconnected, it helped me function better. I had often hung out with the park workers when we had been there on vacation and I just needed to disappear. Working in parks worked for me.”

  He was beginning to understand better and better about what had gone on. He couldn’t help himself—he stepped forward and gently turned her to him; he wrapped his arms around her and held her. She laid her head against his shoulder and he could feel her heartbeat thundering against his. What had she gone through? The trauma that she had felt was only now really sinking into him. That night on the beach, when she first told him, he thought he understood. But it went even deeper than he had anticipated. She was still suffering. And the anxiety was written all over her face. All over the stiffness of her body and in her words. And all he wanted to do was help her overcome it.

  “I’m here if you just need to talk. It’s gonna be okay. You went through something that no one should have to have gone through. Are you afraid of losing someone you love again?” He knew that had to be what it was. He understood it. He felt it. He felt it on that night on the beach when she first told him what she’d been through. They connected in the end; he wanted to make sure she completely understood.

  “I want to tell you that I lost a fiancée on the battlefield. She died after diving infront of her other team members and taking bullets.. Losing her set me back, really set me back. It’s taking me a long time to overcome it. This hilltop has helped me. This place. Taking one day at a time. But I can tell you I have a fear of losing someone I love the way that I loved Erica. I have a fear of ever giving my heart to someone and then something horrible happening. Of not being there to protect them…I wasn’t there to protect Erica. So I’ve taken my time. I keep my stress levels low. And my family has just been there for me. I don’t know that I could’ve made it through all this time without the knowledge that my family was there, giving me my space, giving me time. But the knowledge that they were there was comforting. Not terrifying. The terrifying part was, could I ever let myself fall in love again and risk that kind of loss? Even more the question was, did I deserve to ever find someone to love again when Erica was dead?

  “I think your brother is giving you space—has given you space. And is waiting patiently. I hope you know—I’m pretty positive I know—that he would be there for you in an instant. But I’m really glad you came to Windswept Bay.” His heart thundered. He didn’t want to scare her off. He just wanted to help ease her back into living a life, a full life that was healthy. He was convinced that what she was doing to herself right now was not healthy for her; it was her way of hiding. But he stayed away from that subject. With time, maybe there would be a balance for her.

  “You just need to breathe and take it one step at a time, one day at a time. Don’t put pressure on yourself. I promise you there is no pressure from my family. And what I’ve learned and, it’s clear to me every day, is that love is a wonderful thing. The threat of loss is terrifying and if it happens, it’s, as you know, horrifyingly painful. But the beauty of it is that you are loved. Your parents wouldn’t want you to continue suffering over their loss. I’m quite sure that they would want you to move forward. Healthy and with an open heart.”

  Her arms tied around him and she just held on. They stood there for a long moment; she still hadn’t said anything.

  “Thank you. I’m terrified. And I haven’t told anyone that I haven’t talked to anyone.”

  “Then I’m glad you’re talking to me.”

  She lifted her face and he saw her eyes sparkled with the threat of tears. But he realized he hadn’t seen her cry. “Thank you.”

  He couldn’t help himself; he kissed her forehead. He wanted to kiss her lips but now was not the time. “You’re welcome. And seriously, thank you for talking to me. It means a lot to me. You mean a lot to me. In the short time that I’ve known you, I feel more connected to you than I’ve felt to anyone since the loss of Erica. I’m not saying that to scare you. I’m just being honest. I hope that you can be honest with me. I want to help you—however and whatever I can do, I want to help you. No strings attached—nothing. I just want to help you. I want to be your friend.”

  “Thank you again. I’m going to need a friend.”

  He smiled at her. “You got it, babe.” He kissed her forehead again and gave her a tight hug. Wishing he didn’t have to let her go. “So, are you ready to go do this?”

  Lilly’s knees melted and she tried not to wish Trent’s arms could stay around her forever or that he’d kissed her lips instead of her forehead. But she did wish for all of that. Not only did his actions send her stomach into somersaults they gave her a sense of security. This was a step she needed to take. She knew it and she was grateful for his support. Looking into his reassuring gaze her world steadied and she inhaled a fortifying breath full of his masculine scent. “Ready as I’ll ever be. One step at a time.”

  His lips curved upward. “There you go. Just ease into this.”

  And then he let her go, but he took her hand and they walked to his truck together.

  Minutes later, they arrived at his parents’ home on the other side of town. Several cars were already there and as they got out of the truck, her stomach felt queasy. But she reminded herself that she was just meeting BJ’s family, that was all. Family. Her heart thundered as the night of the wreck flashed through her mind when she lost her family... She stood there on the driveway, frozen.

  “Are you okay?” Trent’s gentle voice brought her out of the horror that almost pulled her under. “Lilly?”

  She nodded and met his worried gaze. “I’m fine.” She took a deep breath and forced herself to take a step forward. “One step at a time,” she barely whispered.

  “One step at a time. You’re doing good.”

  Her eyes dampened. “Thank you for being here.”

  He winked at her. “I’ll be right beside you.”

  And he was.

  Trent’s parents were a handsome couple. His dad, Sam, was tall; Trent and his twin, Levi, resembled him. Violet had beautiful, long silver hair and a warm smile. She welcomed Lilly with a hug, which caught Lilly off guard and had her remembering the feel of her o
wn mother’s arms holding her tight. And they welcomed her as if she were their own.

  “I hope you’re hungry. I’m grilling up enough to fill an army,” Sam said.

  “I am hungry.” She was starving but was sure her nervous stomach couldn’t tolerate anything.

  “Good, good. I’ve got to get out there and put this massive platter of barbeque on the pit but when you can find a free moment, come out and tell me about this treehouse project you’ve got Trent doing for you.”

  “Okay, I will.” She watched him head for the double glass doors that led to the patio.

  “Let me get the door for you, Dad.” Trent opened the door and let his dad pass through.

  “Thanks, son. Gage, can you grab the tray of condiments and we’ll get this party rolling.”

  “Got them, sir,” Gage, Shar’s husband, called and caught up, carrying a tray with all kinds of ingredients on it. “Don’t worry, everyone. I won’t add anything to anything unless Sam tells me to. I’m a grilling beginner.”

  “That’s great, honey. Learn a lot.” Shar turned to Lilly. “He’s never grilled much. Always stuck inside a skyscraper, making big deals. So he’s playing catch-up on the outdoors stuff.”

  Lilly had only begun to realize how very different her brother and his new half-brother’s life had been before they’d learned about each other only months ago.

  Violet beamed. “And Sam is loving showing him all of his secrets.”

  Olivia chuckled. “Seriously. Dad is certainly the one to learn from. He’s really amazing at grilling. He makes a special sauce I’ve finally convinced him to let me have produced so that we can market it in the Windswept Bay Resort gift shop and also use in the kitchen on a dish we’re going to name after him. It’s taken some convincing but it’s the right thing to do. Wait till you taste it.”

  Lilly was now very interested in Mr. Sinclair’s BBQ sauce. “I can’t wait.”

  Jillian was arranging cake on a platter on the kitchen bar. It was easy to tell she was pregnant. “Olivia is really putting her marketing degree to use now that she’s helping with the resort. She just recently moved back and meeting BJ helped keep her here.” She paused in her cake arranging. “We are very grateful to your brother for winning her heart and giving her a reason not to return to Hollywood.”

  “I’m glad he found Olivia too,” she agreed.

  “You are no happier about it than I am,” Olivia chimed in. “Especially since you and Ryan are going to be making me an aunt in about two months. Biggest event of the decade!”

  “I was about to ask about the baby. So you’re about seven months?” Lilly once wanted children so badly. As a girl, she spent hours of her day playing with her pretend babies. But now…like she’d become about everything, she had to overcome her past.

  “Not quite. Another two weeks and I’ll be there. This baby girl is just tiny, so I’m not all that big. But I have a feeling I’ll balloon next month. But that’s fine with me as long as she’s healthy.”

  Lilly nodded and caught Trent watching her. He gave her an encouraging smile and she smiled back. The evening moved along and she got to meet everyone. She felt very welcomed and she tried to not let her stomach get to her. But the longer the evening went, the more she knew she might be in really big trouble. Because what she quickly saw was that the Sinclair family was a caring bunch who immediately treated her as one of their own. And she saw that it would be very hard not to care for them.

  A longing awakened in her heart for what they had. What she’d lost…people who would care whether she got home okay after she left them. Or people who just wanted to listen to how her day had gone. And everyone wanted to know about her books. The girls had already looked her up on the Internet and ordered copies to put in the resort gift shop.

  “People always need a good beach read,” Cali said. “Would you mind autographing them when they arrive? If that’s not asking too much.”

  “I’d love to. And thank you for thinking of putting them there.”

  “Oh certainly. It’s a real treat,” she said.

  “I’m reading one,” Shar said. “And really enjoying it.”

  Lilly got the feeling that Shar never said anything she didn’t mean. So she felt honored by her comments.

  “I’m glad.” Lilly enjoyed meeting all the sisters and seeing their different personalities. Despite the fact that Olivia, Jillian, and Shar were triplets, Cali, the older sister by a couple of years, was blonde and looked more like the third triplet than Shar did. Shar was dark-haired and had a very vivacious personality, much different than the other three sisters. She thought Shar looked more like Violet but that the other three had their mother’s personality.

  Lilly thoroughly enjoyed meeting them all as a group.

  Cali’s husband Grant, the famous artist, came over to meet her. She was intrigued with his art as he was with her books.

  “I love your paintings. I saw the murals you painted at the resort.”

  “I hope you liked them. I’m always proud to draw attention to the sea life with my work.”

  That led to a conversation about the sea turtles and Shar’s work with the Windswept Bay Sea Turtle Hospital. This intrigued Lilly.

  “I love getting people involved with my passion for sea turtles.” Shar’s eyes came alive as she spoke. “Have you ever thought about writing about them?”

  Lilly’s mind was already rolling with thoughts about it. “I remember when my dad and my mom would take me and BJ on vacation to Bahia Honda State Park in the Florida Keys. I loved it there and we would spend several weeks there on vacation. It’s just on the other side of the Seven Mile Bridge and Marathon Key has a sea turtle hospital. Dad took us there. I loved it. I’ve been thinking about setting a series around the Keys, and incorporating the sea turtles would be perfect. Several times they rescued turtles while we were there and several times they held sea turtle releases, letting them back into the ocean after they were healed. It was always a great feeling to see those huge, gentle creatures swim back to their natural habitat. Would you mind if I came to the hospital for a tour?”

  Shar’s expression lit up. “I would love that. Anything at all that brings attention to my sea turtles will be fantastic. Maybe you would like to go with me on a morning run along a beach. I go somewhere every morning to check out the beaches.”

  Jillian had been joining the conversations at times. Now she hugged Shar. “This is our Superwoman,” she said, clearly proud. “She takes a run every morning on one of the different beaches, in search for nest of babies or injured turtles. No one cares for them like Shar. She’s amazingly dedicated.”

  Lilly was completely drawn to what Shar was doing. “That will be awesome. I would love that very much. I’m finishing a book now and I’m very close to the end. I’ve been very on fire with my word count since moving here, so I’m ahead of schedule. If I push myself, I can be finished with it maybe in a couple of days. And then I would love to go with you to check out the beaches for research.”

  She could see Trent, not too far away. He was talking with Levi and BJ. He turned to look at her. His smile was wide, obviously having heard the conversation; he winked at her and nodded. She knew he liked what she had said very much. She smiled at him and her heart warmed.

  Shar was just as excited too. But the night didn’t stop there. When Max and his new wife, Kelsey, arrived, she invited Lilly to come out to the horse stables that she ran for Cam. “If you’ve never ridden a horse on the beach, you’re going to love it.”

  Max nodded his agreement. “I can vouch for that. And Kelsey is a great teacher, and I’m not just saying that because I love her. She’s fantastic. I love watching her work with the kids she teaches.”

  Lilly loved the idea. She had never ridden a horse much at all and especially not on a beach. It was obvious that Max was crazy about Kelsey.

  “I’ll do that, just as soon as I can.” She caught Trent watching her again and suddenly she got the feeling he might have
asked his family to extend these invitations to her. But then again, they were all very genuine. He had thought of every way possible to help her feel comfortable. And it hit her that this outing had become different than what she had anticipated. It hit her that she was no longer nervous or anxious. She had crossed into actually enjoying herself. How had that happened?

  Jessica and Kevin arrived late; they had been at a birthday party Kevin was attending. She gave the kid a hug.

  “I want Uncle Trent and Uncle Jake to come play with me and my dogs. You want to come play with Rosco and Jaco and me?”

  His huge dogs ran on the beach and she could see them through the glass windows overlooking the beach. “Sure. I’d love to.”

  And so she found herself outside on the beach with Trent and little Kevin and Jake, who had been running late, too, because a diving trip had extended longer than he’d planned. It was obvious as she watched all the guys romping on the beach with Kevin and the dogs that they all enjoyed little Kevin. And the kid enjoyed them. She had never heard so much laughter. The dogs barked and ran and Kevin threw her the Frisbee. She jumped into the air and grabbed it.

  “Run,” yelled Kevin, jumping up and down and waving his arms.

  She did as he told her and plowed forward. The dogs loped beside her, barking, and then Trent overtook her and snagged her around the waist and picked her up off the ground. She was laughing hard when Jaco moved into Trent’s path and they tumbled to the sand. She rolled one way and he rolled the other. And the large yellow dog bounded over to look down at her. Trent rolled back toward her, smiling like a kid having a grand day on the beach. He looked so alive with his dancing eyes.

  “Are you okay?” He rose up on an elbow to look at her.

  She sat up, her heart racing. “I’m great. I’m having so much fun.”

  Kevin dove onto Trent’s back and the dogs piled on top of him. She and Jake watched as Trent got Kevin on his back and tickled him.