"No game," Trent assured him. "And he actually thanked me for my hard work, too."
Their eyes widened again with disbelief.
"Chandler thanked you?" Ethan asked. "You sure you weren't in the wrong office?"
Trent laughed at that. "I couldn't believe it either. He also gave me a bit of advice about Reese, and then he said that Grandma Caroline's love for him didn't dismiss his rotten behavior toward her."
"He'd never say something like that," Derek grumbled. "I'm not buying it."
Griffin's brows knitted together, as well. "Is there any way you misunderstood any of this, Trent?"
After Trent shook his head, Quinn said, "Remember what I overheard him saying to Didi in his office when we first came back to the island? How he's proud of us and respects our determination. I think the heart attacks might have rocked his brain--in a good way."
"Well, I don't care what caused it," Sierra said. "I think it's wonderful. I have always hated how cold he was. Maybe we'll see another side of him in our lifetimes after all."
"You know what I think?" Abby's eyes trailed lovingly over each of her children. "I think he brought you all back to the island because he needed us all here. He may seem cold in many ways, but he is also a loyal man who was married to the same woman his entire life. I believe he does know what love is. He just has a hard time showing it."
"And he definitely has a hard time allowing himself to feel loved by others," Griffin added. "When his first love turned down his proposal, I think he shut part of himself off in order to protect himself. But if we continue to treat him like we'd like to be treated, then hopefully he'll come around more and more."
"I'm still not buying a word of it," Derek said.
Sierra shot Derek a narrow-eyed glare. "You don't have to buy it. Just try to be nice. Heck, maybe you should ask Didi to the dance. We all know you want to, and if she actually says yes, maybe that will make you sweeter, too."
"Speaking of sweet," Ethan said before Derek could jump down Sierra's throat for egging him on, "the mural is incredible. I see Reese out there most mornings when I'm heading down to the marina. She always looks so intent on painting that I'm afraid to interrupt her, but she's doing a fantastic job."
"I'll pass that along," Trent said, damn proud of the woman he loved. "She's really thankful that she was chosen for the project."
Abby and Sierra exchanged a smile before his sister said, "She was really the only person we could have chosen for the job."
Reese is the only person I could have chosen for me, too.
Trent looked at his watch and told his family, "If we're done here, I've got to get going."
"I've got to head back to work, too," Derek muttered as he pushed away from the table.
"I'm not heading back to the office," Trent told his brother. "I'm going to go see Reese."
Something that looked like envy passed over Derek's face before he quickly covered it up with a smirk. "Two down, two to go."
"You really think you're going to dodge love's arrow, don't you?" Trent said.
"If I ever found a woman who could keep up with me and my adventures, I might change my mind," Derek said. "But I'm pretty sure she's not out there, so I'm happy going solo. In fact, what the hell. I'm going to fit in some rock climbing before I chain myself to my desk for the rest of the night."
How, Trent wondered as his brother headed for the rocks, could Derek not get that falling in love with a great woman made everything so much better?
Then again, Trent knew all too well just how easy it was to keep the blinders on where true love was concerned. And he also knew it was something he would never make the mistake of doing again.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
REESE'S WHOLE FACE lit up when Trent walked into her gallery. She seemed more beautiful every time he saw her, and yet again he wondered how he could have ever wanted to climb a corporate ladder instead of coming home to her. He'd been young, driven, and blind. So damn blind.
"Hi," Reese said as she stepped around the counter and lifted her mouth to his. Their kiss went from zero to sixty in the span of a heartbeat and would have definitely turned into even more if Jocelyn hadn't walked by and cleared her throat.
Trent and Reese were both laughing as they drew back. "I thought we were alone," Trent said.
"You were. I was in the ladies' room." Jocelyn was laughing, too, as she said, "Go ahead; get out of here to kiss or whatever you want to do. Just don't tell me about it. Well...not too many details, anyway."
Reese and Trent headed out of the gallery, and as they began to walk down Old Mill Row, Trent couldn't wait to fill Reese in on the shocking developments with his grandfather. "Chandler just deeded over the resort to me and my siblings."
She stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk. "No way."
"He said we've proved ourselves to him and that we deserve to own it. But there's more."
"More? My world is already spinning. I'm not sure I can handle more," she said with a laugh.
"He also started talking about his regrets over how he treated Grandma Caroline. And then he warned me not to make the same mistakes with you."
"Oh, Trent..." She squeezed his hand. "That's so sweet of Chandler."
"I never thought I'd hear the words 'sweet' and 'Chandler' in the same sentence."
"I knew he was a softie at heart."
"Only you saw that, Reese. Only you."
"There have been so many changes recently," she mused. "First with Quinn. And then with us."
"All good changes," he said as he pulled her into his arms to kiss her again in front of the whole world. "Great changes."
"I know one thing that's still the same, though," Reese said. "How great the fried calamari at Charley's Pub is. Have you been there since you've been back?"
"Not yet." Because it had reminded him too much of Reese. When they were first dating they'd gone to Charley's Pub every week, sometimes alone and sometimes with Trent's siblings or their friends. They'd often stayed for hours, talking and laughing. "We should go there for dinner."
Charley's was located on the corner of West and Main, beside Island View Pharmacy. Trent pulled open the heavy wooden door. "Mm," they said in unison as the scent of seafood wafted toward them. They claimed the table in the corner that they used to call their own. Trent slid in beside Reese and draped an arm over her shoulder. She snuggled against him as the waitress took their orders.
Two televisions were mounted behind the bar, one set to ESPN, the other to CNN. A handful of guys sat at the bar drinking, but the pub wasn't very busy otherwise. There were a few couples sitting in the tables around them, but sitting in the booth with Reese like they used to felt to Trent like they were all alone in their own little world.
"Does it feel like no time has passed?" Reese asked. "Or like we haven't been here in forever?"
"So much of what we do feels familiar," he told her. "But at the same time, it's all brand-new. What about for you?"
"Being here throws me back to when we were first dating, but just like you said, it doesn't feel the same as it did then. At nineteen, I had no idea I was so young. That we were both so young. I thought we had it all figured out, that nothing could stop us." She looked pensive as she said, "I've been thinking a lot about things. About the past...and the future, too. The truth is that ten years ago neither of us really knew what we wanted out of life. The problem wasn't just that we weren't good communicators--it was that even if we had been, we didn't know ourselves well enough yet back then to be able to honestly tell each other what we needed to be happy. But if we had met a few years later, once we were older and wiser..."
"No matter when we met, I would have fallen in love with you." He kissed her before adding, "But what you're saying makes a lot of sense. I loved you when you were nineteen, I love you now at twenty-nine, and I'll still be loving you just as much at eighty-nine."
She picked up her wineglass. "To new and old coming together."
"And to bu
ilding a love that will last."
*
BY THE TIME Charley's had their last call, they were both a little tipsy, and Reese was sure she looked like she was swooning over Trent as much as he looked like he was desperately in love with her.
She'd been giddy when he'd asked her to come to the dance at the resort. Dancing with Trent had always been one of her favorite things. Her whole life was brighter since he'd been back, and now she had even more wonderful things to look forward to.
Trent paid the bill and then they made their way down the sidewalk toward home. He shrugged off his sweater and turned her toward him as he helped her put it on.
"You're cute when you're tipsy." He kissed the tip of her nose.
"You're hot all the time."
She went up on her toes and mashed her lips against his in a messy, needy kiss. His strong arms circled her, bringing their bodies flush against each other. He buried his hands in her hair, tilting her head, angling her just the way he liked, and she immediately surrendered to their passion. The kiss was warm and wonderful, sharing oxygen as he loved her mouth with all he had. Reese's insides were humming with need, and every kiss, every urgent touch, brought her desire for him even closer to the surface.
A car drove around the corner, putting them momentarily in a spotlight, and they came away breathless. They hurried several blocks in the chilly evening air, until Trent pulled Reese into an alley between two shops, where it was pitch-dark and they were blocked from the bay breezes.
He pressed his body to hers as he kissed her again, his hands traveling up and down her hips as she rocked into him, feeling the strength of his arousal, the ache of his lust in every stroke of his tongue. She couldn't resist palming him through his jeans. He moaned as he slid his lips to her neck, kissing and sucking as his hand slid between her legs.
"Reese," he whispered against her lips. "You've turned me into a teenage boy. I want to take you right here, right now."
"Take me," she urged him. "Here. Now."
He cupped her face between his hands and kissed her. It was a rough kiss. A kiss that matched the urgency rushing through her and drove her hand to the button of his jeans.
"Yes," he said between kisses. "Now."
She didn't stop unbuttoning his pants as they stumbled deeper into the alley, away from the road. She managed to get his zipper down, pulling a groan from deep within his lungs. She could barely see in the dark alley, but she could feel his heart thundering in his chest and could feel each heavy breath against her cheeks, her lips, her neck, ratcheting up her fervor.
She tugged his pants down, and he lifted her up and claimed her mouth, groaning as he shoved her skirt up above her waist, lifted her legs to wrap around his hips, and shoved her panties to one side.
She sank down upon his hard shaft, both of them beyond words as the breath whooshed from their lungs and their bodies ground together.
His strong arms guided her up and down. She used his shoulders for balance, digging her nails into his muscles.
"Faster...harder...Trent..." She barely comprehended what she was saying as he took her up, up, up, and higher still. When he sealed his lips over the crest of her shoulder and bit down as he thrust into her, they both cried out, spiraling over the edge.
He silenced her passionate moans with kisses as they rode out their orgasms, thrusting and clawing for more. Finally, Trent backed them against the wall, holding her close, until their bodies began to calm.
"You're shaking," he said as he helped her straighten her clothes a short while later.
"Aftershocks." She fisted her hands in his shirt to stabilize her shaky legs.
"Jesus, Reese. I didn't mean to do that here," he whispered. "When I'm with you, I forget everything except how much I have to have you."
"I loved every single second of it," she said as she went up on her toes and kissed him again. "And even though some things have changed between us, I'm glad we still need each other just as much as we always did."
"More, Reese. I need you even more."
He was right. Even their desire for each other was bigger now. Bigger and better than before. And maybe it was that knowledge that helped her cautious worries stay settled for the first time as they took yet another step toward their second chance at forever.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
THE NEXT FEW days flew by in a blur of laughter and loving. Morning, noon, and night, Reese tumbled faster and faster over the edge of lust and into a love that was deeper and truer than she'd ever known love could be.
By Friday afternoon she was so excited to dance with Trent that she could barely concentrate on the mural. She was debating walking down to Annabelle's boutique to look for a new dress to wear, when she spotted a group of teenagers heading her way.
"That's awesome," said a guy who looked to be in his late teens, with long dark hair that hung over his eyes as he admired the mural.
"Thank you." Reese smiled at them. The other guy wore his hair cropped short. Each of the two girls with them had long hair, one blond, one brunette, both wearing cutoffs and sweaters.
Reese remembered how fun it had been to be so young and carefree. Then again, she was extremely pleased to realize that it was turning out to be even more fun--and much sexier--to be older and wiser and to have an even deeper connection.
"Did you paint this whole mural?" the slim blond girl asked.
"Yes, but it's not finished," Reese explained.
The short-haired guy studied the cottage she'd painted. "We're art students at the Rhode Island School of Design. I don't suppose you'd let us help?"
"We're visiting my aunt, Kathleen Torrence," the blonde with the high-tops said.
"I know your aunt. It's nice to meet you. I'm Reese Nicholson."
"I'm Stephanie, and this is Cory"--she pointed to the short-haired boy--"and Michael and Elise."
How could Reese say no to such a group of eager faces?
"Well, it is a community project. Why not?" Actually, now that she thought about it, she really loved the idea of truly making this a community project and bringing their creativity to the mural. In fact, she decided not to show them the drawing. "What would you like to paint?"
"I'd love to paint a guy with a surfboard down here at the edge of the water." Michael pointed to the far left of the mural.
"Can I paint a little boy playing with a ball over here?" Elise pointed to the grassy knoll between the cottages.
"Absolutely. Both of those ideas sound great."
"Can Cory and I paint one of those planes pulling a banner?" Stephanie asked. "We could have the banner read 'Welcome to Rockwell Island.'"
"I couldn't have thought up a more perfect idea."
As Reese handed them each brushes, Cory asked, "Do you mind if I play music? I like to listen while I paint. Classical's my jam, if that's okay with you." When she told him it sounded great, he pulled speakers out of a backpack that Michael had set on the grass and connected them to his cell phone. Classical music filled the air around them.
"That's an interesting choice for a guy your age," Reese said as she picked up her brush and began painting again.
"His father's a violinist," Elise explained.
The kids energized the air around them. They laughed and joked and talked about how cool the island was. Every so often, Cory leaned down and kissed Elise, and every single time, she sighed with pleasure as if she couldn't get enough of their kisses.
Isn't it lovely, Reese thought, that at twenty-nine, I'm still doing that with Trent?
Stephanie swung her hips to the music even though there wasn't a real dance beat. And when she caught Michael looking, she just laughed and rolled her eyes before turning her focus back to the mural.
A short while later, when Stephanie sat down beside her, Reese told the girl, "You're really talented. Have you thought about what you're going to do once you graduate?"
"I've spent each of the last few summers working to save money, and over my school breaks I als
o work full-time, so the first thing I'm going to do is backpack through Europe for a summer to see everything I can." Stephanie's big green eyes were wide with excitement and anticipation. "After that, I'm moving to Boston, where my parents live, and I'm hoping to find a job in graphic design."
"Wow. You really have it all planned out." When Reese had been her age, while she'd had lots of hopes and dreams, she'd had no concrete plans for achieving them until Trent had planted the seed of opening her own gallery.
"You kind of have to these days. There are so many college grads now without jobs. I'm planning to send out a bunch of applications a few weeks before I return from Europe. That way I can start interviewing right away. I had a paid internship last summer at a big firm that offered me a part-time job while I'm at school, but I want to focus on my grades."
Just then Trent came around the corner, and Reese didn't even try to control her urge to leap up into his arms. They'd taken so many wonderful steps toward building their new relationship that she was feeling more confident about it every day.
He kissed her dizzy in front of the teenagers before finally drawing back to ask, "Did you do some recruiting?"
It took her a few long seconds to get her synapses to fire properly again so that she could tell him, "They're art students. Aren't they doing a wonderful job?"
"Amazing. You've made this a real community project, Reese." Trent smiled at the teens and offered his hand in greeting to the teenagers.
After they'd all introduced themselves, Trent said, "The resort is hosting a dance tonight with a great live band. Are you all going?"
Elise grabbed Cory's shirt. "We should go!"
"Whatever you want." He leaned down and kissed her again.
"Steph? Want to go?" Michael's eyes were so full of hope that even Reese found herself hoping Stephanie would say yes.
Stephanie shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"
The scene was so different from what she and Trent had been like when they were younger. She'd practically jumped up and down when he'd asked her out. Every. Single. Time.
Actually, she thought with a wide grin, she still did.
"It's on the lower patio around eight," Trent told the group before turning back to Reese and lowering his voice. "Do you want to listen to the music from our favorite overlook and have our own private dance?"