Free The Summer Cottage by Lily Everett

We wouldn’t miss it,” Jessica assured her, stepping sideways to tread
     on Logan’s toes in an obvious effort to make him contribute to the conversation.
    But Logan was at a loss. This wasn’t Dylan’s first engagement. His previous fiancée
     had been working an angle, looking for a soft landing with a rich husband—or a heavy
     payoff for leaving him alone, which was the route their eldest brother had taken to
     get rid of her.
    Logan knew he was the last person on the planet that Dylan would—or should—take romantic
     advice from, but he couldn’t help being concerned.
    “You’ve known each other for three weeks,” he pointed out abruptly, killing the conversation
     around him.
    Dylan’s face went hard, his eyes glittering with emotion. “Don’t start. I already
     heard it from Miles. Yes, it’s fast—but when it’s right, you know it.”
    “So Miles is aware. Good.” Logan seized on the pertinent information and ignored the
     rest, including the small pang at the knowledge that he was the last to hear about
     the engagement. So much for Jessica’s theory that Dylan was reaching out to him.
    “Yeah, I called him this afternoon.” The downward curve of Dylan’s mouth revealed
     that it had not been a happy conversation. Logan could only imagine Miles’s reaction
     to the news that his reckless, directionless youngest brother was marrying a single
     mom who worked two jobs and lived on a tiny, backwater island off the coast of Virginia.
     “I’m starting to regret telling either of you. Damn it, Logan…”
    Penny moved to Dylan’s side and slid an arm around his waist, presenting them as a
     united front. She faced him with head held high, her eyes clear and body language
     open when she said, “I understand your concerns. I truly do. The world you live in—you
     have to be constantly on guard against people taking advantage, or wanting more from
     you than you’re willing to give. But that’s not my world. I love your brother, and
     he loves me. We want to make a life together, here on Sanctuary Island. We think we
     can make each other happy. That’s my ulterior motive here. My happiness, Dylan’s happiness
     and my son’s happiness.”
    A small flame of respect kindled in Logan’s chest at the proud, direct way Penny spoke.
     Her matter-of-fact words about love and happiness tugged at his heart in a way he
     didn’t like. Unsure how to react, Logan looked to Jessica.
    She gave him an encouraging smile, tilting her head as if to say, Go ahead.
    Uncomfortable, Logan shrugged and shoved his hands in the pockets of his trousers.
     “Do what you’re going to do. You hardly need my approval or my blessing.”
    “We don’t need it,” Dylan agreed, curling his arm around Penny’s slender shoulders.
     “We’re getting married, building a life and being happy, just as Penny said, whether
     you and Miles like it or not. But I guess I hoped you’d see that, for once, I know
     what I’m doing.”
    “Are you sure?” With Dylan’s track record, Logan had to ask.
    A slow smile spread across Dylan’s face as he stared down into the upturned eyes of
     his fiancée. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life. Marriage is a big
     step, a real commitment … but I spent years wandering around, not even knowing I was
     searching for something until I found it. Until I found her, and Matt, and Sanctuary
     Island. This might seem too fast to you—but for me? I’ve waited long enough. I’m ready
     for my life to finally begin.”

Chapter 9
    Jessica was a pace behind Logan all the way back to the cottage, his long legs and
     quick, restless strides eating up the path.
    The rest of the evening with Dylan and Penny had been … well, “disaster” was probably
     too strong a word, but not by much. Logan had shut down completely after Dylan’s heartfelt
     speech. He sat there at the table with an untouched piece of pie in front of him,
     mouth a thin, hard line and his eyes dark