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SEPTEMBER SUNRISE
Secondhand Hearts Series
BY TESS THOMPSON

BLURB

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SEPTEMBER SUNRISE
Secondhand Hearts Series
BY TESS THOMPSON

Excerpt

Mia turned her small, blue Nissan Versa onto the rutted dirt road overgrown with weeds and trash that led to the lighthouse. A sudden blast of wind from the rocky shoreline hit her as she opened the car door.

The lighthouse stood defiant against the relentless elements, exactly as it had for as long as she could remember. Its once-pristine white stone, now weathered and worn, had faded into a cracked, dingy gray—a testament to time and the unyielding forces of nature.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a black pickup truck with a sturdy toolbox bolted to the bed alongside a ladder rack loaded with equipment parked several yards away. She hadn’t noticed it when she first pulled onto the road. Evidently, she wasn’t alone.

She shielded her eyes with her hand as she squinted into the bright sun and surveyed the area, finally settling on the beach. A man stood there looking toward the ocean as a large black dog paced in front of him with its pink tongue lolling back and forth.

Maybe he was someone from the company bidding on the property, she thought. But then she realized there was something familiar about the way the man held his head as his dark hair blew in the breeze. Did she know him?

Mia’s heart began to beat rapidly in her chest, and for some inexplicable reason, the air around her thickened, and she was suddenly wary. “No,” she said to herself. “It can’t be.”

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Mia stared toward the water as the seaweed’s earthy, fishy smell brought back memories of past seaside encounters. Her throat was tight, and her feet were anchored to the sand as she watched the lone man on the rocky beach. He continued to gaze out at the horizon and occasionally picked up a small rubber ball to toss into the waves for his dog to retrieve.

The tall man whirled around, facing her, and swept the dark black hair that had fallen across his eyes back from his face. She knew the instant he spotted her because he took a step backward and then stopped and stared. Then, he called to the dog and walked toward her.

He had a dark, close-cropped beard and mustache now, but she would know that face anywhere. She would never forget a single detail of his face. She hadn’t seen him in seven years, but it was Ethan. Her Ethan.

She had last seen him on the day she buried her father. Ethan had postponed leaving for school to attend the funeral. After the service, they met here on this beach and said goodbye after shouting angry words at one another.

She could still hear his words as he said, “If you loved me, you’d come with me,” and she answered back, “If you loved me, you’d stay here with me. You know I can’t leave.”

Now, here was the boy she’d loved with all her heart who had grown into a solid, rugged man walking toward her, and she wanted to turn and run away. What was he doing here after all this time? And why did she care?

His Labrador retriever met her first. The handsome dog stopped in front of her and politely sat at Ethan’s command. She reached down to stroke the dark, wet coat, which was the color of Ethan’s hair. “Aren’t you a pretty boy?” she said softly, too afraid to raise her head and look at the man approaching her.

“Mia?” His voice was deeper than the boy’s voice she remembered, but she knew it well, and it still held the same hint of South Carolina.

“Ethan. What a surprise.” Her voice wavered between disbelief and something softer, something dangerously close to longing. She glanced toward the lighthouse, a safe distraction, before finally letting her gaze settle on him. The years had changed him—sharpened the angles of his face, added new lines around his eyes—but the way he looked at her, like she was the only person in the world, hadn’t changed at all.

A war raged inside her. Every instinct screamed at her to turn and walk away, to protect herself from the memories clawing their way to the surface. But the pull of him—of everything they’d been and everything they’d lost—held her rooted to the spot.

“What are you doing here?” The words came out sharper than she intended, barely disguising the ache beneath them. “I thought you said you were never coming back.”

A brittle laugh escaped before she could stop it, the sound edged with something dangerously close to hysteria. She swallowed hard, forcing herself to hold his gaze, to pretend his presence didn’t shake her to the core.

She had spent years convincing herself she was over him. So why did it feel like one look from Ethan could unravel everything?

He took in a breath and blew it out through his lips. With a slight hesitation, he admitted, “Well, sometimes plans change. I’m here for work.”

“Work? You mean you’re moving back?” Her heart lurched again, and she wasn’t sure how his news made her feel.

“No, it’s temporary. My company, LC Construction, is bidding on this property. If we win the bid, I could be here off and on for the better part of a year. I still have projects to manage in other locations as well.”

“I guess you got that architecture degree you were after then?” Her ironic tone concealed the mixed emotions she felt.

“No, actually, I decided to study engineering and construction management. Architects spend too much time drawing up plans in an office. I realized I enjoyed spending most of my time outdoors.”

“What will you do with this property? It’s beautiful, but not worth its salt as a beach.”

“It’s not the beach we’re interested in. My plan is to renovate the lighthouse. Open it to the public so they can learn more about Haven Reach’s history. There’s a lot of history here.” He looked at her and gave her a lazy, irresistible smile. She wondered if he could be baiting her.

How could she ever forget what had taken place between the two of them right here on this spot? Indeed, there was a lot of history between them, and he was trying to remind her.

“How about you, Mia?”

“What?” His words jarred her back into the present.

“What are you doing now?”

“I’m still at the café. Business is good. Haley’s home from college and working for the mayor. Mom’s good. Still doing the baking. Not much has changed around here.” Good grief, she was babbling. She didn’t know what to say to this man she had loved so much. She didn’t know what to do. Wave after wave of shock slapped at her. What was the protocol when you ran into an old lover?

“You haven’t changed, Mia. You’re still as beautiful as you always were.”

He reached up and moved one of the curls the wind had tossed across her face, and she shivered—maybe from the ocean breeze and maybe from precious old memories flooding her mind. She started to tell him he still looked good, too, and that she’d missed him, but when she heard a car engine followed by a door slam, the moment was gone.

They both turned at the noise from the road to see Troy Bannon, dressed in his police uniform, striding down the path toward them. When he reached them, Troy removed his aviator glasses, and Ethan said, “Hello, Troy.”

“Well, I’ll be. Ethan Carter. What the hell are you doing in Haven’s Reach after all this time?” The two men shook hands awkwardly, as if they were little more than distant acquaintances and not former best friends.

Then Troy clipped his aviator sunglasses to his pocket and placed his hands on Mia’s shoulders before leaning in to kiss her on the cheek. “Your mama said I’d find you here,” he said and took her hand.

About Author Tess Thompson…

Links to Tess’s websites, blogs, books, #ad, etc.:

Click here to purchase September Sunrise or read FREE on Kindle Unlimited. www.amazon.com/dp/B0F3Y26T3F

Contact the authors at novelsbytessthompson@gmail.com with comments or questions.

Website: www.sisterswritingcrime.com

Happy Reading!

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