The Sweetest Summer(106)

            Clancy’s eyes, though, were exactly the same. Hal was right—he did have a penetrating gaze. They were the same intense dark blue, set deep behind dark lashes, and still flashed with intelligence and kindness.

            But the thing that most obviously connected the boy to the man was an underlying sweetness about him. That, more than anything, took her back in time.

            Evelyn suddenly felt her throat tighten. Here she was, letting herself feel the old attraction, but the fact remained: he claimed he never got her letter. How could that have happened? It took years for her to talk herself into believing she’d been naive for falling in love with Clancy Flynn. With the help of her friends and Amanda, she finally decided her instincts had been wrong about him, that he’d only used her as a festival week distraction, and that he probably lied to all the tourist girls.

            Or was it possible the only mistake she’d made was to doubt him? Could the whole thing really have been some stupid mix-up with the mail?

            Evelyn couldn’t keep it in a second longer. “You had to have received a letter from me. I sent you one. I spilled my guts to you. I told you I loved you.”

            His smile faded. He gave her a barely there nod.

            “I want to hold it? Can I hold it?”

            Clancy returned his attention to the excited Christina. “How about I put it down right here in the sand for you? That way, you can touch it if you want but you don’t have to hold it. Does that sound good?”

            She began bouncing and twirling again. “Yep, yep, yep!”

            Clancy stood and moved toward Evelyn. He walked with determination, serious and focused, and he kept his eyes locked on hers until he was close enough that she could reach out and touch him if she dared.

            “I never got a letter, Evie. I waited and waited, for years, really.”

            “What?”

            “Finally, when I went off to school on the mainland, I told myself I had to let you go. By the time I started the police academy, I thought of you only occasionally. And then, life got ahold of me.”

            “But . . . I waited for years, too! It crushed me that you never wrote back!”

            A high-pitched screech jolted them. Christina was running in the surf after the dogs, her arms flailing in alarm. “They took it! They got the horse crap!”

            Clancy kissed Evelyn’s forehead. “Someday we’ll know what happened. The important thing now is that you don’t waste another second of your life doubting me, because I meant every word I ever said to you, Evie.”

            Evelyn’s spirit lifted and her mind stilled. There was so much happiness in that moment—Clancy, Christina, the dogs, the sunset. She didn’t know if her heart could carry it all. Now she knew. Clancy had not dismissed her.

            “I’ve been thinking.” He took her hand and they resumed their walk. “It’s not a mistake you’re here, you know. You’re here for a reason.”

            “Ya think?”

            They both laughed and he pulled her tighter. “Not only because of your current . . . difficulty.”

            “Okay.”

            “I think you’re back because there’s a lot of unfinished business between us, Evie. Maybe we’re getting another chance.”

            “A second chance at a first love?”

            “Exactly.”





            Eighteen years ago . . .

            So this is what it felt like. Clancy hadn’t said the words yet, but Evie knew by the way he held her close as they danced, and touched his lips so softly to her neck. He loved her. She was fine with that. Because she loved him back.