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Chapter 38
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Seasmoke Friends Chapter 39
SummerI'd taken Mom to my studio to show her around and it dawned on me how much time we'd already wasted. Over lunch, she had tentatively asked how I felt about her moving back to Wylie. The next day, she'd flown to Houston to make arrangements to put her condo up for sale. I'd spent the next two days idly, painting or cleaning or anything else to get my mind off of Ian.At the cemetery, I breathed humid air and watched Jon Melbourne's tiny casket as it was lowered into the ground. There wasn't a sadder sight on earth than a coffin that size. I stood alone, behind the family as they mourned a child taken too young. A child who would never have a first kiss or fall in love. Who would never go to college or grow up and become a man. How many years had I wasted being scared? How many years had I not lived? Loved? Ian hadn't returned any of my phone calls. I'd tried to go over there to tell him about my mother and everything else, wanting to show I wasn't afraid to talk to him and,
Seasmoke Friends Chapter 40
IanDee came back into the room, her eyes suspiciously wet, phone clutched in her hand. She sat next to me on the couch in their living room and deflated."What's wrong?"She waved her hand. "Nothing. Pregnancy hormones."I didn't believe her, but I kept silent.My knee bouncing, I stared at the front door, willing Rick to walk through. The three of us had decided it was best for Rick to attend Jon Melbourne's funeral. In my effort to keep my distance, to let her stand on her own, I'd had to hear through the grapevine that Summer's student had passed away. And about her mother moving back to Wylie. It had taken everything in me not to race to her side and verify with my own two eyes she was all right. Strangely, the need wasn't out of a sense to protect her, to unload her burden for her, but because I just wanted to be there for her. Next to her. For support, not as a knight. A hard habit to kick, but I'd done it. I guessed that meant the week we'd been apart had done more than kill m
Seasmoke Friends Chapter 41
SummerHe strode forward two steps and stopped, still several paces away, as if remembering why he'd left me alone and forcing himself to stay back. His mouth firmed into a thin line, eyes darting back and forth between mine. The night sky let out a flash of lightning and he broke the connection to look up. "You left me." Dropping his gaze back to me, the tortured, wrecked pain there told me how much it had cost him to do that, to walk away from me. "Thank you."His lips parted, eyebrows furrowed. Raindrops poured off his dark hair and over his face. He was the most glorious thing I'd ever laid eyes on. The muscled contours of his body were wrought tight with tension, his eyes pleading.I nodded to his silent question. "Thank you. I know how much it killed you to leave me, but you did. You trusted that I'd still be here when you came back." I pressed my hand to my heart. "I love you."He seemed to stop breathing. "How can you be sure?" I shook my head, not understanding.He stepped
Seasmoke Friends Chapter 42: Prologue
VOLUME TWO: WINTER'S PATHMatt HolcombLate JulyI knew before I even started my car this morning and made the two-hour trek to her house that today was not going to end how I'd hoped. Summer Quinn was supposed to be my salvation, and though she wouldn't be my ruin, the loss was going to thrust my life right back to what started my downward spiral in the first place.From Greensboro to Charlotte, I passed the rolling Carolina countryside with my head in a fog, my heart clutching hope. Pine trees grounded in thick red clay passed by in a blur. Scatterings of wildflowers flashed color under the heavy, hot sun. I drove my reliable sedan that I'd purchased for my reliable life to go in the garage attached to my reliable house.That was me. Reliable. The good southern guy. Boy next door.Except I wasn't. Not really. Hadn't been in two years. Two years to this very day, to be exact. When my flirtation with skating the edge inadvertently put a girl six feet under. Up to that point, I'd been p
Seasmoke Friends Chapter 43
MattLate OctoberTomorrow was the big move. I'd be uprooting my life in Greensboro and transplanting myself in Myrtle. The past couple months, I'd been darting back and forth, helping the firm set up the new location and transferring some of our clients' files who'd be following. It had been tedious and exhausting. Trying to put my things in order here hadn't been pleasant either. My folks weren't all that pleased with my decision, but they understood. It wasn't as if I were moving to Timbuktu. But we'd always been close, in proximity and as a family. Though I loved them, they were a big factor in my relocation. Sometimes, it was just so damn hard to look them in the eye knowing I wasn't that good son they thought I was. Perhaps I was once, but that ship had sailed. The guilt was unbearable to live with most days, and I just couldn't hack their adoring affection.Sighing, I laid the back of my head against the living room wall, where I'd been sitting on the floor the past hour. B
Seasmoke Friends Chapter 44
Jenny WinterWhen Matt's text pinged my phone saying he was getting off the interstate, my heart pounded so hard it shoved ribs. Up until this moment, I kind of figured he'd back out. Go the safe route and stay in Greensboro. Matt wasn't a coward by any means, but he did like his world neat. Orderly. And a change as big as moving to the coast disrupted that perfect bubble he'd lived in.I was so damn proud of him. I knew his relationship with Summer would never pan out, and I think he did, too. Yet, he'd pursued her anyway. I'd never deluded myself into wishing Ian could ever be mine. We were a seasonal hookup and nothing more. Had I looked forward to Fourth of July week every year? Yes. Ian was a great lover who'd treated me well. He'd never led me on or made what we had feel cheap. But that's all it was. Friends with benefits. Matt, however, had clung to the hope Summer would choose him. I shook my head. Truth be told, Matt loved her, but there wasn't a spark between them. He mig
Seasmoke Friends Chapter 45
JennyJuly-Twelve Years AgoOn shaky legs, I stared at the ocean, hoping the lull would settle me. I squished my toes in the hot sand. Sunlight bounced off the waves and sailboats dotted the horizon. Seagulls squawked and scoured the water for fish. Down the beach a long way and currently out of sight, people were crowded outside the hotels and rental units. It was peak tourist season. My Grampy's tavern was even farther south, not right on the beach but, when I was there, I could see it from our apartment over the bar.After running into Jared earlier at the ice cream shop and encountering his self-righteous smirk, I needed away from my side of the strip and had taken the bus up here, where it was less populated. The homes in this area weren't the ostentatious mansions farther north, but they were beautiful. Simple elegance. Grateful no one was trying to shoo me away from the semi-private beach, I closed my eyes and breathed deep. Sweat beaded down my back and dampened my hairlin
Seasmoke Friends Chapter 46
MattPresentTemples throbbing, I stared around at the chaos and shook my head. While I'd been assembling my bedroom, Jenny had unpacked the kitchen stuff. Boxes were still scattered everywhere, my things mingling with my parents'. The plan had been to pack up whatever of theirs I didn't have room for and ship it to them.Perhaps leaving my furniture in Greensboro had been a mistake. I'd all but forgotten the floral-print couch and loveseat here, not to mention the knick-knacks and books. This place didn't feel any more mine than my house back home. The walls were white, scattered with paintings of flowers.The open floor plan allowed for creativity in furniture placement, but I wasn't creative, and all I could see when I looked around were years of July vacations. The large living room was separated from the kitchen by an island. I liked the distressed white cabinets and blue tile countertops, plus the stainless steel appliances were new. Bare, pale hardwood was throughout the fir
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