Page 153 of Banter & Blushes

SUN, SEA AND BLUEBERRY TEA

KERRY EVELYN

CHAPTER 1

ZAKI

I’d beenharboringa secret for weeks, and as I steered the RV along the winding coastal road in Downeast Maine, the irony of the word made me chuckle. A secret, tucked away like a pearl in its oyster shell, safe and secure in the very place we were headed.

Crane’s Cove in late July stretched before us in all its postcard-perfect glory. “Postcard perfect” was my fiancée Arwyn’s description, and she was right. Every vista in the Acadia National Park vicinity was a picture worthy of sending to loved ones. To my right, the ocean shimmered under the late July sun, its waves rolling lazily toward the cliffs below and breaking gently against the rock face. The lighthouse on the water appeared to float in the distance, a silent, steadfast guardian anchored to the cove’s seafloor. To my left, the entrance to the Cliff Walk Resort appeared, a welcome sight after today’s long hours on the road.

I stole a glance at Arwyn, curled up in the passenger seat, her soft smile indicating that she already felt the pull of the seaside town’s salty air. In the seats behind us, twins Isla and Amelie, dressed in their Elsa and AnnaFrozenballgowns and tiaras, chattered away with their little Westies, Laffy and Vennie, who occasionally yipped in agreement.

My girls had turned six yesterday, and it blew my mind how much they’d developed over the last year. As they grew, so did my doubts about doing the whole parenting thing wrong. First the divorce, then sharing custody. This past year had been the most challenging—being apart from them for half ayear when their mother took them back to Montreal last summer. After that, they were apart from their mother for seven months while she healed after multiple surgeries. All the back and forth and hurting hearts had been hard, and I knew it would have been so much harder if Arwyn hadn’t come into our lives at just the right time. I’d fallen for her—hard and fast—and so had the girls.

They were so excited to attend the summer camp the resort offered, and Arwyn and I were excited for some time alone. A week in this charming town to romance her. A week to celebrate Flynn and Meggie’s wedding. A week to—if all went to plan—ask my Wynna-bun to change up our wedding plans.

For the very best reasons.

Even so, I had doubts about that, too. Arwyn hated to be put on the spot. She was a thoughtful planner by design, and we’d made big, complicated plans that she’d been over and over, constructed and deconstructed and put back together again. Plans A, B, and C. There were contingency plans for contingency plans. Breaking my news to her might break her trust. And then what?

But I knew this was one of those times that I had to trust my gut.

I exhaled slowly and turned in to the resort’s entrance. Over my professional hockey career, I’d played in front of thousands of roaring fans, faced down the toughest players in the league, skated into overtime battles with everything on the line, and pulled off the most epic pranks. But nothing—nothing—felt as thrilling as what I was about to do tomorrow.

A welcome sign directed me to pull into the main lodge’s circular drive to check in. When the passenger door aligned with the front doors of the building, I set the RV in park. Before I could turn the engine off, a sandy-haired man about my age in a well-worn Cliff Walk visor appeared at the side door and knocked.

“Permission to come aboard?” he shouted through the window and grinned. Laffy and Vennie barked a greeting from their crate between the girls’ seats.

I unlocked the doors and lowered Arwyn’s window. “Welcome aboard!”

“Hey, that’s supposed to be my line! Welcome to the CW!”

He opened the door, and I exited my seat, offering my hand as he jogged up the steps. “Zaki Marsch. This is my fiancée, Arwyn, and our girls, Isla with the blond braid and Amelie with the auburn braids.” The pups howled. “Laffy’s the ivory dog, and Vennie’s gray.”

“Call me Wynnie,” Arwyn insisted, unbuckling and turning her chair around to face him. “There will be a test,” she teased.

The man chuckled. “JC Crane, resort manager.” He shook our hands, then turned to the girls. “Pleased to make your acquaintances, your majesties. It’s not often we host royalty here at the Cliff Walk.”

The girls giggled in their booster seats. Their obsession with Disney’sFrozenwas going on four years now.

Isla tossed her single braid over her shoulder. “Pleased to meetyou,Mr. JC!”

“The pleasure is all mine. You’re going to love our camp. My oldest daughter,Bianca, just turned six, and she can answer any and all of your questions about everything. I often go to her myself for answers.”

Arwyn snorted, and my grin widened. “Oldest daughter?” I asked. “How many do you have?”

“Three. Bianca, Stella, and Lilly. Plus Vera, our snooty cat. I’m tragically and delightfully outnumbered.”

“All designers,” Arwyn observed. “Is your wife in the fashion industry?”

He shook his head. “Caroline is an interior designer and a fashion expert. And she was very against the names I chose if we had boys. Sadly, Nomar, Pedro, and Papi Crane were just not to be.”

I laughed. “All Red Sox players.” I shook my head. “Love it.”

JC adjusted his visor. “Thanks. I appreciate that. And it’s fun being a girl dad. I get three makeovers a week!”

“Girl dads rock!” Amelie bounced. “Are you a good hair-doer, or do you try your best with zip ties like my dad?”

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