Chapter 19

Riley kept her head down as she got off the plane. She’d see her family soon enough, and then she’d be plunged into that chaos. She hadn’t gone to Oahu for Thanksgiving, but Hope had insisted she take a few days off before Christmas and the big Pyne wedding.

“Riley!”

She looked up at the high, child’s voice that called her name. Her niece, Winnie, held up a big sign with her initials on it, and Riley burst into a grin. She started walking faster, scooping the seven-year-old into her arms with a laugh.

“Hey, Winnie-bear,” she said, holding onto the little girl. “Thanks for coming to get me at the airport.”

“Mama went to get a drink,” she said. “Daddy’s right there.”

“Aloha, Sissy.” Her older brother Jason slung his arm around her. “How was the flight?”

“Oh, you know. It’s an hour.” Riley didn’t want to think about the last flight she’d been on from Oahu back to Getaway Bay. She grinned up at her brother. “How is everyone?”

“It’s much quieter on the island without everyone here,” Jason said. “You’re smart to come when no one else is here.”

Riley didn’t say that was why she hadn’t come for Thanksgiving. She’d promised her mother she’d come before the wedding and the Christmas holiday, and here she was. Of course, then she’d have to face her mother alone, but Riley hadn’t usually had a problem with her mom.

“Mama’s got her sticky rice on,” Jason said. “Winnie is so excited to show you her new lizard, and you have to act surprised, but Kelly is pregnant again.”

“What?” Riley stopped, hope entering her heart. “Are you kidding me right now?” Tears came to her eyes, because Kelly and Jason had been trying to have another baby for five years. Riley understood waiting for something she wanted desperately, and she grabbed onto her brother and wept into his shoulder. “Congratulations.”

“You told her, didn’t you?”

Riley let go of Jason and grabbed only Kelly. “I’m so happy for you.”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said. “I’m just so excited.”

“When are you due?” Riley asked, stepping back and looking at Kelly.

“Not until July,” Kelly said. “We’ve only told my parents and yours.” She glared at Jason. “We don’t want to have to tell everyone if we lose another baby.”

“Riley gets it,” Jason said. “That’s why she didn’t tell anyone about her rockstar boyfriend.”

Pure horror struck her behind her lungs. “Where did you hear that?”

“I think you forget that I used to live in Getaway Bay,” Jason said, both of his eyebrows raised.

“I broke up with the rockstar a long time ago,” Riley said, feeling every day of Evan’s absence. “I can’t even remember his name.”

“That is so not true,” Kelly said, reaching for Winnie’s hand. “Your aunt is a big, fat liar.” She grinned at Riley, who suddenly felt like crying again. She hated that weakness in her, and that the feelings of sadness over losing Evan had lingered for so long. Lisa had tried to tell her she’d fallen for Evan, and maybe she had. Riley didn’t want to acknowledge it, because then she’d never get over him.

She’d watched the Super Bowl halftime announcement, and she’d followed the news of a new contract for Georgia Panic, which had come in the form of the largest contract for a band in the past three years.

She’d smiled while she’d cried as she read the Internet article. As she thought about Evan in Malibu. As she remembered his bond with his brothers and bandmates.

Then she’d pull herself together and go to work. Keep everything together for as long as she could, and then escape to the beach. When she finally went home, she was glad she didn’t have to use a dozen makeup remover wipes to get her eyeliner off.

“I love your natural look, though,” Kelly said, and Riley smiled at her gratefully.

“Thanks, Kel. I feel more like myself again.” She’d given up the extensions and the hair dye. She’d gone through a few weeks there where she’d pulled her hair up and worn a cute hat to work to get through the transition from dark back to red.

She liked her hair now, and she was so grateful for a stylist who was as patient as she was talented. When she looked in the mirror now, she could see her freckles. Her green eyes matched her red hair better than the black. And she was starting to find herself again.

Maybe.

Slowly.

She rode in the backseat with Winnie to her parents’ house, where her mother and father waited on the lanai. “Mama,” she said as she got out of the car. She went to the patio and hugged her mom. “How are you?”

She loved how tight her mother hugged, and then she embraced her father too, glad she’d come. Even though she’d basically been forced to take time off and Lisa had almost booked her airplane ticket for her.

“When’s the wedding?” her mom asked, and Riley’s heart jumped over itself. For one terrible moment, she thought maybe her mother was asking when Riley’s wedding was.

Never.

“Uh, next Friday,” Riley said. “I’m going back Thursday morning to be ready.” She ignored the flicker of panic inside her of all that needed to be done before the wedding. Lisa and Shannon had assured her everything would be set, and that she needed to take a few days away.

“Not just from the office,” Lisa had said. “But from Getaway Bay.”

What she really meant was Riley needed to stop obsessing over Evan and whether he’d be back on the island for the wedding. Of course he would be. Charlie and Amelia had both confirmed that Evan would still be singing at the wedding. All that meant for Riley was that she needed to stay behind the scenes so she wouldn’t see him.

She didn’t think she’d run into him. After all, he was the talent and would surely be kept in isolation until it was time to sing. Then he’d get ushered onto the scene and bustled away. She may or may not have watched some Internet videos of some of his performances, but she was taking that knowledge to the grave.

“Dinner is ready,” her mother said. “Come eat, come eat.” Her mother’s favorite thing to do was feed people, and Riley wasn’t going to deprive her of that over the next five days.

***

“I love you,” Riley said to her mom on Thursday morning. “Thanks for taking such good care of me.” She smiled down on her aging mother, noting how gray she’d gotten. But she’d had an amazing week with her mom and dad. They’d laughed. They’d cried. She’d told them about Evan, and they’d talked about her job as they watched dogs trot past the house.

Riley returned to Getaway Bay, determined not to look at the ground until she returned to Your Tidal Forever. That way, she couldn’t see any watches that sexy rockstars had dropped, and then replaced, before she contacted them.

She’d worn her work clothes on the plane, and she went straight to the office to find out where things stood.

She walked in, and no one rose from the desk where she usually sat. The air conditioning hummed along, and the water fountain buzzed, and the phone rang. Her heartbeat skipped, but before she could even take one step to answer it, the peal silenced.

Someone else had answered it.

She wasn’t needed here.

Despair filled her, and she hurried to her desk, almost collapsing into her chair. Her tears were just there, appearing out of nowhere and flowing down her face before she could even think about what state her makeup would be in.

“Oh.”

Riley looked up when someone spoke, and she found Lisa standing there, a stack of folders in her hand.

“You’re back. I didn’t hear the door.” She dropped the folders and drew Riley into a huge. “What’s wrong? Something with your mom and dad?” She held Riley tight and rubbed her back, and Riley really wanted to be needed.

She needed to be needed.

Riley shook her head and couldn’t speak. Lisa didn’t try to suggest anything else. She just held Riley until she quieted, at which point she stepped back and turned away from her best friend.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m just…I feel so stupid. I’m fine.” She tugged on the bottom of her blouse and sat down. “These are new clients?”

“Just a bunch of invoices we got paid on,” Lisa said. “Let’s go to lunch later, okay?”

“Okay,” Riley said, but she knew Lisa had appointments during lunch. After all, just because Riley had gone off-island didn’t mean she didn’t have access to her calendar.

She drew in a deep breath and focused. Filing first. She loved filing, and maybe she’d be able to figure out why she’d broken down because someone else had answered the phone.

***

The next day, Riley did her best to stay out of the way. She arranged flowers early and disappeared inside the staging tent the closer to the wedding start time. She wore a pretty floral dress like everyone else at Your Tidal Forever, and she kept her smile cemented in place so no one would know she was dying a slow death inside.

Evan was supposed to sing before the actual ceremony, and then again during the dancing portion. As the crowd rose and the bride glided down the aisle to her waiting groom, Riley caught sight of the handsome man that had turned her life upside down.

“Good afternoon, everyone,” he said, his voice like pure butter. Smooth and Southern and absolutely sexy. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she couldn’t look away from him in that form-fitted tuxedo, his hair all swept up in a casual-not-casual beach look.

“We’re here to celebrate Charlie and Amelia, and I’m going to sing a song I wrote just for them.”

Riley swooned—along with every other female in the vicinity, married or not. In that moment, she realized three things.

One, she wanted Evan Garfield in her life again.

Two, she needed to apologize to him for being so demanding.

Three, she was in love with him. One-hundred-percent in love with him.

She pressed one hand to her racing pulse as he continued to speak. “But that song is going to come after this one.” He cleared his throat. “This song I actually wrote for my girlfriend. Well, she was my girlfriend, and I kinda messed things up with her.” He smiled around at the crowd. “Have you ever done that?”

A collective “Yeah,” went up from the wedding party, but Riley couldn’t look away from Evan. Was he talking about her? Or had he found someone else in California and messed things up with them?

“Well, you should know I’m just a guy, and I made some mistakes too. I miss her like crazy, though, and I’ve somehow convinced myself that if I sing her this song here at this wedding, she’ll forgive me and take me back.” He scanned the crowd again, but Riley knew she stood out of his sight.

Lisa elbowed her and hissed, “Go out there,” but Riley shook her head no. She wasn’t into public displays of affection, especially at someone else’s wedding.

“Okay, I’m ready,” Evan said, and someone handed him a guitar. He set the microphone in the stand and adjusted the shoulder strap on his guitar. He was gorgeous and full of light in the moment before he opened his mouth, and then the most glorious sound came out.

The song was a ballad, perfect for slow-dancing, and all of her doubts about who this song was for flew away when she heard the first line.

She sits in the coffee shop, her head bent down Tears gathered in Riley’s eyes, and her pulse thundered in her veins, and she felt frozen to the beach beneath her feet.

She’s lovely in the sun, and perfect in the rain, and if I ever see her again I’ll tell her that I love her.

If I ever see her again I’ll tell her that I love her.

The last notes and chords combined together, and Riley realized she wasn’t the only one with wet eyes.

“Get out there right now,” Lisa said. “And tell him you love him too.”

The crowd clapped, and Evan handed off his guitar and bowed for them. Riley wasn’t sure if she was pushed or if she started walking, but she exited the safety of the tent where she and the other women had stored their bins for setup.

“I don’t know if that worked,” Evan said. “But I’d just like to say I’m sorry to—” He cut off when Charlie Pyne stepped next to him and pointed at Riley.

Evan turned and looked, and Riley’s eyes met his. Time seemed to slow into nothing, and everyone and everything fell away.

“Riley,” he said, now suddenly in front of her. “I love you.”

She looked up at him, every cell inside her bursting with energy, with the love he’d given her. “I love you, too.”

“Yeah?” He grinned and cradled her face in both of his hands. “I’m so sorry.”

“Kiss her!” someone in the crowd yelled, and Riley giggled through her tears. And kissing Evan when she knew he loved her was even more magical than she’d ever imagined.

She kissed him while people she didn’t know whooped and cheered. She kissed him while she cried. She kissed him like she was in love with him—because she was.