Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Dr. Gwen Dunaway frowned a little as she drove her car along the streets of Blueberry Bay. The small Rhode Island town was charming, she couldn’t deny it, but she wasn’t paying too much attention to it. She was concentrating on locating the building that she’d bought to be her new private medical practice.

She scolded herself for buying it sight-unseen—if she’d at least taken a tour of it first, she would know where it was located. But she’d been so busy getting everything in order, trying to sell her practice in New Hampshire as soon as possible.

Her shoulders tightened a little as she thought about the life she’d left behind in New Hampshire. The truth was that she could have taken more time to move herself to an entirely new place, but she’d wanted to move as soon as possible. She was a successful doctor, and her practice had been going well—but her life at home hadn’t been.

She tucked a strand of her bobbed brown hair behind her ear and tried to concentrate on the road. Despite her efforts, into her mind floated a memory of her long-term boyfriend Ron, standing in the doorway of her kitchen and telling her that he didn’t think things between them were going to work anymore. She pressed her lips together as she remembered his words.

“You’re too inflexible, Gwen. It’s like nothing matters more to you than things being done the right way.”

She shook her head as she made a turn in the road, following the prompting of her GPS.

I’m not too inflexible, she thought firmly. I’m a successful woman who focuses on her career. He used to say that was just fine with him. Successful people need to be careful about details in order to stay on top of their goals.

She swallowed, feeling a heaviness in her chest. The truth was that she hadn’t felt in love with Ron for a long time, but he’d been her partner and New Hampshire had been her home. Now she found herself completely starting over at the age of thirty-six—something that she’d never seen coming.

“You’ve arrived,” announced the robotic voice of her GPS. Gwen slowed her car down in front of the small red brick building and frowned.

“This can’t be it,” she muttered.

It was much too small, and much too unassuming. There were a couple of small trees planted along the sidewalk in front of it—trees that would practically make it invisible when they grew to full height. The buildings on either side of it were brightly colored—a pink hair salon and a white stone clothing store that had aqua blue shutters. By comparison, the little building that she’d purchased seemed to be practically invisible.

And it was so small—or at least it appeared to be from the outside. She told herself that couldn’t be it, and there must be some mistake. She could have sworn that the place she’d looked at online was much bigger than that. The pictures she’d seen online had been of a place that looked sleek and professional, and amply sized. This place looked like it could fit inside a shoebox.

She admitted to herself with a grimace that it was possible she’d been in such a rush to move out of New Hampshire and move on that she hadn’t paid too much attention to the pictures.

“There must be some mistake,” she muttered again, and pulled her car into the parking spot in front of the building. She turned off the engine of her car and picked up her phone, checking the address. The one she’d typed into her GPS matched the building she was staring at. Even so, she told herself that maybe the addresses had gotten mixed up, and there was a mistake. She texted her nurse Heidi Rhodes, who was arriving in Blueberry Bay the next day and had helped her pick out the building.

GWEN: Hey, I think I might have gone to the wrong place. Is this the building we bought?

She sent along a photograph of the place along with her text, keeping her fingers crossed that Heidi was about to reply and assure her that she’d definitely gone to the wrong location.

For a few minutes, she sat in the car, waiting for a reply and blinking doubtfully at the small red brick building. Even though it was a chilly spring day, the sidewalks were busy with people walking along them. She saw kids running ahead of their parents, teenagers walking along giggling and holding cups of coffee, and people walking a variety of adorable dogs.

She smiled quietly to herself. Whatever else happened, she seemed to have picked a good place to start over in. Blueberry Bay seemed charming and full of life, and she’d always wanted to live right by the ocean. She told herself that things were going to get better for her, just as soon as she got back onto her own two feet.

She turned to look back at the building, wincing a little bit. Maybe it was just her nerves being rattled by uprooting herself and going somewhere new, but she felt that the place was entirely unsatisfactory. She bit her lip, regretting the fact that she hadn’t gone to check out the place in person before purchasing it.

Her phone buzzed with a text message, and her heart leapt up, hoping that Heidi would tell her that she’d gone to the wrong place.

HEIDI: Hey! Nope, that’s the right spot. Cute, isn’t it?

Gwen let out a long sigh, deciding that Heidi was entirely too optimistic. She gave the building another long stare, this time trying to reconcile herself to the fact that it was definitely hers. She’d purchased it, and there was no going back on everything now.

“At least it’s better than staying in New Hampshire,” she muttered.

In addition to being the location of her private medical practice, the red brick building also doubled as her new home. There was an apartment upstairs, and she turned her eyes to the upper windows of the building curiously. It looked like an old place. She hoped it hadn’t fallen into too much disrepair. She didn’t want a place with creaky floorboards and moldy cupboards.

Sighing again, she climbed out of her car and walked around to the trunk, where her suitcase was. She tugged it out, grunting a little. She was of medium height, but frequent running had made her fit, so even a massive, heavy suitcase wasn’t too much for her to manage.

Once she had it placed on the sidewalk, she closed the trunk of her car and locked it. She looked up and noticed that a couple of passing pedestrians were eyeing her curiously—but in a friendly way, with smiles. They looked almost as if they were hoping to introduce themselves. She smiled back, but she didn’t feel in the mood to make friends just then. She wanted to get inside the building and see if the inside was any less disappointing than the outside.

The pedestrians passed by, and she began to roll her suitcase toward the front door of the clinic. She lugged it through the front door, closing her eyes as she went. She took a few steps into the main room and then opened her eyes.

It wasn’t terrible. It was functional, certainly. It had a front desk and beyond that she could see an examination room. Leaving her suitcase in the lobby area, she walked past the desk into the examination room and flipped on the light.

She nodded slowly as she looked around the room. It was functional, definitely, but far from fancy. The walls were painted an off-white which had seen cleaner days, and she made a mental note to repaint the walls as soon as possible. Probably tomorrow. It shouldn’t take too long. The equipment all appeared to be in good working order, and ultimately, that was all that really mattered.

It will have to do, she thought, sighing again. At least the inside is better than the outside—and I can doctor up the inside pretty easily.

She smiled wryly at her unintentional pun, taking one more look around the examination room. She stepped out of it and began to explore the rest of the clinic—looking into closets and bathrooms and taking mental notes on what they needed to stock up on.

Once she’d finished exploring, she stood again in the lobby, watching the sunlight flicker across the floorboards. Unexpectedly, she felt a moment of peace and relief, and a surge of gratitude that she had the chance to start a new life.

Things were going to get better, she told herself firmly. She might have started out her time in Blueberry Bay with a disappointment, but that meant that things could only go up from there.

She picked up her suitcase and began to roll it toward a doorway that was marked “Private, Do Not Enter.” She smiled to herself as she opened it—there was something fun about owning the secret space behind a “forbidden” door.

In front of her was a narrow staircase, and she grimaced, realizing how difficult it was going to be to lug her giant suitcase up it. She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, and then started up the steps, tugging her suitcase along behind her.

By the time she reached the upper apartment, she was out of breath and sweating along her hairline. She pushed open the upper door with her shoulder and stepped inside her new apartment.

It was very cute, she couldn’t deny it. It was also definitely old—she could tell from the windows and the arched doorways—but it had been excellently maintained, and she found it charming. Leaving her suitcase by the front door, she started to explore it with interest, scampering from room to room almost girlishly.

As she explored, she pictured where all of her things were going to go. The rest of her belongings were arriving the next day, and she felt excited about beginning to nestle into her new home. It was just the right size—large enough to feel roomy, and small enough to be cozy. She pictured where she wanted to put her couch, and where she wanted to hang various framed prints she still had.

If I squint hard enough, I can picture this place filled with my own things, she thought, feeling impatient to make it feel less empty.

She realized that she should go back downstairs and lock the front door—she was used to never leaving anything unlocked back at her former place. Her stomach grumbled, and she reminded herself that she would need to get dinner for herself at some point. She would probably order takeout. She felt too tired to try to cook something—and then she realized she was silly to even consider it, since her pots and pans were still in boxes inside the moving van.

Suddenly feeling exhausted, she went back down the narrow staircase. It was almost surprising how quick of a trip it was, in comparison to how long it had taken her to bring the suitcase upstairs.

She crossed the small lobby in a few short strides and locked the front door. Outside the windows of her practice, she could see that dusk was beginning to fall. She realized that her apartment was going to be mostly dark before her lamps arrived.

She sat down on one of the chairs in the lobby. It was as if all of the feelings that she’d been rushing around trying to avoid feeling caught up with her in that moment.

She looked around at the little lobby and sighed, thinking about the blur that had been her last few weeks. Suddenly she missed her old life terribly—she didn’t feel ready for everything to change like this, all at once. She’d wanted to escape New Hampshire and get a fresh start.

But was this really the right answer?

Isaiah Dunlap grinned to himself as he parked his motorcycle on the street outside Blueberry Bay’s Little Clams Elementary School. He was there to surprise his sister Olivia Dunlap, who was a teacher at the school. She didn’t expect him to arrive until the next day, and he was gleefully making his way inside the school unbeknownst to her.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and double-checked his last text from Olivia, stating that she was getting work done at the school that afternoon. He glanced at the time, making sure she was still inside the building, and grinned.

He’d always been one for surprises. And pranks. He’d pulled some truly impressive pranks on Olivia when they were growing up—but today’s surprise was sure to make her happy. The plastic frogs in her cereal when she was eight hadn’t made her too happy.

He got off his motorcycle, already feeling stealthy, even though he’d been sneaky enough to ask her to send him a picture of her classroom, so he knew that the windows faced the opposite street. He walked toward the back entrance of the school, trying to look casual, with his hands tucked into the pockets of his leather jacket.

He knew from Olivia that classes were over for the day, but there were still a fair amount of cars parked in the parking lot of Little Clams. He figured that other teachers were doing what Olivia was doing—choosing to get work done there at the school instead of at home. Maybe there was even a meeting or something going on.

He began to whistle as he strolled up to the back door, and then he stopped himself. He shouldn’t be whistling—that might draw attention to himself. Olivia might be anywhere around the school instead of in her classroom—he didn’t want her to glance out a window and see him.

He rang the buzzer of the back door and was let inside. He stopped by the office to check in, and the receptionist gave him a conspiratorial grin when he said he was there to surprise his sister Olivia.

“Do you know where her classroom is?” the receptionist asked.

“Not exactly—could you point me in the right direction?” He flashed a charismatic grin, and she grinned back.

“Down the hall, to the left, and then four doors down. Her name will be on the door so you can’t miss it.”

“Perfect. Thanks for your help!”

He stepped back out into the hallway, repressing an urge to whistle again. He felt excited to see his sister—it had been way too long since he’d been able to spend time with her. He was eager to have some quality time with her in Blueberry Bay.

As he passed one of the playrooms, his eyes lighted on a Jack-in-the-Box that was resting on one of the little tables.

“Oh, that will be perfect,” he muttered, and stepped inside the room to borrow the toy.

He went back to walking stealthily as soon as he was in the hallway that her classroom was in. He could see the door to her classroom left ajar, and for a moment his heart flopped in disappointment, wondering if she’d gone home already. Then he heard the sound of her favorite 1990’s girl band playing from inside the classroom, along with the sound of her singing along to the album. Grinning, he poked his head around the doorway and saw her standing in the far corner of the room, organizing art supplies on a long table.

He guessed that she was preparing for the next day’s class, and she seemed to be engrossed in her work. Almost silently, he tiptoed inside the classroom. She didn’t notice, and he suppressed a grin of triumph. He wound up the Jack-in-the-Box that he was carrying, set it on one of the desks, and then darted to hide behind the open door.

He only had to wait a few seconds before the Jack-in-the-Box popped open and Olivia yelled with surprise, whirling and dropping the box of colored pencils that she was holding.

“What on earth?” she cried.

“Surprise!” he yelled, popping out from behind the door.

Olivia let out a squeal and raced into his arms. “What are you doing here?” she gushed, rocking him back and forth. “I thought you weren’t getting here until tomorrow.”

“What part of surprise don’t you understand?” he teased, grinning at her.

“You scamp!” She swatted him in the arm. “You’re more of a child than any of the kids at school!” Despite her scolding, it was clear from the way that her eyes were shining that she was thrilled to see him—and she wasn’t too upset about the prank.

He bowed dramatically, still grinning. “I thought you liked Jack-in-the-Boxes.”

“Sure, when I know they’re about to go off!”

“But you’re happy to see me, right?”

She grinned at him. “I’m so happy to see you. I can’t deny it. I know you’re going to be here for a couple of months, but the extra day still feels like a huge bonus.”

“Complete with jump scare and a brother. What more could you possibly want?”

She wrinkled her nose at him. “How about just the brother?”

“It’s too late for that.”

“Okay, but no more jump scares.”

He grinned mischievously.

“Isaiah! I mean it. Look me in the eyes. No more jump scares.”

He sighed. “Fine. I promise, no more jump scares for the remainder of the visit.”

“Good. Thank you.”

“Thank you,” he said, privately noting that she hadn’t said anything about pranks and feeling gleeful. “Do you need any help setting up that art table over there?”

“Yeah, if you want! We can both get out of here faster that way.”

They went over to the art table, and she instructed him to put a tube of washable glue at every place.

“How’s North Carolina?” she asked as she organized colored sheets of paper into stacks containing green, blue, and yellow.

“Great as ever,” he said, smiling at her. “You should see what they did to the town hall. There’s a massive mural on the side of it now—it’s really nice-looking.”

“You should have sent me pictures!”

“Google can show you.” He laughed.

She paused in her work to look up pictures of their hometown’s town hall and cooed over how nice it looked.

“Oh, I love that. Any more updates from home? Anybody get married or have a baby?”

For the next few minutes, Isaiah caught his sister up on everything that had happened in the place where they’d grown up together. She listened eagerly—he knew she still had a lot of affection for their hometown even though she’d moved away a few years earlier.

He hadn’t told her yet, but he was also looking to move somewhere new. He felt like he needed a change of scenery, and he was feeling the tug to live somewhere else. When she’d asked him if he’d be willing to come to Blueberry Bay for a couple of months to help her with a project, he’d agreed immediately. He was happy to go somewhere new for a while—at the very least, it would scratch the itch he’d been feeling to relocate, and at best, it would help him decide where he wanted to move to. Blueberry Bay was a cozy town right by the water—living there could give him a sense of whether or not he wanted to live in a place like that, or somewhere completely different, like a bustling city.

“How are things here?” he asked, coming to help her with organizing the stacks of paper since he’d finished with the glue sticks. “How’s that heartthrob you’re in love with?”

She laughed and blushed. She was dating Corey Easton, a local souvenir shop owner with two rambunctious twins that Olivia adored. “He’s doing great. Max and Haley are doing great, and the store is going great.”

“And you’re great, so the man is really lucky.” He grinned. “I’m excited to meet him and the kids.”

“I’m so excited for you to meet them! You’re going to love them, I know you are.”

“How about the rest of your life? How’s teaching?”

“Going so well. You know how much I love kids, and the classes here have been fun and just the right amount of work, you know? It never feels like too much.”

He smiled at his sister, wondering if what she considered to be the perfect amount of work might feel like too much to some other people—enthusiastic people were like that about what they had to do.

“I’m glad to hear that. Speaking of work, before we leave the school today, you should show me all the places you want to renovate.”

“Sure! I want shelves put into some of the classrooms, and some equipment added to the playground. Some other things too, here and there.” She frowned a little, pressing her lips together. “The school board has approved everything that I proposed, but they want the work done before Kids’ Fest in mid-April. That doesn’t give you a lot of time.”

He grinned at her. “We’ll get it done! And besides, I’m sure the school board is happy with you for proposing improvements and offering to accomplish them through very cheap labor via your brother.”

She winced. “They are paying you, you know—I know it’s probably not as much as it should be?—”

He laughed, shaking his head. “I’m happy to do it. It’s for a good cause, and what they’re paying will more than cover my expenses. Especially if my loving sister feeds me dinner sometimes.”

She laughed. “You got it. You can always come over to my place for dinner—sometimes Corey and the kids come over or I go over there, but it would be easy to add you onto the dinner guest list.” Raising her brows, she added, “Speaking of places to eat food, where did you end up staying? Are you at Literary Stays?”

He shook his head. “No, I’ve got a furnished apartment by the water. It’s a short-term lease, just for the amount of time I need to be here working on the renovations.”

“Sounds great! I’ll have to swing by sometime soon to see it. Is it cute?”

He laughed. “If by ‘cute,’ you mean small, then yes. I like it. It’s got a little balcony overlooking the ocean, and a kitchen, and an itty-bitty bedroom. And there’s a garage underneath where I can keep my baby.”

She grinned, knowing that he was referring to his motorcycle. “You know, for a guy who looks so tough and rough-around-the-edges, you have a kind of peculiar nickname for your motorcycle.”

He shrugged, grinning. “All the tough bikers call their motorcycle their baby. You can ask anybody.”

“Well, you’re the only tough biker I know, so I’ll have to take your word for it.”

They finished setting up the craft supplies, and then she took him on a tour of the school, showing him all the places where she wanted him to make renovations.

“Is it too much?” she asked nervously as they were circling back from the playground. “Do you think you’ll be able to finish it by mid-April?”

“For sure,” he assured her, grinning confidently. “I’ll get started tomorrow, bright and early in the morning. Next time you show up here, you’re going to be like, ‘Wow, he’s done already.’”

She laughed. “Oh, am I now?”

“Definitely.”

Chuckling, they went back inside the school together, since it was still early spring and chilly. When they were back in Olivia’s classroom, they sat down across from each other at a couple of desks.

“You know what else your school needs?” he joked. “Bigger desks. I can barely fit in this thing.”

She laughed, shaking her head. “What are your plans after this?”

“I want to go see Aunt Marsha. I haven’t seen her since she and Willis started dating, and I want to hear all about how she’s doing. And I want to meet Willis.”

His sister’s eyes lit up at the mention of their favorite aunt, Marsha Dunlap, and her boyfriend Willis Jenkins. He knew that Olivia had had a hand in bringing the two of them together, since they’d been in love many years earlier and had both been skittish about starting to date again after so long a time.

“I’ve heard so much about him, I’m really looking forward to meeting him,” he said.

“So you can formally offer your approval?” she teased.

“Hey, anyone that makes Aunt Marsha that happy already has my approval. And the same goes for Corey,” he added warmly.

She tucked her hair behind her ear, blushing a little. “Well, I can’t wait to hear about how meeting Willis goes, and I can’t wait for you to meet Corey and the kids.”

They stood up and gave each other a hug.

“I’ll see you soon, sis,” he said, playfully punching her shoulder.

“You’d better!” She grinned at him and waved as he left the classroom.

When he was back in the hallway, he put his hands into his pockets and began to whistle freely.

I really like Blueberry Bay already, he thought cheerfully. It’s going to be a great couple of months.