Tears sprang in her eyes, and like a dark cloud the memories enveloped her. One minute she had been happily flipping through bridal magazines trying to pick out flowers and a dress and the next, horrors were unfolding before her eyes.

  Her breathing escalated, and her heart hammered in her chest. She continued painting, stopped fighting the memories, and for the first time, let them flow without inhibition.

  Relieved to be home after attending the gallery opening for one of her former classmates, she opened the front door. She tossed her high heels aside; her feet were killing her after standing around chatting and networking for several hours.

  She stiffened, listening to the sounds coming from down the hallway.

  Maybe it was a movie or a YouTube video, she thought, craning her neck in the direction of the noise. Making her way slowly down the hall, she stopped, curiosity growing by the second.

  As she inched closer, she could tell the sounds were moans. Her body tensed at the thought of Olivia pleasuring herself. Wanting to join the action, she fluffed her hair and sauntered toward the bedroom door, which was slightly ajar. She quietly pushed it open. Her heart plummeted. Unable to move or speak, she watched wide-eyed as some strange woman moved inside her fiancée. Olivia threw her head back in pleasure, matching rhythm and thrusting in tandem with the woman, allowing her to penetrate deeper.

  From somewhere deep inside her, she felt the rage and heartache collide, manifesting in a pained cry.

  Just one single scream escaped. It was enough to make the scene in front of her stop. As they scrambled for their clothes, Olivia was talking quickly, her words spewing forth in a slew of unrecognizable syllables.

  It was as if she was speaking a foreign language; none of it made sense. The nameless woman scurried past, careful not to bump into Alex, who was still standing in the doorway, as if in a trance.

  No matter how many times Olivia offered empty apologies in the hours that followed, she expressed no remorse. The slamming of doors created a soundtrack to the heartache, as Alex packed her things and angrily drove away from the scene of the crime.

  Alex wiped the tears from her eyes, staring at the canvas in front of her. What had started as a peaceful and scenic beach view had turned dark and stormy. It was fitting, though, and even cathartic.

  “She will not win,” Alex spoke the affirmation aloud, letting it resonate within her and bounce off the walls of the condo. She gritted her teeth and poured a dab of gray paint onto her palette. The hours passed into afternoon until finally she stood, staring at her handiwork. Pleased with it, she put the brush down.

  She looked to the living room and gave the bare walls a half smile. The piece was more than a little dark but would still make the perfect first work of art for her new home.

  Resurgence. That’s what she’d call the piece, she decided, stepping back to admire it again. It told a strong story, even if she was the only one to fully get it. The fury, the passion, and the pain all combined in a setting that was once so vibrant and one day might be vibrant again, if only the sun decided to shine.

  She looked outside. The sun was shining. It had just lost some of its luster. She thought about sitting down to cry and sort through her feelings, but that wouldn’t do any good. She didn’t have time for that.

  She bit her cheek. That was a lie, and she knew it.

  Truth was, she thought, looking down at her paint-stained hands, all she had was time. But that wasn’t going to stop her. She didn’t want to dwell anymore. She’d poured her feelings into her work, and for now that was the best she could muster.

  After a quick shower, she threw on a skirt and tank top and headed outside. A change of scenery would do her good. In her car, she rolled down the windows. The sunlight hit her skin and the salty wind flowed through her hair, reminding her again of her new surroundings. Waving her hand through the open window, she let the natural location ground her and keep her in this moment.

  “Live in the moment,” she chanted, repeating the mantra aloud before turning up the radio and letting the music take her thoughts from the morning’s route of reflection and reconstruction.

  She pulled her car into the parking lot by the nearby marina and walked to the pier to watch as boats glided gracefully over the water. This was paradise. She just had to figure out how her jagged edges fit into something so pristine.

  Inside her pocket her phone vibrated. Fishing it free, she saw her sister’s name on the screen and smiled. As a massive yacht streamed by, she took a deep breath, grabbed the wooden railing, and hit the button to accept the call.

  “Hello,” she answered, her voice sounding foreign even to her own ears.

  “Hey,” Lindsey said, her voice heavy with concern. “Where have you been? Better yet, where are you?”

  Fuck. Alex had left without a word, partially on purpose, partially because she hadn’t known where she might end up, but she hadn’t meant to abandon everyone. “I…I moved,” she said, tapping her foot on the deck. She dropped her arms and paced. “I meant to tell you.”

  “Moved? Where did you move?”

  “I’m in Florida.” The words felt strange on her tongue. Florida, she repeated mentally.

  “What?”

  She searched for an answer, but Lindsey didn’t give her time.

  “Why? I mean, I know things went badly, at least from what Olivia told me.”

  “You talked to her?” Alex hadn’t meant for the words to come out as a hiss, but she couldn’t retract them now.

  “I had to!” Lindsey’s voice was rising. “You didn’t answer your phone. You weren’t home. What the hell was I supposed to do?”

  “I don’t know,” Alex snapped, “but you didn’t need to involve her.”

  “What happened? She wouldn’t tell me everything, but if you ran thousands of miles away, it must have been bad.”

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” Alex said, keeping her voice low as she walked past a family of five that was as sweetly enamored with the boats as she had been moments earlier. She sighed and straightened her shoulders. “I’ll explain when I can, but I needed a fresh start.”

  “Florida? Why?” Lindsey circled back to her previous question.

  “First of all, if you talk to Olivia again, don’t mention where I’m at,” Alex said, making sure her bases were covered, even though her sister was the one person she knew she could trust.

  “I won’t,” Lindsey assured her. “I have no reason to talk to her if you’re not with her. You know me better than that.”

  “I do,” Alex conceded. “Anyway, I’m in Florida. I don’t have any answer other than that it felt right, so here I am.”

  “When are you coming home?” Lindsey’s voice was hollow, as if she realized her only sister had picked up and moved without so much as a goodbye.

  “I got a place here.” Alex’s heart sank as she heard Lindsey’s gasp. “I’ll come visit before too long,” she added quickly, hoping to avert causing too much damage to their relationship. “And you can come visit me. I’d love for you and Connor to see the beach down here. It’s so different from home.” She continued, describing the Gulf Coast, but Lindsey had already checked out, she could tell.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, pausing for a moment.

  “I get it, I think,” Lindsey said, her voice thick with emotion. Although she couldn’t see them, Alex could hear the tears in her words.

  “I wish I had taken the time to stop by and see you both before I left.” She thought of Connor, her sweet nephew, and wished she could have stopped in there to give him a hug, but she knew why she hadn’t.

  “It was too hard to say goodbye when I already felt like I’d lost a huge chunk of my life. Telling you all that I was leaving would have made it real, made it so that she took even more from me, and I don’t think I would have been able to bear the look in either of your faces.” She spoke truths she hadn’t even let herself broach yet. “I had to leave, but if I’d have seen the two of you, I would have stayed.”

  “We miss you.” Lindsey’s response was simple, but heartfelt.

  Alex wiped a single tear from her cheek. “I miss you both,” she said, stopping to lean on the railing for support. “Once I get settled, I’m flying you both down.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “I insist,” she said. Lindsey started to argue, but Alex cut her off. “I’m working on meeting people here, but everyone else seems connected somehow. It’s small enough that, while there are tourists, the people here know one another, and I’m an outsider. It’s a bit lonely, but I think it’s what I need.”

  “We’ll talk about it and make a plan,” Lindsey finally agreed. “But in the meantime, I’m just glad you’re okay. You scared me,” she chided, clearly unable to keep her older sister temper at bay. “At least let me know where you’re going next, okay?”

  “Okay,” Alex agreed.

  As the call wrapped up, she couldn’t help but play Lindsey’s questions back in her mind. What was she doing here, and why had she signed a twelve-month lease? This move was a gamble, but she’d been making a lot of those lately.

  Straightening her skirt as she righted herself, she gave the boats one last glance before rounding the corner and heading back toward the beachfront gallery she’d been eyeing since she pulled into town.

  If she was going to stick around, she had to start finding her place somehow, and work seemed to be the easiest, least confusing avenue by which to do that.

  Chapter Five

  The Florida sun beat down on her bare shoulders, and Lennon laughed as the cool waves tickled her feet. Lying in the sand, listening to the steady rise and crash of the waves, she wondered how anyone ever felt stress at the beach. This was, and always had been, her happy place, her escape.

  Some people had a church or a building that made them feel a part of something bigger, and out here, she could almost understand it. This was where magic still existed.

  “You look one hundred percent blissful.” Grant’s words interrupted her thoughts.

  “Yet here you are, talking and ruining the moment,” she teased, tossing a bottle of sunscreen playfully in his direction.

  “Sorry,” he said as she eyed him over the rim of her aviator sunglasses. At over six feet tall, he towered over her, creating a perfect shady spot as she propped herself up on her elbows. “I was just thinking that it might be nice if you took more days like this.”

  “So I’m not always telling you what to do at the bar?” she shot back with a grin.

  “That,” he said with an enthusiastic nod, “and so you actually get to enjoy some of the perks of being the owner. You don’t have to tend the bar four to five days a week. You don’t need the money. You can hire in more help.”

  When she narrowed her eyes at him, he held his hands up in mock surrender. “I’m just saying, I’ve seen the books, and you made bank last year. You could hire in someone else and enjoy more days on the beach.”

  “You want me to retire at thirty-three? What am I supposed to do? You want me to take up knitting and crosswords?”

  “First off,” he said, holding up his finger and shaking his head, “there are worse hobbies. Second of all, you deserve it. It’s not retiring. It’s enjoying what you’ve worked your ass off to achieve. You could be living the dream. That’s all I’m saying.”

  “I thought you were already living the dream, Mr. Brewer,” she said, sitting up and turning to face him as she bundled her sunscreen, Hydro Flask, and book into the beach bag beside her. “You live with me for starters. Then there’s the fact that you work at the best bar in Florida, alongside the best boss. You get great pay, you have great hair, and you have your pick of men. What more could you want?”

  “I want for nothing, my queen,” he said, bowing to her in jest. “I’m just thankful to be in your presence.”

  “You know, it’s a shame neither of us wants the parts the other has to offer, because that,” she said, motioning her hand in a circle in his direction, “is all I’ve ever wanted in a partner.”

  They laughed as they gathered up the rest of their things. “Feeling is mutual, darlin’. Feeling is mutual.”

  “I wouldn’t trade this for anything, though,” she said, smiling up at him as he grabbed the bags and headed up toward the pier.

  “Speaking of partners…” he started. She held up her hands to stop him.

  “There’s no one.”

  “Not true,” he said, his voice rising in disbelief. “There have been a couple of someones since…well, since you’ve been single.” He looked down at the sand. “You seem to forget we share a house.”

  “That doesn’t make them a partner.” She wrinkled her nose, choosing to ignore his near slipup. “You know that as well as I do.”

  “What about that girl last week who showed up at the bar afterward the next day? Have you talked to her since?”

  “Nope.” Lennon shook her head. “I haven’t talked to any of them.”

  “What about…”

  “I swear to you that if you say her fucking name again, I’ll cut you.” She spun to face him. “There’s no one special. I’m not running. I’m not in pain. I’m not heartbroken. I’m fine, and I’m not dating anyone. Understood?”

  She threw her arms up in the air in frustration. She narrowed her eyes, knowing if they were at home, he might have challenged her further, but in public, he wouldn’t make a scene.

  “Got it,” he said. She saw him roll his eyes but she chose to ignore that too.

  She stifled a sigh. Maybe he was right about her needing to take off more time, but he wasn’t right about the rest. She was fine, and she was better than ever since her breakup with Leigh. Closure. The word bounced around in her head like a ball in a pinball machine. Everyone had told her that was what she needed, but she was pretty sure it didn’t exist.

  She had enough closure when Leigh packed her things and left town in search of a new beginning somewhere. Lennon racked her brain, but once again she was sure she’d never got an answer as to where that new beginning was even taking place. If Leigh had been unhappy, she hadn’t shown it. Either way, she’d still chosen the unknown over the life they had been building together. For what had to be the hundredth time, she wondered if there had been someone else all along—someone in another city who’d lit Leigh’s world on fire in the same way Leigh had done for her.

  Her thoughts ran rampant, and her heart rate accelerated. Closure wasn’t possible, and none of Leigh’s rationalizing would make any difference. The one phone call they’d had since she left had proven as much. There was no remorse, no explanation, nothing but a hollow apology. All of her friends had seen what an utter disaster Lennon was in the aftermath. To say she’d made a scene or two was an understatement. It was no wonder they all were so concerned with the state of her heart, but since she was at least holding it together publicly these days, she wished they’d drop it.

  “Tacos?” he asked, breaking the silence and nodding in the direction of one of their favorite restaurants. It was little more than a small wooden hut with a tented roof, but they served the best tacos in the county there.

  “Obviously.”

  As she strolled up the boardwalk, she stopped in her tracks. As if on cue, on the far side of the restaurant, sat Alex.

  “Well fuck me,” she muttered under her breath. She turned to leave, ready to forfeit tacos for the inferior burger stand, but Grant didn’t catch the clue and was already barreling into the restaurant closely behind her. When she turned, she struck him in the stomach, causing him to fall backward, drop their bags onto the floor, and pull her down with him.

  “Damn! You two know how to make an entrance,” Jake, the regular afternoon bartender and waiter, called out to them as he made his way around the bar and over to them.

  Just as Lennon had feared, Alex had already caught sight of the commotion and had half stood. Probably trying to decide whether or not to offer help or how to make a speedy exit, Lennon guessed. Not giving her the chance to choose, Lennon jumped up and dusted the sand off her legs.

  “Two margs and two taco plates, half beef, half veggie?” Jake asked. “That should help cure the fall, right?”

  Grant laughed and nodded. “Sounds good, man. Thanks!”

  Lennon wanted to protest, but she knew her jackassery had already gotten them this far into the situation. Not to be rude, she nodded a greeting in Alex’s direction.

  “Hey,” she said, waving and taking her normal seat at the midway point of the bar.

  “Hi,” Alex said before returning her attention to the plate in front of her.

  “Why don’t you come over here and join the fun?” Jake asked, waving Alex over. “You said you were new to town, so you might as well make some friends.”

  Lennon opened her mouth to tell him they’d already met but bit her tongue. She looked at Jake and then over at Alex. “He’s right, you know?” She offered a smile, despite her erratic heartbeat and the alarm bells ringing in her head. “Come over and join the gang.”

  Alex gave a slight laugh, rubbed her neck, and picked up her plate. Lennon couldn’t tell if she was doing so out of a headstrong nature or to go along with the flow. She thought for a second while Alex situated herself on the barstool next to her. She couldn’t decide her reason for doubling down on the invitation either.

  “Are you getting settled in?” Lennon asked, working to keep her tone neutral.

  Alex flashed a warm smile, and Lennon’s heart beat even faster. “I am.” She took a sip of her fruity drink and looked at Lennon over the rim. “These aren’t quite as complex as the drinks at your place,” she noted, keeping her voice low so she didn’t insult Jake.