Free Seaside Secrets by Melissa Foster

Jenna and Bella followed, each carrying a deck chair. Leanna was on her way up from the pool, walking Pepper along the side of the road. Within seconds of Amy reaching her driveway, Jenna, Leanna, and Bella were there to greet her.
    “We’ve been wondering when you’d get here.” Bella took the grocery bag from Amy’s arms while Amy grabbed her beach bag and towel from the trunk.
    “I told you I was going to Duck Harbor to chill.” Amy willed herself not to turn around and look at Tony. She hurried up the steps to her cottage with the girls following behind her.
    “Have you talked to Tony?” Jenna asked as they walked inside.
    “No, why?” Did he say something? As quickly as the thought formed, she pushed it away.
    “Just wondering.” Jenna emptied Amy’s groceries while Amy went to hang her beach towel over the railing of her deck. Okay, so maybe it was an excuse to get a glimpse of Tony. She was only human. He lived in his board shorts, and sweet mother of hot and sexy, did he fill them out nicely. Tonight he was wearing a gray tank top, giving Amy a lovely view of his bulging biceps and his sculpted lats.
    Had he thought about her at all today? Or was she alone in her agony?
    “Hey, honey.” Leanna joined her on the deck. “You okay? Jenna wanted to know if that chicken was for tonight.”
    Amy shook her head to clear the lust from her brain. “Yeah, I’m good.”
    “Is this going to be too awkward? We can eat here if you want. Let the guys eat together over there.”
    “No, Lea, it’s okay. I want to talk to Tony and clear the air.” She stole one more glance at him just as he looked over his shoulder. Their eyes connected, and for a brief second Amy’s mind tried to go down the maybe tonight trail again...And then she remembered. There was never going to be a tonight in that sense for them.
    She held his gaze, unable to look away. She knew Tony well enough to read the clench of his jaw. Worry . The widening of his eyes. You want to tell me something. And then he lifted his chin, his lips quirked up in a semi-smile, and he raised his hand and waved, confusing and elating her all at once.
    “Aren’t you going to wave?” Leanna whispered.
    Amy felt herself swallowing past the thickening in her throat. She told her arm to move, but it didn’t budge. Her body had betrayed her enough times by now that she was getting used to it. She forced a shaky, nervous, are we okay smile that earned her a furrowed brow and a nod from Tony.
    She breathed a little easier. Maybe she could survive the summer with their friendship intact. It might not be what she’d hoped for, but it was better than nothing.
    Amy went back inside with Leanna. “I need to shower. Can you guys take the chicken over for me?” She went into her bedroom to grab clean clothes and called out to them, “Don’t forget the teriyaki sauce. The one Tony likes is on the door of the fridge.” She clutched her clothes to her chest. “Fudgenuggets.”
    Bella stuck her head in the bedroom. “Fudgenuggets?”
    Amy rolled her eyes. “I need to stop thinking about him.”
    Bella handed her a glass of wine. “Here. This will help.”
    Amy sucked the wine down in one gulp. “I think I’m gonna need the whole bottle.”
     
    BY TEN O’CLOCK Kurt and Leanna had already called it a night. Tony sat on the bench beside Amy in their usual spot, only he didn’t put his arm around her. He wanted to, ached to, had to fight the urge not to, but she’d been acting distant all evening, and he didn’t want to cause any more of a fissure between them by overstepping his own very clearly defined boundaries.
    “We’re going into Chatham tomorrow.” Bella snuggled in closer to Caden, and it magnified the emptiness beneath Tony’s arm—the spot where Amy should have been. “Anyone want to join us?”
    Jenna rested her head on Peter’s shoulder. “Pete? We could go to the Chatham Pier Fish Market and pick up lobsters for dinner.”
    “Whatever you