Page 25 of Kiss Me, Darling

“Hello?” London’s voice echoed downstairs.

“Up here!” She was delivering some furniture Ben made for the room. “Do you need help?”

“Nope! I brought reinforcements!”

I heard the sounds of at least two sets of feet trudging up the stairs, and then London, followed by Olivia, carrying nightstands. Gorgeous nightstands. Light wood with gentle carvings.

“Oh London, your fiancé is a genius!”

They placed the furniture on the finished half of the room. “He’s got a talent, that’s for sure. The bed will be done in a couple of days.”

“And the canvas of the lighthouse will be ready by the end of the week,” Olivia added.

I described my vision of the bedroom to Ben, who immediately volunteered to create the bed, nightstands, and dressing table. (That would take a little longer than the rest to make.) I ordered some knick knacks and accessories to give the room personality, and bedding to make it comfortable.

All I needed to do was finish the painting.

“Well, well, well. Seems someone has a secret talent.” Olivia stood with her hands on her hips as she surveyed my work. “What inspired this?”

“The sunrise.” I woke up early. Again. My sleep schedule was completely off kilter at this point. I watched the sky change from the dock. Interesting things happen when the sun rises over an island. Above the house the streaks of bright pink and orange took my breath away. And then it all shimmered into a beautiful blue.

I felt, deep in my bones, it was why I was compelled to give the room a pink tint. To complement the sunrise I was destined to paint on its walls. This room would always be the start of a new day.

“Will the bed go against it?” London asked.

I nodded.

“Oh, I just love it all. It’s bright and hopeful,” Olivia gushed.

“Annie at the paint store was very helpful with picking out colors.” I really enjoyed talking with her and agreed to meet her for lunch if and when I was safely able to do so.

“Are you feeling cooped up?” London threw herself on the bed. “I am not used to this! I go where I want, when I want. It was bad enough tying myself down to do a whole person. Now everything is locked down! I’m suffocating!”

Olivia shook her head, sitting on the edge of the bed. “London is the dramatic one. I’m the calm one.”

“I’m a little cooped up, but I’m finding ways to occupy my time. And tomorrow we’re headed out on a road trip to visit Grandma Kaine.”

“Chris was glad to have Scott with him today. He doesn’t mind doing interviews, but a big media day like today is a lot. At least he has someone with him who’s used to the intensity,” Olivia said, still taking in my work.

“Scott is strangely good with press junkets and media days. He doesn’t like all the attention, but he enjoys talking about the project, seeing his friends, and he can be charming as hell. Something I think he takes pride in.”

London smiled. “Yeah, I think that’s a Kaine brothers specialty. They all know they’re cute. Oh man, you should have seen little baby Chris hitting on Olivia all those years ago. He hadconfidence.”

Olivia nodded. “It’s true. Scott too. He always had this innate belief that he could do anything.”

I pulled my knees up under my chin and wrapped my arms around my legs. “Tell me about them. What they were like as kids.” I knew these brothers longer than London or Olivia, but they knew a part of them I never would.

“Well,” London began, “Ben has always been the more serious brother. The leader. We used to get everyone to agree to our adventures. Chris was the super energetic sidekick who followed us everywhere.”

Olivia nodded. “And Scott was the heartthrob. One time he had an entire parade of kids—all ages—following him up and down the beach. Like, fifteen of them. They just wanted to be where he was. And he didn’t use them or anything. He didn’t make them do things or ask for favors. He just hung out with them all.”

My heart warmed. That was the Scott I knew. People were inexplicably drawn to him and he did his best to make them feel welcome. Maybe meeting all these people over the years gave him insight into the characters he played.

Which made me wonder, “What’s it like growing up on an island?”

The women traded glances and laughs. Olivia answered first. “Well, it’s kind of like having a giant family. Everyone knows you, they think they know everything about you, and there’s only so many places to go. The kids you grow up with are like brothers and sisters, and the adults are like surrogate parents and grandparents. Things have changed a little. There’s a lot more tourists, but they don’t usually venture into the residential parts of the island.”

“We don’t have chain restaurants, so we only ate at the restaurants we saw on television when we went to the mainland,” London said. “And honestly, we didn’t watch that much television at all. There was always something to do. I’d rather be traipsing around with my friends or hanging out on the beach than sitting at home.”

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