Chapter Twelve

Lola

Nothing sounds better than something sweet alongside a dark, delicious cup of coffee. The crisp breeze ruffles my hair as I trek toward the bakery for a cinnamon roll. And if I just so happen to do a little investigating while there, so be it.

My mind is still spinning with possibilities over who might've written the letter that's now safely tucked inside a plastic baggie and hanging out in my purse. It had to be written by someone in town with the reference to Willow Cove. It's just a matter of finding out who.

And if there's one thing I love, it's a good treasure hunt.

When I step into the bakery, the smell of sugared dough instantly makes my mouth water. Instead of finding a seat, I step up to the counter and spot Meg coming out of the back. "Morning," she greets me. "What can I get ya?"

"I'll take a cinnamon roll and a cup of coffee to go, if you don't mind."

"Sure." Meg reaches into the glass case to grab me a roll, then fetches my coffee. As I debate how to bring up the topic of the message in the bottle with a practical stranger, Jerica walks in behind me.

"Hey, you," she says brightly, her tanned face glowing. "Great minds think alike, I guess." She laughs and steps up next to me.

"You've got me hooked on this place." I hip check her before taking the coffee Meg offers me. "Thanks."

"Sure. Jerica, you want your usual?"

"Yes, please." Jerica turns toward me while Meg prepares her order. "How's it going this morning? Did you have a good Sunday?"

"Oh yeah, actually. And it's going good." My cool find from yesterday lingers in the back of my mind, just waiting to be brought up. "I'm really glad I ran into you this morning. I've got a little mystery on my hands and wondered if maybe you could help me uncover it."

Her blue eyes light with excitement. "A mystery? Love the sound of that!"

"Right?!"

Meg hands over Jerica's order, and we both finish paying before we take off toward the harbor. It's a little challenging to enjoy my breakfast with my hands full, so I motion toward a bench along the pathway. Besides, I'll need to sit to be able to show her the letter.

"Are you going to tell me about this mystery or let the suspense kill me?" Jerica asks as she plops down onto the bench, setting her bag of food between us.

I sputter a laugh as I join her. "I'm getting there, trust me. But it'll be better if I show you rather than tell you."

"Oh, I'm intrigued."

"Just wait," I say, reaching into my bag. Feeling the plastic baggie between my fingertips, I gingerly pull it out and lay it in Jerica's lap. "You'll never believe what we found at the wreck site—a modern-day message in a bottle!"

Her eyebrows raise slightly. "Really? That is pretty cool!"

"See? I think so too. Your brother didn't, but he's a curmudgeon."

Jerica bursts out laughing and lifts the baggie. "That's the perfect name for him. So. Do I get to read this letter?"

"Yes, but first…" I hold up a finger, then reach into my purse and pull out the plastic gloves I brought with me. "Put these on. It'll keep the paper clean and help keep it protected."

She does as I say, allowing me to give her the same rundown I gave Perry. "I really want to find the person who penned the letter. If he's still around, of course. I don't know, I just think that the person who wrote it might want to be reminded of how deeply he loved this person. Like, what if they did get together and can now look back on this with fond memories of how they overcame this hardship? Or worse, what if they never got together, missed out on years of love, and this could be their reminder that they need to be reunited?"

Jerica purses her lips, clearly thinking over what I've said. "Yeah, maybe. I don't know. It does sort of feel like we're invading someone's privacy. If they tossed this bottle into the ocean, then they probably never intended for this letter to be read."

I sigh. "Your brother said something similar."

She smiles. "Well, since I'm not him, I'm absolutely reading this." She holds up the baggie like it's a trophy. "After all, I can't make an official opinion until I read it, now can I?" With slow, deliberate movements, she carefully extracts the paper from the plastic bag. My anticipation nearly reaches its zenith when she unfolds the letter and scans the page.

It doesn't take long for her entire demeanor to change. Her mouth drops open, and after a few seconds, she begins to roll the letter back up.

"What's the matter?" I ask. She doesn't say anything for a long moment, and I connect the dots myself. "You know who wrote this, don't you?"

She swallows and meets my gaze. "Yeah. I do." It only takes a silent moment of staring into her face to realize what a huge, huge jerk I am.

"Perry wrote this…didn't he?"

She nods. "Brandi was his first girlfriend. The girl who completely ripped his heart in two." The prom picture of Perry with the gorgeous brunette pops into my consciousness. I groan and drop my face into my hands.

"I'm such an idiot. Such a stupid idiot."

The plastic bag crinkles as Jerica moves closer to reassure me. "You didn't know, Lo. It's not your fault."

I straighten, holding my hands out in a pleading gesture. "But I went on and on about how cool it was to find this, how the person who wrote it would want to have it back…" Another groan slips out. "And he warned me not to find the owner. Told me to leave it alone, but I wouldn't listen!"

"Well, that tracks." Jerica chuckles.

"He didn't want me to uncover his secret. Did he?"

Jerica releases a long breath and looks out over the sparkling blue water ahead of us. "It's not that he didn't want you to uncover it. It's that he doesn't want to be reminded—by anyone —of how she broke him. It's why he's retracted into his hard, little shell over the years. Too many people tried to reach out to him, to make him feel better after Brandi left. And he just wanted to forget that it ever happened."

My heart fractures at hearing how affected Perry was by Brandi's leaving. "How long were they together?"

"For about three years." She shifts on the bench and faces me again. "She was super popular in high school. Cheerleader. Perry was your typical jock on the football team, but quiet. Like he is now. But Brandi really brought out his personality over the years. They both invested a lot into their relationship. Had plans to buy a house here someday, grow a family…until she decided she wanted more than what Willow Cove could offer—what she thought Perry could give her."

I clutch my hands over my chest, feeling the secondary ache as if it were my own. "How could she do that to him?"

Jerica lifts one shoulder in a shrug. "Honestly, I don't know. He begged her to stay. But she told him she'd never be happy here. She got recognized by some talent agency while in Atlanta on a girls' trip, and the agent convinced her if she wanted to pursue modeling professionally, she needed to move to a bigger city. She latched on to his promises and moved the next week."

"Sheesh," I say, stunned. "That sounds rash."

"It was." Jerica nods. "Honestly, we were all shocked. Perry obviously took it the hardest. He tried to get her back. Even drove to Atlanta to try and convince her that he'd wait for her to pursue this new dream for as long as she wanted, but when he got there…"

She shakes her head, and it's impossible to miss the emotion welling within her. "He went to her apartment and found her with the agent who signed her. And they weren't having a business meeting."

"Ugh," I say, disgusted for Perry. Heartbroken for him. Mad at myself. "I can't believe he didn't rip the bottle from my hands and toss it back into the water."

Jerica lets out a soft chuckle. "He might've wanted to. Especially when you insisted on solving this little mystery."

I squeeze my eyes shut. "He should've said something," I say more to myself than Jerica. "I wish he would've."

"That's not him, though." Jerica hands the letter back to me. "You have no idea how much he debated going after Brandi when she left. It took him weeks to gather the courage to finally do it. He probably felt like it was better to let you obsess over the letter for a few days and take his chances that you'd never figure out it was him when you hit a dead end."

I tip my head toward her. "He had to know I'd show it to you. You're the first real friend I've made here."

At that, her grin widens. "Really? Aw, Lo, that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside."

I bump her shoulder and stare at the letter in my hands. "I'm thankful for you. And your brother." I blow out a breath. "Guess I need to apologize to him."

She's silent a moment before she grabs my hand. "Lola, I know this might be hard for you to believe, but I think Perry…" She stops, then shakes her head. "Never mind. Maybe I shouldn't say anything. You're only going to be here for a few weeks, and—"

"Jerica, what? Perry…what?"

Her blue eyes hold mine. "I think Perry might be attracted to you. He tries to hide it, but…I'm his sister. I can sense these things."

A chortle escapes me, and I slap a hand over my mouth to keep it in. "No way. He's not. Jerica, Perry seriously can barely stand the sight of me."

Her lips curve the slightest bit as she shakes her head. "I'm telling you, I think he's into you. The way he can't seem to look away from you when you're around…the way he blushes any time I bring you up…even how he goes out of his way to avoid you or avoid talking about you."

My heart stutters at that simple thought. I want to ask her a million questions. Like why she thinks he's into me aside from the weird, irrational reasons she stated. If she thinks he could ever be in another relationship after Brandi left him so scarred.

But instead of prying her for answers to the myriad of thoughts filing through my brain, I gently tuck the letter back into my purse and say, "Thanks for telling me the truth. I hate that he had his heart broken like that."

Jerica's expression softens. "Lola, do you like my brother?"

I huff a nervous laugh. "I mean…as a friend, sure."

She blinks at me with a somber expression. " Just a friend? You don't find him attractive?" Her tone is flat, less friendly and more probing.

Something tells me I should deny having even a hint of feelings for her brother. But I don't really have any feelings for him, right? I mean…not legitimate romantic ones, anyway. I haul my bag up over my shoulder and stand, forcing out a tight laugh.

"No. I don't. Sure, I bet he's great deep down, but he's not even nice to me. If there is a sweet guy under all that grumpiness, I'm not in the mood to dig it all up right now."

Jerica cocks an eyebrow. "Uh huh. Says the archeologist."

My face heats as I back away from her. "Trust me. He's not on my radar." The white lie burns on my tongue. "I've, uh, gotta go. Apologize. I'll text you later!" Not wasting another second on my confusing feelings, I hurry toward the marina and pray that Perry will forgive my stupidity.