Gabe watched Jillian pull away and disappear, and damn if that didn’t leave a gaping hole in his chest. Heading back to his Jeep, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed.

“Hey, sis,” he said when his sister answered her phone.

Lorelai squealed on the other end of the line. “You’re alive! Oh, thank God. Are you okay? Is Jillian okay?”

Despite his bad mood, he smiled. “Yes, yes, and yes. Any more questions?”

“I was so worried about you two. That was one horrible storm last night.”

“I am in the Coast Guard Reserves,” he reminded her. “I know how to handle a little squall.” Even though last night’s storm had been surprisingly strong. “The sailboat Jillian was in didn’t make it, though. May it rest in peace.”

“Bummer.”

“It’s okay. The main thing is that she’s safe. How’s Kimberly?” he asked.

“Missing her uncle.”

“Ditto. I’ll give her a big kiss when I pick her up this afternoon.”

“You’re probably exhausted. You don’t have to—” Lorelai started to argue.

“I want to.” He checked his watch. It was still early in the morning, and he had several hours before the elementary school dismissed. “Listen, Lorelai, I need to go home and shower, but I was hoping I could meet you for lunch. Think you can get away?”

“Probably not any farther than the hospital cafeteria for a coffee and bag of chips, but sure. Is something wrong?”

“Not exactly.” He cranked his Jeep’s engine and pointed it toward his small one-story house on the water. “Just something I need to discuss with you.”

“You’re scaring me again,” she said with a nervous laugh. “This is twice in twenty-four hours.”

“How about I bring you takeout from The Landing to make up for it?” The Landing was a popular restaurant in town that his cousin Sam’s wife, Abby, ran.

“Deal. Just text when you’re in the hospital parking lot, and I’ll meet you downstairs.”

“Will do.” He hung up the phone and continued driving. Jillian was right. Telling his sister about Todd’s email inquiries was the right thing to do. Jillian was as smart as she was beautiful. Her decision to end things today was probably the right decision too. And he respected it.

Even if he didn’t like it.

After showering off at Lorelai’s place and then packing her things, Jillian left Lorelai a note thanking her for her stay this week. She would love to stay a lot longer, but she had a life to get back to. A job. A lonely townhome and several potted plants that needed to be watered.

She frowned as she drove out of town. Ever since she’d left Gabe in the parking lot earlier, there’d been an overwhelming ache settling over her body. Maybe she’d caught a cold out in the wind and rain.

Or maybe it was something more serious. Maybe she’d done more than fall out of a sailboat last night.

Which was stupid and crazy. You didn’t fall for someone over the course of one night. Unless you already knew them. Unless you’d spent several years as a teen girl watching him. He might have rejected her once, but he’d been nice to her a million times. He’d helped her with her homework and had taken her side against a bully at the bus stop once. Her feelings for him had never gone away. Last night, she’d realized they’d only been in hibernation.

She made it as far as the COME BACK SOON sign as she left Blushing Bay and then she made a U-turn in the road.

She didn’t want to go back to Asheboro. Or her boring corporate job. She’d found herself again in Blushing Bay. She’d felt a whole lot of somethings, which had been her goal in coming here.

Pulling along the roadside, she looked up a local real estate agent’s number and dialed.

“Hi, I was hoping to take a look at the little coffee shop and bookstore, Mocha Books,” she told the agent. “Is it still for sale?” she asked hopefully. It’d only been a day since she’d gone in as a customer, and now she was considering buying so much more than coffee and a few books.

“It is. I can meet you in an hour if you’re available,” the woman told her on the other end of the line.

“Perfect.” After hanging up, Jillian dialed the Sawyer Water Recreation and Sports Center and made an appointment for a private sailing lesson with Gabe tomorrow. Jonathan hadn’t asked for her name or number, and she hadn’t offered it because she wanted it to be a surprise.

An hour later, she pulled into the parking lot of the bookstore and a feeling of peace washed over her. She really didn’t even need to tour the building to know she was going to make an offer on this place. She loved coffee and books, always had. And she was tired of doing something she hated for a living. She wanted to do something she had a passion for.

“Hi, Ms. Maready.” A woman in a suit offered her hand as Jillian stepped inside the charming little store.

“Please, call me Jillian.” Jillian waved at the older woman behind the counter.

“Oh, it’s you,” the old woman beside the cash register said as they walked in. She pointed a finger at Jillian. “I told you it would storm the other day, didn’t I?”

Jillian laughed. “I wish I would’ve listened. . . Or, actually, I’m very glad I didn’t.”

The old lady looked utterly confused, but Jillian didn’t care.

“I’ll take it,” she told the real estate agent after a brief tour. An added bonus was that there were living quarters set up in the back room that would suffice for Jillian to live in right now. She’d made and saved a lot of money over the last several years working in corporate business. She’d been saving it for a rainy day, which had come in spades two days ago. “It’s perfect.”

“Are you sure?” the agent asked, narrowing her eyes with concern. “Usually people take time to think things over. Not that I’m trying to talk you out of your decision.”

“I’m positive. This is absolutely what I want.”

---

The next morning, Jillian arrived early for her sailing lesson, knowing Gabe would be dropping Kimberly off at her elementary school. She put on a wide-brimmed hat and wore her glasses. Jonathan had been none the wiser that she was his lost-at-sea customer from the other day. She told him she’d wait outside and loaded herself in the sailboat to wait for Gabe.

She had a picnic lunch packed for them with a few other provisions just in case. When she heard Gabe’s feet scuffling down the pier, her body flooded with nervous butterflies. She’d changed her entire life. She’d quit her job and had purchased a bookstore. What if Gabe didn’t even want her anymore?

Not that she was doing any of those things for him. She’d done them for herself. Having Gabe by her side would be amazing, but it didn’t make or break her decision to stay in Blushing Bay. She was going to make a fresh start here at the coast, and she couldn’t wait.

“Good morning!” Gabe said as he approached. “Looks like you’ve made yourself comfortable.”

He was already climbing in the boat when she turned to look at him.

It took only a second for him to realize who she was. “Jillian?”

“Surprise,” she said nervously.

“This is a surprise.” He sat down at the stern, keeping his dark eyes fixed on her. “I thought you left town.”

“I tried. But I changed my mind. I thought I’d take you up on that date you wanted to go on.” She gestured down at the picnic basket.

“How long are you staying for?”

“Actually, I’ve decided to move here. I already bought a place to live and decided what to do for work.”

His eyes widened. “Pretty rash decision-making.”

“Just following my heart,” she said quietly, shrugging a shoulder.

“I can’t argue with that. In fact”—he leaned in closer—“I think I’m going to follow my heart and kiss you right now. If that’s okay.”

A thrill rode up her spine. She’d worried the chemistry might’ve faded. But no, it was still there between them. Stronger than she’d ever felt for anyone. “That’s more than okay.”

His lips brushed over hers and suddenly she didn’t feel like sailing.

Ending the sweet kiss, he started to set the sailboat in motion, but hesitated. “You sure you want to go back out so soon? What if we get stranded again?”

“There’s no one else I’d rather be stranded on a deserted island with.”

“Can’t argue with that either.” His hand swept up behind her neck, and then his mouth pressed against hers again, this time in a blistering kiss that seemed to go on forever. “I’m glad you came back,” he whispered.

“And I brought provisions for your just-in-case kit.” She nibbled her lower lip as she watched recognition cross his features.

“You really are full of surprises, Little Miss Tough Girl. Well, by all means, let’s go get lost.”

“As long as we’re together.” She snuggled into him as the boat glided forward with the wind at their back and nothing but clear skies and romance ahead.