Defiant Heart (Starlight Cove Book 1)

I STOOD off to the side while Luna delivered her impassioned speech, my heart splitting right in two, cracking further with each word out of her mouth. While she’d probably intended to speak to just Harper, she’d gathered quite a crowd as she’d spoken, my family and me included. Aiden, Beck, Ford, and Addison had shown up right as Luna had gotten on a roll. Levi was even here, propped on a tree a few feet away. And now they stood silently behind me, and I had no idea where their heads were.

Hell, I didn’t know where my head was.

I’d lived my life as one of order and control, shouldering responsibility like it was my mission. I’d taken on the responsibility of this town, of the resort, of my family, without thought or concern for anything else.

And then Luna had swept in and opened my eyes to something else entirely. She’d made me see. She’d made me see.

It didn’t have to be all-or-nothing, black-or-white. She was every color of the rainbow and unapologetic about it. It was what had drawn me to her in the first place—what I thought I’d hated had come to be what I loved most about her.

And fuck. Yeah. I loved her. More than I thought possible, more than I could’ve ever hoped. There was no denying that anymore. She was settled so deep into my heart, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to push her out. Didn’t think I’d ever want to. I loved her sparkle and shine, her sass and her smart mouth. I loved how she goaded me, how she pushed me and challenged me. I loved how she listened, how she cared so deeply—for everything and everyone.

And yet, I’d doubted her. Accused her of something I’d known in my heart she’d never do.

But worse than all of that, I’d asked her to become something she wasn’t. I’d done the very thing she’d told me people had been trying to do to her her whole life—I’d wanted her watered-down.

While she may have gone through life on the whims of a breeze, her principles were deeply rooted and unshakable. She didn’t care how difficult it made things, and she refused to make herself smaller for anyone. The other night, she’d told me no one had stuck around, no one had taken her as is because she was too much. And I’d asked the same goddamn thing of her. Demanded it of her.

“Jesus, what the fuck did I do?” I mumbled, rubbing a hand over my tight chest.

Not just what did I do, but how did I fix it?

I needed to fix it because every word she’d said had rung true. Even I could admit that. If a national chain set up shop in Starlight Cove, all the mom-and-pop stores would feel the hit—there was no denying that. Just like my family had when those investors had come and flipped the properties along the beach, taking our meager income with them.

Fuck, I’d been an idiot not to just hear her out in the first place. I’d been too in my head, too focused on what I thought was right instead of what felt right.

“Sheriff, what are your thoughts on this?” Mabel asked, pulling my gaze away from Luna. She held a phone in front of my face, her brows raised. “You’re not in uniform, but do you have your cuffs on you to start doling out arrests? You’ll need an awful lot, considering the size of this crowd.”

“I’m not going to arrest anyone,” I said, searching the crowd for Luna, just so I had eyes on her. “I wish you’d stop stirring up shit just because you can.”

“You’re no fun.” She pursed her lips. “You want to get people to the resort, right? Maybe an interview is how to do it. Did you ever think of that? Or maybe Starlight Cove’s perpetual bachelor should take off his shirt and give the viewers a show.”

“Mabel, I’m not—”

She sniffed. “I was talking about Ford.”

At my brother’s chuckle, I dug the heels of my palms into my eyes, a frustrated groan leaving me. “Mabel, I’ve turned a blind eye to George’s and your late-night beach activities, but I won’t be as accommodating in the future if you don’t leave me alone.”

Mabel’s eyes went wide, and she breathed out a nervous laugh. “Point taken, Sheriff. I’ll just see if—”

And then she was gone and off to harass some other poor, unsuspecting residents.

I turned my back on the crowd and spun to face my siblings. All of them were watching me, looking for answers. Even Levi, whose sunglasses shielded his eyes, was looking to me to lead along with the rest of them—because that was how it’d been since Mom had died. Since Dad had checked out. And I’d done it without question or hesitancy. For ten years, I’d been doing what I thought was right. But sometimes right wasn’t black-or-white, and sometimes leading meant making the hard decisions. Sometimes you had to follow your heart instead of your head.

“This isn’t what she would’ve wanted,” I said quietly, Luna’s words ringing in my ears and firming my resolve. “Mom, I mean. She would’ve hated this. Yes, the resort is her family’s legacy—our family’s legacy—and she loved it with everything she had. But she wouldn’t have wanted the resort to succeed if it was at the expense of the town. Can you honestly say that’s what you’d want?”

I clenched my jaw as I stared at them, none of them giving anything away. “That’s exactly what will happen if we keep sitting by and doing nothing about this development. Worse, if we encourage it like we have been.

“You can’t tell me this feels right. It hasn’t. Not since day one when Holton Group first showed up and started touting all the benefits of this mega-center. I just thought that niggle in the back of my head was because of what those house flippers did to us, but it was more than that. It’s not a good fit for the town. You heard what Luna said. What we’d be looking at in a few years’ time. A totally different Starlight Cove. Is all of that worth it just so the resort succeeds?”

I glanced back at the growing crowd, at the beautiful, lush property we stood on, and shook my head. “Not to mention, did you know this particular piece of land has, like, forty different species of mammals and birds, too many plants to count, and removes over fifty tons of carbon dioxide each year?”

Beck’s brows flew up. “Did you memorize all that for this speech?”

“Luna told me.” Jesus, just the sound of her name on my lips had my chest aching. I needed to find her. Needed to get to her and tell her I fucked up. Beg her for forgiveness and promise I’d never ask her to be something she wasn’t again, if only she’d give me another chance.

I ran a hand through my hair and glanced to each of my siblings in turn. “I know this goes against the plan, and it isn’t what we were hoping for, but we can find another way. One that doesn’t force us to choose between the town and the resort.” I reached up and rubbed a hand over my heart, trying to ease the ache to no avail. “One that doesn’t force me to choose between my family and the woman I never saw coming. One that doesn’t feel like I’ve ripped a goddamn hole in my chest. I know you don’t agree with Luna, but she’s right.” I dropped my arm and held my hands out, palms up. “Even if she weren’t, I’d choose her. I have to choose her. She’s it for me.”

My siblings were quiet for long moments, their expressions giving nothing away except that all five of them were staring at me like I’d grown a third head.

Finally breaking the silence, Levi said, “Holy shit, I’ve never heard him say that much at once in my whole life.”

“It’s Luna,” Beck answered with a nod. “She makes him chatty.”

“She makes him something, all right.” Ford clapped a hand on my shoulder and winked. “Getting laid regularly suits you.”

“All right, that’s enough of that.” Addison crossed her arms and fixed each of us with a glare. “I could go my whole life without knowing any detail at all about my brothers’ sex lives and be perfectly content. Thrilled, even. So, let’s work on that, huh?”

Ford opened his mouth, probably to torment our baby sister, but Aiden slapped a hand on his chest, holding him back.

He met my eyes, his head cocked to the side as he studied me. “You love her.”

Even though he didn’t ask it like a question, I still answered anyway. “More than anything.”

I held my breath as they regarded me, knowing I’d done the right thing and hoping they’d see it that way. Hoping I didn’t have to choose between them. I didn’t want to, but I would. It’d be the single most selfish thing I’d ever done in my life, but I’d do it in a heartbeat.

Finally, Ford cracked a smile. “Well then, it’s a good thing we all agree with what she said, or this could’ve been really awkward.”

My breath left me in a whoosh, relief rushing over me, though it was short-lived because I hadn’t done the hard part yet. I still had to find Luna and get on my knees for her. My family may’ve been tough nuts to crack, but I hadn’t walked away from them without hearing them out. Hadn’t asked them to be someone they weren’t simply because it fit the narrative.

“Told you that whole opposites attract thing was real,” Beck said, looking smug as hell. “You walking over and saying sorry isn’t much of a grand gesture, but maybe someone caught what you said on video.”

“You’re a dick, you know that?” And what the hell did he want me to do anyway? Serenade her while the entire town watched? I didn’t have time for that. I needed to do this now, which meant I could only hope that ripping open my chest and showing her my heart would be enough.

Because I needed to find Luna immediately and because I didn’t have time for his shit, I threw Beck under the bus. “Why don’t you tell everyone else about the romance you’re reading this week?”

I slipped away to Ford’s, “Like…a dirty one? ’Cause I’d be into that,” and didn’t look back as I pushed my way through the crowd of people, searching for the only person I needed to see. The only person who could ease this ache in my chest, if only I could prove to her I loved her, just as she was. Not as some diluted version of herself, but as the colorful, vivacious, bright-as-the-sun pain in my ass I couldn’t get enough of.