Page 33 of The Restaurant on Plum Island
The weight of his brother’s betrayal and the frustration of his hands being tied in silence only added fuel to the tumultuous emotions swirling inside him. With a growl, he reached out and pulled Carly against him, their lips melding together. At first, Carly stiffened in surprise before answering the call of Ethan’s heart. Her arms coiled tightly around his neck, deepening their kiss and conveying all the unspoken words between them.
When they finally broke apart, their chests rose and fell as they gulped for air, their faces flushed and eyes glazed. Ethan blinked as reality came crashing back in. He realized what had just happened, noting that Carly was having the same reaction as he was.
She jerked back, putting distance between them as she tried to regain her composure, and he let her slip away from him as he, too, needed to regain his senses. This was not the way Ethan had wanted their conversation to go. His heart was racing. The kiss had been impulsive, driven by desperation and a need to prove his sincerity. But now, in the aftermath, he realized the enormity of what had just transpired.
“Carly, I...” he began, but she held up a hand, silencing him.
“Don’t,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “Just... don’t.” She stood, her eyes not meeting his as she looked out over the ocean, and Ethan noticed her hands shaking before she clasped them together. “ I have to go,” she said.
“Carly, please, wait!” Ethan stood, and she immediately took a few steps back.
“I can’t do this right now, Ethan. I need... I need time to think.” Carly stepped around.
He nodded in understanding even as his heart ached to pull her back into his arms. “Whenever you’re ready to talk, I’ll be there.”
Carly managed a shaky nod before turning and walking away, her steps quick and unsteady. Ethan watched her go, a heaviness settling in his chest.
The kiss had been a moment of reckless abandon, a glimpse of the emotions that still simmered between them. But it had also opened a Pandora’s box of unresolved issues and deep-seated hurts.
As Ethan sat back down on the swing, staring out over the vast expanse of the ocean before him, he knew that the road ahead would be far from easy. But for the first time in years, he felt a glimmer of hope—hope that maybe, just maybe, they could find a way to heal the wounds of the past and forge a new future together.
His phone beeped as if, on cue, a message from Sam flashed on the screen.
Ethan, meet me at Carly’s house. I have news.
Before he and Carly had a chance at a future, Ethan had to heal the past, and the only way to do that was to solve the puzzle of what happened three years ago. Ethan had a nagging feeling that the past hadn’t been left behind. It had been waiting around the corner for that perfect moment to finish what had been started back then.
CHAPTER 9
Carly paced the living room of her bungalow, her mind reeling with thoughts of Ethan and their unexpected kiss. She absently touched her lips, remembering the feel of his mouth on hers. It had felt so right in the moment, but now doubt crept in, mingling with the lingering hurt from their painful past.
She sighed heavily and sank onto the plush couch, pulling her legs up and hugging them to her chest. How could one man still have such a profound effect on her after all these years? She thought she had locked away those feelings long ago. Still, spending even a small amount of time with Ethan again had unleashed a torrent of emotions she wasn’t prepared to deal with.
The shrill ring of her phone shattered the silence. Carly grabbed it from the coffee table and saw her Uncle Sam’s name on the screen. She loved her uncle, but he had an uncanny knack for calling at the wrongtime. Carly sighed and answered the phone, glancing at the clock on the living room wall. Daniella would be arriving at any moment.
“Hi, Uncle Sam,” Carly tried to sound casual.
“Hello, honey,” Sam greeted her. “I wanted to let you know I’ll be popping around later with some news about the PI.”
Carly’s heart lurched. She wanted to know what her uncle had to say, but at the same time, she needed to talk to her cousin. Carly’s mind spun, and she wanted to put her uncle off, but she knew he was trying to help her.
“Sure,” Carly said. “I’m dying to know what that man had to say.”
“Don’t get your hopes too high, honey,” Sam warned her. “It’s not much. I’ll see you in a bit. There’s another call coming in.”
Before Carly could respond, her uncle cut her off. She knew he hadn’t meant it, and as tech-savvy as Uncle Sam was for a seventy-seven-year-old, he still always cut her off when another call came through.
Carly sighed as she put her phone on the table. At the same time, there was a knock on her door. She got up and opened it to see Daniella standing there.
“Hey, cuz,” Carly forced a smile.
“Don’t ‘hey cuz’ me,” Daniella replied, her voice laced with concern. “I could practically feel your inner turmoil from over the line when you called.”
Carly stepped aside and let Daniella in, following her into the living room. Daniella dumped her bag on a side table and flopped onto the sofa beside Carly.
“I’ve had a rough afternoon,” Carly admitted. “Thank you for coming so quickly.” She frowned worriedly. “I hope you didn’t have plans with Emily?”
“No!” Daniella shook her head. “Since your son moved in with Uncle Sam, I haven’t seen my daughter. Reef is helping her improve her surfing, and they are always out with their friends at the Beach Hut.”
