Echoes Of The Past (Fermosa Bay #1) Read online

  “I can’t believe you’ve stolen my heart in such a short time,” he said. “You’ve just come into my life without any warning.”

  Emily’s heart pounded in her chest. “Is this the goodbye visit?” she asked hesitantly while trying so hard to hold back the tears. Why was he talking in riddles and not giving her an answer?

  His lips touched hers, whispering, “You didn’t listen.”

  Leaning back, she stared at him, not sure what to make of the grin on his face.

  “It’s time for a new beginning. I’ve decided to stay for the year. The rose was merely a symbol to show that I want nothing more than to share these new beginnings with you. It’s going to be tough—”

  Not understanding why, she arched a brow.

  When he gently pinched her bottom, she gave a suppressed squeal, desperate to hear the rest of what he had to say.

  “Hey, you try and leave your life behind and build something on the other end of the world.”

  “Point taken,” she whispered, moving his hand from her bum up to her back.

  He looked around. “Yes, the rose was for you. Did you just throw it away?”

  A smile tugged at her lips. “I wouldn’t dare. I left it on the shelf in the hall.”

  “Treasure it. I don’t do roses often.”

  “I’ll make a mental note.”

  His gaze was intense, and it gave Emily a shiver. “Apologies about earlier, but when you opened the door, my mind just went blank. Anyway, what I should’ve said was that absence makes the heart grow fonder, they say. And my heart is very fond of Fermosa Bay, the people living here, but especially you.”

  He kissed the tip of her nose then found her lips again.

  His mind was blank? Her mind had a thousand questions ready to ask, but for the moment she enjoyed the fact that he would stay for a year. That he’d be around for longer than just a few weeks. But most importantly, that he was in her bed.

  He rolled her underneath him, pushing her into the soft mattress as he covered her.

  “Ask away, Emily. I can see smoke coming out of your hair you’re thinking so hard.”

  She cackled. “So you come with a rose, talk in riddles, take me to my bed—”

  He covered her mouth with another kiss—long and deep.

  When he finally pulled back, it took her a moment to focus. “And you keep kissing me like you’re leaving tomorrow,” she whispered.

  “Not leaving you for a long time.” Connor rolled back to his side and with his elbow bent, rested his head on one hand as he brushed his finger along her collarbone. “I like it here. I like this place. I talked to Niall and Ethan today, and despite my suspicion about their good natured outlook—”

  “What do you mean suspicion?”

  “I’m a lawyer. I’m always suspicious. I’ve got two clever business men here who seemingly have no problem with me working with them.”

  “But they don’t. I remember them having the conversation on how Jack’s company would benefit from your knowledge.”

  He nodded. “So I heard. But they’ve never worked with me. How do we know—?”

  Leaning closer, she stilled him with a quick kiss. “Ever the sceptic. That must’ve come from the English air.”

  The smile slowly faded into a serious expression, and Emily wasn’t sure whether she wanted to know what he was about to say. Or what he was thinking that moment. She relished the moment with him next to her and the thought that he was going to stay with her for the next twelve months.

  Twelve wonderful months. She’d do her best to convince him that Fermosa Bay was the place to be for the rest of his life. And even better, she’d be the one to spend the rest of his life with.

  “Sunshine,” he said quietly. “I need you to understand, though, this is for twelve months. I cannot make any promises. And I cannot make any promises that I’ll be the same as the kid you knew from twenty years back.”

  She nodded, too worried her voice would crack if she said something. She understood and although everyone called her naïve for loving somebody whom she hardly knew, her heart told her otherwise.

  And she always listened to her heart.

  “I haven’t had many relationships. Most of them ending in a disaster. So—”

  “That was in London. The ever-busy lawyer. This is Fermosa.”

  He cocked a brow. “This is now the hundredth time I hear that. Anything special in Fermosa’s water?”

  Without wanting to, she laughed. “No. But what we’re trying to tell you is, life in the country, life along the coast is different to the big city. We’re not naïve. We’re not stupid. If we were, Jack wouldn’t have all the hotels, which are some of the best in Australia. What we’re trying to tell you is, we still value the little things in life, we value friendship, family, neighbours—we value life. That’s basically it. When Ethan and Niall say they’d love to have you in the company, then they do. If Jack tells them you’re in charge of the company, then they protest and make your life hell. They’ve worked too hard for it. If the guy down the road waves and says good to have you back then he knows who you are and is happy to see you here. This is how things work here. Easy.”

  “And I’m loving it. I really do. That’s why I’m staying.”

  She smiled, seeing his expression change to a more content one.

  “And because of you,” he whispered as he gave her a kiss. He leaned into her and his lips brushed her ear, his breath warming her skin. His hand slid slowly up her back. Warmth engulfed her as his thumb swept over her nape, urging her to look at him. His smile sent goose-bumps down her spine and a tingling sensation in her stomach. He brushed his lips against hers, this time deepening the kiss, and she wished for him to never stop.

  He rolled her onto her back and stared down at her. “You’re beautiful, Emily.”

  That about left her in a puddle. Holding back tears, she wasn’t able to remember anybody saying something like that. Of course, she wasn’t ugly, but it was the way he said it. But before she was able to come up with a reply, Connor kissed his way down her jaw to her neck. The warmth of his mouth created sensations within her, all melting into one. Then he surprised her when he laced his fingers through hers and pinned her hands above her head with one hand. His other hand ran down her side as soft as a feather. She stared into his brown eyes, letting him know how much she trusted him.

  Effortlessly, he made quick work of the bra hooks and pulled it off along with her shirt. He moved down to kiss her breasts, one at a time. With her eyes closed, her hands still above her head, she arched into him. Connor trailed his fingers up and down her legs as he kissed her stomach, licked her belly button, and finally settled between her thighs.

  He was torturing her. She knew by now he liked to explore.

  “Connor.”

  “I’m here, sunshine.”

  Emily hissed a breath when he found her most sensitive spot. She arched into him as he stroked and teased with his tongue.

  “Connor,” she said again.

  He stopped and looked up at her. “Want me to stop?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.

  “Don’t you dare.”

  He grinned and moved up her body with lingering kisses.

  “Don’t move,” he whispered into her ear. Then he stood, got rid of his clothes, before disposing of her panties as well.

  Emily couldn’t help but stare at his body. She moved her hand to touch him, but when he cocked his brow, she laid still and enjoyed. He grabbed a condom and came back to her. Gently, he dipped his head and kissed her while sliding into her. Heat rushed through her, and she wrapped her legs around him, pulling him closer as she met him stroke for stroke, taking all he had to give.

  “Open your eyes, sunshine. I want to see you come.”

  He’d surprised her again by his directness and even though it was difficult at first, she did open her eyes, experiencing an intensity like never before as she watched him watching her. It was like an explosion of sensations when she
finally came with such force her entire body shook, going limp with the ecstasy rioting through her. Her eyes fell closed as the pleasure washed over her.

  Connor held her close as her tremors subsided, stroking her hair and nuzzling her ear. She snuggled closer into his embrace, and when his lips touched her forehead ever so gently, she knew that not only did she love him, but she couldn’t imagine not having him in her life.

  She blocked the thought quickly, remembering his sweet touch on her skin. Sex had never felt so right, so good, and so complete. With Connor, all the pieces of the jigsaw fell into place.

  Chapter Eight

  Christmas in Fermosa Bay was different. It was an experience of a different kind as Connor found out. First of all, it was stinking hot and humid. As soon as he got out of bed, he noticed the stickiness in the air. He looked outside and saw a few clouds on the horizon, but nothing threatening like the first week he’d been here.

  It took him a while to get up and have a shower, before he picked up his clothes from the previous night when they’d all gone to church for the Christmas Eve church service. Not one who liked going to church, Emily had been able to convince him, and in the end he’d admitted to have enjoyed it thoroughly. Most likely because of having her with him, but also because it’d been a joyous event. All he was able to remember were chapel services twice a week while he’d been a boarder. He’d been bored out of his brain.

  When he heard Jack coughing down the hallway, he threw his clothes onto the bed and headed towards the lounge room. The Christmas tree was lit up with lots of presents underneath. The array of colours on the tree, and the loud colours of the wrapping paper did something to him inside, something he wasn’t able to pinpoint.

  Happiness?

  Anger for having missed out on Christmases like these?

  “It’s going to be a hot day.”

  Connor shot around and saw his dad with a cup of coffee in each of his hand. “Merry Christmas, Dad,” he said with a smile as he stepped closer. He nodded towards the tree in the lounge room. “Looks great.”

  Jack nodded, but didn’t say anything.

  “You all right?”

  Again, a small nod before he replied, “I’m an old man and I’m allowed to be a bit sentimental. Hopefully you will not be mad with me, but I just had that moment when I cursed your mother.” He held out one cup to his son. “It hasn’t happened very often, if at all, but yes, thinking of the Christmases I had to spend without you…”

  Connor ached inside. Being mad was the last thing on his mind. The opposite was more the truth; he felt the same way. “I’m sorry,” he whispered in the end, not sure what else to say. Or whether there were any words expressing exactly the pain and loss he felt.

  Jack coughed, and Connor took the other cup as well. “Let’s sit down.”

  Holding up his hand, Jack finished his coughing fit, before he said, “I’d like to go to church again. I want to say thanks for spending this time with you.” Meeting his son’s gaze, he whispered, “Would you mind coming with me? Just you and me. Our Christmas.”

  Taking a few deep breaths, Connor nodded, not able to speak, too scared he’d cry. Tears were burning behind his eyes, and his whole body trembled from this one small request. He thought of the day on the oval and his father’s words about Connor calling him Dad being his best Christmas present, and now the simple request to go to church. Suddenly the realisation of the impact of his mother taking Connor away from Jack now hit him. It hit him so hard, he wasn’t sure whether he’d make it through the day without tears, but he couldn’t care less. His dad wanted to go to church to say thanks he was here. How could that not affect anybody?

  “Of course we can.”

  Connor had a quick breakfast and half an hour later they were in the car, driving to church.

  “Have you called your mother, yet?”

  He shook his head.

  “It’s Christmas.”

  Turning towards his father, he replied, “I am very aware of it. And I’m not letting her destroy another one for me.”

  Jack placed his hand on Connor’s arm, but remained silent.

  Morning mass was more along the lines what Connor had been used to, but he sat back and listened. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his father wiping his eyes a couple of times, and it nearly brought him to his knees. Although he was in church, even more so during one of the most festive events of the year, he wasn’t able to subdue his resentment against his mother. All he wanted to hear from her was a reason why she’d left. Why she’d taken him with her only for him to end up in boarding school. Christmases at his grandparents, sometimes with his mother and Duncan, often on his own though. There was no doubt he’d had a good life, although not the same as Ethan and Niall. If he tried hard enough, he’d even say, his mother tried her best to give him the best chances in life.

  Had that been it? Did she think he’d have no chance of a good life in Fermosa Bay? Was it as simple as that?

  When he heard Jack coughing, he stood and helped him outside until the fit was over. It was about the worst one his father had had so far. It scared him. It scared him to the bones, because he knew time was running out. As he looked at his father, he tried to put himself into Jack’s shoes knowing the days were numbered. He wondered how it’d be to know. The consciousness of hurry, but enjoying each minute at the same time.

  Gently he rubbed Jack’s back up and down. “Better?”

  “I’m okay, Son.”

  What a lie, and Connor was sure his dad knew it as well.

  Back home, they had a small lunch on the deck while Jack sat on his swing seat with a cup of tea. Connor moved a chair next to him and sat as well.

  “I’ve got a little present for you,” Jack said after a while. “It’s on my desk. Could you go and get it?”

  Connor nodded, stood, and walked to the study. He looked around and assumed that the simply wrapped square parcel was what his father was talking about. He took it and returned to the deck.

  “You found it.”

  Connor sat with the present on his lap.

  “Emmy helped me with it. She’s a genius when it comes to those things.” He waved his hand over the present. “Go and open it.”

  Slowly, he removed the sticky tape on the wrapping paper. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Jack’s impatience and the little boy in him liked it.

  “Good grief, Son. Hasn’t anybody ever showed you how to open a present. You rip it.”

  Laughing, he looked at his father. “Sorry, Dad, just teasing you. I noticed your impatience.”

  Jack’s face spread into a smile. “Rip it!” he demanded.

  So he did. And discovered a photo album. It was simple and black, but his breath caught as he opened the book and saw the carefully arranged photos—the first one a wedding photo.

  He looked up at his father.

  “My parents. Michael and Bridie Delaney. They came from Ireland, settled here in Fermosa. Dad was a fisherman. One year was good and profitable, and he started a little bar in a shack on the other side of town. Years later, he built the pub down the street.”

  “He’d be proud of you, if he knew what you’ve built since then.”

  Jack nodded. “He’d died a few years before I met your mother. Even in his old age, he stood behind the bar serving his long standing friends.” He chuckled. “Charging them the price from twenty years earlier. It still surprises me that we didn’t go broke.” With a shrug, he added, “But friends were important to him. Something that he instilled in me.”

  “Is that why you helped Ethan and Niall?”

  “Yes.”

  After Jack’s next bout of coughs, he leaned forward and pointed to another picture. “That’s me as a baby and right next to it, that’s me holding you. You were about three or four days old.”

  A suffocating sensation tightened his throat as he touched the picture of himself with his father. “Look at all the hair,” he whispered with a chuckle.

 
; “Look at the ears,” his father countered. “You were an ugly baby.”

  Connor laughed. “Yeah, thanks, Dad.”

  Then he felt Jack’s hand on his shoulder. “I’m proud of you, Son. You were four weeks early, but you fought hard. Always been a fighter.”

  Tongue-tied, he stared at his dad. He’d come to terms with the fact that his mother had more or less done her hardest to make sure he wouldn’t remember anything about his life here in Australia, but why on earth hadn’t she ever mentioned such an important part? It had nothing to do with his upbringing in Fermosa Bay at all.

  Four weeks early? He didn’t know much, if anything about little babies, but even he was aware that four weeks was early for a child to be born. A lot of things could theoretically still go wrong when born so early. He took a deep breath and made a mental note to bring it up in his next phone call with his mother.

  “You didn’t know?”

  Connor shook his head. “I know nothing about my life here.” He touched his scar. “Apparently I fell from the bike, but Ethan’s version is different.”

  Jack leaned back, and Connor noticed him wiping away some tears. It seemed it was an emotional trip into the past for him as well.

  “You were four weeks early. I know, because I’d accompanied your mother to each doctor’s visit. Dr. Miller was a good friend of mine. His daughter runs the practice nowadays.” He rubbed his hands over his face before he continued. “There was something wrong with your lungs. Not fully developed or…I can’t remember.” He met Connor’s gaze. “But you fought. Fought hard and made it.” His laugh surprised Connor. “And never had a cold or sniffle after that.”

  “Never been one to be sick,” Connor confirmed.

  “Yes, Sabrina…Niall’s grandmother…made sure I fed you with all the nutritious foods in the world.”

  “I’ll make sure to pay her a visit and tell her my thanks.”

  Jack laughed as he shook his head.

  They spent hours looking at photos, and Jack telling him about Connor’s childhood. It was emotional, but rewarding.