Defiant Heart (Starlight Cove Book 1)

MY STOMACH WAS in knots as I rode in the back seat of some rando’s car. Okay, so he wasn’t a total rando. His name was Arthur, and he seemed very nice. The vehicle was clean enough, with a ripped notebook page taped to the inside corner of the windshield that said simply NON-UBER in shaky blue marker. He was a tiny man who looked old enough to have been around when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and he couldn’t have been driving more than twenty miles an hour. But considering he was the one and only non-Uber driver in town, I didn’t have much of a choice. Not when my van was in the shop and Brady had stormed out of his house without a word or a backward glance.

“I hear there’s a big to-do out there on the Williamsons’ property,” Arthur said as we crawled through town, stopping for a solid ten seconds at each of the two empty intersections we’d come across. “Something about puppies being chained to the trees without food or water for days on end?”

I rolled my eyes, knowing that was just Mabel’s embellishment of the situation—what situation, I didn’t know, but I was about ninety-five percent sure it didn’t involve puppies. “Don’t believe everything you hear on Facebook, Arthur,” I muttered, dialing Brady again, though I knew it’d be in vain.

I’d tried calling him twelve times, and he’d ignored all twelve calls. I needed to tell him I didn’t know what the hell my parents were doing in Starlight Cove, why they’d shown up at the Williamsons’ property, or why Mabel was with them, just that I didn’t have anything to do with it. I’d kept my end of the deal…a deal I wasn’t so sure I should’ve made in the first place.

I wasn’t fighting for something frivolous here. I was fighting for what I believed in, and I’d set that aside for him. There was no denying that we had a fundamental difference of opinion on most things. Brady wanted me quiet and compliant…even if just for a while. But wasn’t that exactly what everyone wanted from me?

Just be a little less loud, a little less opinionated, a little less blunt, a little less bubbly or vivacious or dramatic. Just. Be. Less.

I’d thought it had been different with Brady, but hadn’t he been trying to do the same thing the entire time we’d known each other? Hadn’t he been trying to force me into a perfect little box and behave?

That wasn’t who I was, and it wasn’t who I wanted to be. Not even for him. Not even for the man who’d stolen my heart and held it hostage in his stoic hands.

I still believed in everything I’d been protesting—to prevent Holton Group from razing twenty acres of wildlife just for a shopping center the town didn’t need in the first place—but I didn’t want it to come at the expense of Brady and his family.

That didn’t change that this wasn’t the right choice for Starlight Cove and all the people in it—Brady’s family included. But all he saw was black-and-white. Good or bad. Wrong or right. He couldn’t see into the shades of gray where most things lived, this included. While, yes, the development may have been good in the short-term, people would suffer in the long-term. In ten years, this town wouldn’t hold any of its original charm. The family-owned businesses would be gone, eradicated by one large conglomerate.

And I knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t want that.

“Here we are,” Arthur said, pulling up alongside a cluster of cars.

I barely waited until he’d come to a complete stop before I jumped out. Not being actually affiliated with any of the rideshare apps meant he took only cash, so I tossed some bills his way before I dashed to the small but growing crowd of people. I needed to find Brady. Needed to tell him he’d jumped to the wrong conclusion while also convincing him this wasn’t the awful endeavor he thought it was. Convincing him to listen to his heart instead of his head.

Standing on tiptoe, I searched around the area, looking for the tall grump with a glower that could make grown men wet themselves, but before I could spot him, an all too familiar voice squealed from behind me. “My baby!”

I didn’t even have time to turn around before her arms surrounded me from behind, the familiar scent of sage and lavender washing over me.

“I’ve missed you!” she said, walking around to my front and holding me at arm’s length, a bright smile on her face. “Are you surprised?”

“That’s one way of putting it,” I said, peeking around her as I searched for Brady. Normally, I would’ve been thrilled to see my parents—Mom, especially—but I had more pressing issues right now. Namely, finding my grump and making him see reason. “I wish you would’ve warned me.”

Mom’s brow furrowed as she regarded me. “I did warn you. I said your dad and I should take a trip up this way.”

I rolled my eyes, spotting my dad talking to Mabel several yards away, her camera trained on his chest, probably cutting off his face as she was wont to do. To Mom, I said, “Yes, but you’ve also told me you were moving to Dubai, getting a phoenix rising tattoo over your entire back, and going to learn how to speak Mandarin, yet not a single one has happened.”

She laughed, swatting a hand on my arm. “Well, you know me…” She shrugged. “Fickle as can be. Aren’t you happy to see us?”

“I am. I just…” I waved my hand around, encompassing the crowd. “This is a lot of attention. Did you hear what I said about this? I told you I was laying low, waiting for the discovery to pan out.”

“Yes, honey, I heard you.” Mom scoffed. “I do listen when you talk, you know.”

I wasn’t so sure about that. Mom tended to hear exactly what she wanted to. “If that’s true, then why’d you come here?”

She lifted a single shoulder. “Your dad wanted to take a peek, and we didn’t think it would be a big to-do. We stopped by that cute little café in town when we arrived, and this nice lady was all too happy to show us where to go.”

Mabel. Goddamn meddling old woman.

“Besides, getting coverage like this will only help your cause, right?”

“I’m trying to keep this out of the news for right now. But Mabel’s Facebook videos aren’t exactly going to make headlines.”

“Oh, but she’s not the only one here. There’s another woman. The one who showed us how to get here. Tall, blond, gorgeous in that aloof sort of way,” Mom said distractedly as she glanced around. “Now, where did she go…”

Harper. It had to be. I didn’t know why she was back already, or why she’d helped my parents find this place, but those were the least of my worries. Not when she had the ability to sway the article one way or another. Not when I could paint this town in a different light—not as one of troublemakers, but of a family of concerned citizens, only wanting what was best for the town.

Brady may have wanted me to shut my mouth and behave like a good girl, to make me fit neatly into his life, but that wasn’t me. And I wasn’t going to sit idly by when I could make a difference. I just hoped he would come to understand that.

“I need to talk to her.” I pushed away from my mom and traversed the ever-growing crowd, always on the lookout for Harper’s head of blond hair.

I finally found her, talking to my dad, of all people. He was studying some papers, his reading glasses on the end of his nose, as Harper stood by, tapping her phone against her thigh.

“Harper,” I said, my voice too tight to be considered friendly, but I couldn’t help it.

“Luna, hey.” She smiled at me. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Hi, sweetheart,” my dad said, not bothering to look up from the papers he was focused on. “Just give me a minute while I read through…” He trailed off, such as was the usual with him when it came to work, and I focused my attention back on Harper.

“I was just coming to find you,” she said. “I wanted to—”

“Wait. Please.” I held up my hand to stop her, ignoring the growing crowd behind us. I couldn’t think about who was back there…if Brady was back there. “I need to say this first. Your magazine is looking for a compelling story, right?” Without waiting for her response, I continued, arm outstretched and gesturing to those gathered behind us. “Well, what’s more compelling than a community coming together? Because that’s what’s here. That’s what’s happening. We might not always agree, but I’m certain every single person in Starlight Cove only wants the best for this town, whatever they think that may be.

“I love it here. I love this town, and I love the residents.” Then, under my breath, I said, “One in particular, even if he is a stubborn ass most of the time and too much of a rule-follower to step out of line and question whether the status quo is right or wrong.”

“Okay…” Harper said, drawing out the word. “There’s a whole lot to unpack there.”

“I’m not done.” I pointed to the trailer that housed Holton Group’s on-site office. “I know what they will do to this town. What this development will do. I’ve seen it too many times in countless small towns I’ve visited. That shopping center will put the Handy Mart out of business. Not to mention the hardware store, the grocery store, the bakery, and half a dozen others. And I don’t have to have lived here for a decade to know that’s not what the residents want. Starlight Cove isn’t about chain establishments. It’s about family legacies, and allowing this chain store to be built will only ruin that.”

“You make some excellent points, but I need to—”

“Still more,” I said, holding up my hand. I took a deep breath, knowing I was about to either make the worst mistake of my life or have a happy accident because God knew I hadn’t planned a single word of this. “You should do the feature on the resort because it has beautiful cottages steps from the ocean, the best farm-to-table omelets I’ve ever had, a personal yoga instructor, and in-room massages given by the best massage therapist in Maine.”

“You are very good,” Harper said.

I sniffed. “Thank you. Now, if my protesting this development looks bad for an article about a place that’s supposed to be the ideal small-town getaway, then your article is dumb as hell, and so is the magazine you’re writing for. Starlight Cove deserves the feature. The resort deserves the feature. My doing this proves it’s the perfect town—one worth fighting for. And I’m going to fight for it. Even if that means I have to chain myself to that tree every day for the foreseeable future and continue to get arrested by the grumpy-ass sheriff.”

Harper stared at me for long moments after I’d finished speaking, eyebrows raised. “Are you…are you done? Can I speak now?”

I exhaled a deep sigh, shoulders sagging. I’d said my piece. I’d taken a stand. Now, I could only hope for the best. “Go for it.”

“Great.” She grinned. “Excellent speech. Very moving. But there’s something you’re going to want to see.”