"Yes. A bunch of stuff was installed at the music shop today. He's just catching me up, and he's also asking questions about the people we interviewed. It sounds like they're taking another look at the candidates I brought in," Serena said as she replied to his text. She wanted to ask him what last night had meant, and she worried that maybe she'd been too honest with her feelings in the card. Drake, there was a time when I thought we might end up together. And then I let that thought go. But never fully. Even now, knowing how you feel about me and why you want to keep distance between us, I still can't let it go. You'll always be the first boy I fell in love with. I wonder, though, if you'll also be the last.
It had felt like the right thing to say at the time. She drew in a deep breath and said, "Can I ask you guys something about dating?"
"Hold on. Let me get away from little ears." Mira got up, carrying her phone.
"I know you mean me, Mom," Hagen said as she passed him.
Mira bent and kissed his head. "Say hi to Auntie Serena."
He looked up from the puzzle he was working on with Matt, and his normally serious blue eyes widened. "Hi! Do you like Boston? Did you go to the library yet? Are you eating ice cream? What flavor? I had ice cream after lunch." Hagen loved libraries, museums, and basically any place where he could learn new facts. Matt and Mira were always taking him on educational outings.
"That's a lot of questions, buddy," Matt said to Hagen, then he turned his face toward the screen. "Hey, girls. How's it going?"
"Hi, Hagen. Hi, Matt." Serena waved. "I haven't gotten to the library yet, Hagen, but I will report back when I do. And I am eating ice cream. It's called-"
"Watch it!" Mira said.
"Yummylicious," Chloe chimed in.
Matt shook his head with a stifled chuckle.
"On that note, I'm taking this call outside." Mira held the phone closer as she went outside and whispered, "Eight-year-olds are like little spies. They collect intel and bring it out at the worst possible time. Just this morning he asked Matt if he remembered to stop by the girls' shop and get new toys."
Serena and Chloe howled with laughter. Desiree and Violet had first come to the Cape under the guise of their mother needing help due to her failing health. They'd been tricked into running their mother's art gallery, Devi's Discoveries, which was on the grounds of the inn. They'd later discovered an adult toy shop in the back of the gallery, which their mother had failed to mention owning. They ran that now, too.
Mira sat down on a deck chair. "Poor Matt had to run out and buy Hagen toys so he didn't parrot it right back to everyone else."
"I'm sorry," Serena said, still laughing. "But that's hilarious."
Mira narrowed her eyes. "You just wait until you have children."
"Not happening anytime soon for me," Chloe said.
"Me either, but is it safe to ask you my question now?" Serena asked.
Chloe leaned forward, her hazel eyes wide with curiosity. "Ask me anything. I'm like a dating guru."
"You are pickier than anyone I've ever met," Serena reminded her. "That's totally not true. You're like a dating warning sign."
Mira laughed. "Okay, okay, you two. Keep it PG, please. Drake is still my brother."
"I know. Don't worry. This isn't about sex. I didn't tell you guys this, but Drake and I almost kissed Wednesday night."
"What?" Chloe snapped. "You withheld that from us?"
"Thank you," Mira said.
"You're welcome. There's more. Thursday, a full day before Drake and I even kissed, he told me how he felt about me and all the reasons why we couldn't be together. And his reasons made sense. I mean, sort of. The way he said it, I almost felt thankful that we had never hooked up before. We talked about that almost kiss the summer of the duet, and he said we were in two different places, with him going off to college and me just starting high school. And he was right."
"That's really chivalrous of him," Mira said, "considering most high school guys are out for sex."
"It makes me wish I hadn't threatened him back then," Chloe said softly.
"You threatened him?" Serena and Mira asked in unison.
Chloe shrugged. "You're my sister. He broke your heart. I wanted to punch him, but you know, that would have been like punching a brick wall, and I like my knuckles. So I threatened him instead."
"Gosh, you're awesome. Thank you." They had always had each other's backs, but she'd never known her sister had gone that far on her behalf. "Anyway, he knew I was only filling in temporarily at the resort, and he didn't want to put me in the position of us getting together and then giving up my dreams or being confused about where I was heading and what I was leaving behind."
"He meant him, right? Leaving him behind or a relationship with him?" Mira asked. "I hadn't realized full-on big-brother mode was that ingrained in him."
"No, not big-brother mode," Serena said. "Responsible-mode or protector-mode. He made it very clear that his feelings for me were not big brotherish at all. He said that he couldn't be with me because it would be selfish, and that if we kissed he'd never be able to hold back."
"Well, that didn't stop him last night," Mira pointed out.
"Yes, it did," Serena said honestly. She'd felt his restraint. She'd been ready to go all the way, and he'd put on the brakes. He'd done it again. He'd protected her.
The man didn't have a selfish bone in his body.
"Hello?" Chloe waved her hand.
Serena blinked several times to try to clear her thoughts. "Sorry. I was just thinking."
"So what's the problem? That he was right? He couldn't hold back?" Chloe asked. "Because I'd say the man's a boy scout for going years without touching the woman he wanted. Especially since you guys were always together."
"I know he is, and no, that's not the problem. The problem is, I left each of the guys a card Friday afternoon thanking them for everything and telling them that I'd miss them. But since I thought Drake and I had no chance at being together and I was moving away, what I wrote in his was blatantly honest. I basically poured my heart out, and now I worry it was too much. That maybe it scared him off."
"What did you write?" Mira asked.
"How I really feel about him. I held nothing back." She wasn't about to tell them what she'd written, but it played in her head like a recording stuck on repeat, just like that old Journey song Drake used to play all the time. The one she'd lived by. "Don't Stop Believin'."
"Well, has he said anything about being scared off?" Chloe asked, bringing her attention back to their conversation. "Has he pulled back? Because he's texted you three times since we started this chat."
"No. He hasn't said or done anything like that, but if I got a card where he'd poured his heart out, I'd at least acknowledge it."
"Maybe he's embarrassed," Chloe suggested.
"Ask him," Mira added. "Or I can if you want? He promised Hagen he'd take him sailing tomorrow afternoon. I can ask him then."
"No! Don't, Mira. Please? That would be mortifying. We've only had a few hours together. We're not even really dating. I don't know what we are yet. The last thing I want is to make this seem like more-or less-than it is. Promise me you won't even tell Matt. You know the guys talk. Matt might slip up and say something, and then they'll all try to fix us or something."
"Then that's your answer," Chloe said. "If you're confused about it, chances are he is, too. And if you poured your heart out, he's probably figuring out how to handle it. Just give it some time."
"I won't say a word, Serena. Don't worry. But Chloe's right. I wouldn't worry about it," Mira said. "I love my brothers, but when it comes to women, they're both a little thickheaded. Look how long it took Drake to finally give in to his feelings for you. He's not going to back off because you like him too much."
Serena sighed, feeling better. "You're right. I'm overthinking. I'm so nervous about"-last night-"starting my new job, it's making me overthink everything. Look." She grabbed her notebook from the table and held up her lists, explaining each one as she turned the pages. "I made all these lists just since I finished unpacking. A grocery list, questions I want to ask Monday, clothes I want to remember to bring back next weekend, things I need to follow up on for the music store. I even made a list of suggestions for Justine at Shift to help streamline her processes."
"You are a sick woman." Chloe smirked. "If I were in a new city with no responsibilities for two days, I'd be out exploring, finding out which clubs are the hottest, where to get my morning coffee, where to hang out and get tan … "