Sunset Rivalry: The Caliendo Resort (By The Lake: The Caliendo Resort Book 2) (26 page)

“I almost killed you.”

“Don’t blame yourself child. I almost killed myself long before you came to rescue me.” Nicolette leaned back. “I’m on the wrong side of this hospital. I watch the sun rise but never get to see the beautiful colors as it sets over the lake. Will you do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“I’m leaving this afternoon and won’t likely ever see another Willow Valley sunset.” Nicolette looked at her. “Watch the sun set tonight. From the beach. Dip your toes in the sand and be thankful that even if your family isn’t everything you think it should be that they are yours.”

That wasn’t a favor Anya was expecting. “Okay.”

“Promise me.”

“I promise.”

What was one more sunset at the Caliendo resort? Then Anya was leaving and this time it was to get away from Quinn and give him the opportunity to have a real life.

LATER THAT NIGHT after Anya packed her car, she made her way through the woods behind her house. She would say her goodbyes when she returned from watching the sun set over the lake.

The tension had been thick between her and her family for the last few days. They were afraid to talk to her and she didn't blame them after her episode. But she wasn’t leaving the resort forever. After her house along the shoreline was emptied out and her employees paid, Anya would return home. In the deepest part of her heart, she knew this was where she belonged.

Her mother had loosely thrown around the idea of Anya considering working part-time at The Locket when she returned. Anya couldn’t wait. She’d freed Nicolette and now Anya had her own life back. And a future to do whatever she wanted.

She wanted to do it all with Quinn. Maybe one day she would...she could hope. Hoping, dreaming and wishing for him was selfish, but maybe one day the rift between the Barkers and the Caliendos would resolve...maybe. She wasn’t holding her breath.

Right now, Quinn needed to focus on his family and skip the drama around here. Upon Anya’s return, she intended on working with her family and helping them with Robert’s files, rather than running away like she’d planned. All-in-all, she had to face that. Although Nicolette’s file hadn’t worked out to Anya’s advantage−she’d lost the man she loved−it had benefited Nicolette’s future. That was something to be proud of. The closure Nicolette took away with her was worth the work and pain it took to get here.

Possibly every file would start with pain, but as long as the big picture helped the names they found, that was all that mattered.

Anya walked the familiar trail with the sense that someone was watching her...following her.

Quinn?

She shook the thoughts and hope away, along with the exhilaration that he may have stayed behind brought her. It was selfish to wish for him all to herself. Quinn was miles away now, reunited with his mother and celebrating Rhiannon’s birth. There was nothing left for him in Willow Valley.

The sun was just setting over the lake, casting extraordinary array of pinks, purples and oranges across the horizon.

Anya stepped out of the brush, stopping right before the sand and doing what Rebecca had asked, watching the sun set.

A flicker caught her attention and she turned her head to find a blazing beach fire in the distance.

Her heart jumped. Was it Quinn?

Walk away Anya.

She slipped out of her shoes and walked the twenty feet across the cool sand. Once, every so often, a tourist traveled this way and started a fire in the sand, but the nearer she closed in the distance, she found no one. Anya checked the lake for a couple maybe taking a dip...maybe skinny-dipping, but the water was calm and empty.

When Anya stopped in front of the fire, it was a typical romantic atmosphere. One of the blankets from the resort lay beside the roaring fire. A resort blanket.
It’s a tourist
.

Her anxious heart sank. She turned to leave and decided that was the last time she would envision Quinn here. The sight of something dug into the sand beside the blanket pulled her in that direction instead.

Was it? Could it be?

Anxiety flowed through her body and Anya looked over the beach again only to find herself alone.

Slowly, while trying to calm her wayward nerves, she walked around the blanket and lifted the pop bottle out of the sand.

Pop.

Tears clouded the vision of the bottle. It
was
Quinn.

“Going somewhere?” His voice came up from behind her. Her body wanted him immediately, but her brain fought her.
He needs his family.

Quinn’s shadow unhurriedly emerged from the brush as if he had all the time in the world. The closer he got, the less her brain’s argument seemed relevant.

He was supposed to be in Oakston starting a new life and leaving behind the crazy that was her and her family.

His head angled his hungry eyes on hers making her toes squirm in the sand. He was so damn sexy. As he walked, his bare feet peeked beneath the hem of the denim pants that she knew hung low under his t-shirt and made every woman who saw the way the denim grabbed his rear end drool.

“I saw you packing your car.” He stopped on the other side of the fire. The flames flickered a sinister craving in his eyes, stealing the sadness she placed on herself, making her want him even more. How was that possible?

Anya wiped the single tear that fell from her cheek. He came back for her, through her past and his, disregarding everything that pulled them apart.

“That’s called stalking,” she managed. “Creepy, lurking, stalking.”

He grinned.

Her stomach plummeted.

“It’s my job.”

“I thought you were on the path to redemption.”

His grin widened.

“Whichever path...” His slow, intentional steps started again, around the fire and toward her. “Whichever road...” The closer he got, the hotter she grew. “That I take...is going to have you at my side.”

Quinn stopped in front of her, touching the side of her face. “Why do you insist on running away from me?”

She leaned into his touch and sighed. “You know why.”

“No more, Anya. I can stand here and threaten that if you leave I will follow and never give up, but I don’t want that. I want you to choose to stay here. Stay with me.”

Her eyes fell shut and he lifted her chin and waited until she opened them again. “Thank you for sorting out a deal for my mother.”

“It’s the least I can do.”

“You didn’t have to do it at all. If only you saw yourself through my eyes, through everyone’s eyes. You aren’t the tainted woman you think you are. Every opportunity you get to do something good for someone you take it, regardless of how it affects you. Anya, that’s bravery, selflessness.”

Quinn lightly grazed her lips then stepped away.

“I love you. All of you, including the past that makes you the strong woman you are. But the decision is yours. Stay with me where you belong and let’s live the rest of our lives making decisions together. Or walk away.” He motioned toward the brush where her packed car was waiting for her.

The decision wasn’t hard.

Anya rushed into Quinn’s embrace and his waiting kiss.

When she pulled away, he was grinning at her.

“What?” she asked.

“That was
way
easier than I thought it was going to be. Was this all a little trick to make me have to work for you?”

Anya smiled at him. “No. I wanted to give you space. To decide if what you really wanted was me.”

“It always has been you. And I would have chased you around the world and lurked in all the woods to make sure you were okay.”

Anya laughed and shrugged. “I would be okay with that. And since we are being honest, I think your brother sees me a little differently than everyone else.”

“He’s the exception, but I plan on changing his view. I don’t think it will be that hard.” Quinn kissed her. “Are you finished running away from me?”

She nodded. “I’m a little bit thirsty.”

Quinn laughed, his strong deep laugh and his hands moved behind his neck where Anya held the pop bottle. “We can fix that,” he said.

“I’m thirsty for you,” she whispered in his ear.

In a quick motion that had her laughing, he lifted her into his arms and carried her to the blanket. He laid her down and settled beside her, taking her mouth in his.

“Well, sweetheart, you won’t go thirsty for the rest of your life,” he said.

That sounded like the best news this year.

“Trust us,” Quinn shouted at Dave.

Dave skeptically looked around at his family and Anya’s, all gathered around the horseshoe pit.

“You are all witnesses,” Dave said. “I mean you all know that Quinn and I have had our moments this year and that he still might be carrying a grudge toward me.”

Quinn chuckled with everyone else then said, “Stop chickening out and step on down.”

Dave grumbled, checking the height of his rolled pants before sticking one foot into the mud pool.

He inhaled deeply. “I think this was an unfair set up,” he grumbled. “There was no warning that Anya was a pro-horseshoe champion.”

“Why do you think we let you team up against her?” Izzy said. “She’s brutally fearless.”

Dave stepped his other foot in and, before he had another chance to object, Quinn tossed the first horseshoe and was quickly followed by the next.

He turned to Anya. “Maybe we should go up against each other and show them that I can whoop you.”

Anya laughed. “Darlin’ I let you win those two times,” she said, giving him a little drawl.

“Oh you!” He scooped her up and twirled her around, enjoying the laughter that followed. “You’re full of it.”

He stopped, holding her in his arms. She looked down at him. “That sounds like a challenge,” she said.

He kissed her. “I would rather be on your team than be your adversary.”

She shrugged. “Sometimes a good rivalry brings out the hottest sex.”

Quinn groaned. “In that case...” He set her down and turned to the family. “I’m playing against Anya to claim the championship,” he announced.

Anya stepped beside him and whispered, “Good luck. You’re going to need it.” She ran her hand over his ass then pinched it before walking away.

She was the best damn distraction he’d ever laid eyes on and she was his, forever.

THE END

Sunset Sail

The Caliendo Resort

Book Three, Emma Caliendo

By The Lake Series

Shannyn Leah

Collect them all!

By The Lake Series

The McAdams Sisters:

Lakeshore Secrets (Book One)

Lakeshore Legend (Book Two)

Lakeshore Love (Book Three)

Lakeshore Candy (Book Four)

Lakeshore Lyrics (Book Five)

The Caliendo Series:

Sunset Thunder (Book One)

Sunset Rivalry (Book Two)

Sunset Sail (Book Three)

Sunset Slopes (Book Four)

Sunset Shelter (Book Five)

Shannyn Leah lives in London, Ontario, Canada. She comes from an entrepreneurial family, who all have a passion for developing new and exciting business ideas.  When she’s not writing contemporary romance books, into the early hours of the morning, she’s antiquing with her two favorite people, her momma and her sister.

Shannyn has published four books in her series, Love By the Lake, including, Lakeshore Secrets, Lakeshore Legend, Lakeshore Love and Lakeshore Candy. She is currently working on book five, Lakeshore Lyrics and has a new series ready for 2016.

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