Christina Skye - A Home by the Sea

Authors Note

Thank you for joining Grace and Noah on their journey. I hope that Summer Islands magic has touched you as it has touched me. In its fog-swept coves and quiet streets friendship runs deep, and the love of a good yarn runs even deeper.

For a detailed look at the inspiration for Jillys amazing desserts, try Dorie Greenspans Paris Sweets: Great Desserts from the Citys Best Pastry Shops. Even if you dont cook, the book will seduce you. You can almost taste the macarons and madeleines melting on your tongue. Grace would definitely approve.

To learn more about the arduous responsibilities of a bomb disposal expert, look for Bomb Squad: A Year Inside the Nations Most Exclusive Police Unit. Richard Esposito and Ted Gerstein offer an unforgettable glimpse into this small, select world.

I hope you will watch for more Summer Island books coming soon. One by one old friends will be pulled back home. And as seasons change, each one will face secrets and betrayalsalong with the healing gift of love.

With warmest wishes,

Christina

Also available from Christina Skye

Summer Island

THE KNITTING DIARIES

Code Name

CODE NAME: BIKINI

CODE NAME: BLONDIE

CODE NAME: BABY

Draycott Abbey

TO CATCH A THIEF

DRAYCOTT ETERNAL

DRAYCOTT EVERLASTING

BOUND BY DREAMS

And coming soon

THE ACCIDENTAL BRIDE

CHRISTINA SKYE

A Home By the Sea

To my wonderful editors,
Tara Parsons and Tracy Martin.
Thank you for helping me bring Summer Island to life.

And to Debbie Macomber.
Thank you for all your suggestions,
wit, kindness and generosity.

A Home By the Sea

Contents

CHAPTER ONE

N OAH M C L EOD TOOK A DEEP BREATH . Wind gusted up the street, stabbing at his face. He hunched his shoulders, facing the icy gale. The cold air was actually a relief after the horrible day hed just had.

It always took time to shrug off the work. You didnt forget, but at least you managed to move on. If bad dreams and explosions haunted your sleep, then you shrugged those off, too.

Slowly Noah flipped up the collar of his leather coat. He focused on the cold, slipping into the moment and letting the hard edge of duty and responsibility fade, repeating the rule he had learned years before.

You have to move on. If you cant leave the work behind, it will drive you over the edge and one day youll snap.

Noah had seen it happen too often. In a job where you fought mayhem and horror on a daily basis, balance was everything. He tried to remember that rule now.

After the savage day hed just finished, he was entitled to bury his work deep and forget about responsibility. Hed been fielding emergency calls every night for a month now, and emergency calls came to his department for just one reason.

Because everyone else had failed.

His department was the place you called when you could smell the bitter edge of your own fear. You called Noahs unit when you had an improvised explosive device or a nasty set of wires shoved into what could be a brick of Semtex. Noah was the man who always knew which wires to pull and when to back away.

Far, far away.

But tonight had been too close. He had nearly become a splatter on a concrete wall, thanks to a close encounter with a new device no one in D.C. had ever seen before. For thirty mind-blurring seconds he had looked death right between the eyes. Then hed remembered seeing something similar in Afghanistan seven months earlier. Once Noah had seen the interior wiring, hed made the connection. But it had been a close call.

He closed his eyes, feeling the wind pick up, rattling the windows behind him. The building where he worked was surrounded by high fences and concrete walls. For security reasons, there was no sign or business name posted. The black trucks parked outside didnt have government plates. As far as outsiders could tell, they belonged to a civilian waste-disposal company.

But the disposal Noah did was far more dangerous.

A weight dug into his shoulders as he looked up at the top window of his lab. Inside that secure room, computers were updated nightly with data about every new model of explosive device made anywhere in the world. Each morning his team pored over that data and integrated the knowledge into their disposal procedures. No detail was ignored. His team trained hard, and Noah was proud that they were the bestand that they still had their lives to prove it.

His brother hadnt been so lucky.

Frowning, Noah ran a hand through his dark hair.

You cant go back. Matt is gone. The remote car bomb that took him is a footnote in your government training manuals now, and you all learned from it. But Matt didnt have the resources you have. So hes gone.

Pack it up and move on.

It was the same conversation Noah always had about this time of night after a long, demanding shift. But how did you forget a beloved brother whose generosity and laughter had touched everyone around him? The cold sense of loss had become Noahs old friend, as familiar as his guilt. He hadnt been able to reach his brother in time to help. There had been next to nothing left of the body after the explosion.

And Noah knew he should have been the one who died in that explosion.

He blew out an angry breath. A big storm was headed in that night. According to the weather reports, there could be a foot of snow. Maybe more. Good thing he didnt have far to drive.

As he walked down the quiet street, Noah saw the brightly lit windows of the big townhouse on the opposite corner. He heard muted music and saw people moving inside, all diamonds and furs, dressed for a big night out. It felt odd and disconnected, like watching a movie.

Then Noah saw her.

She appeared within the frame of the window, calm and beautiful amid a throng of beautiful women. Her dark hair swung around her face and even at this distance Noah swore he could see the shimmer of her eyes. She stood right by the glass, and when she looked out light fell on the black dress she wore, brushing her high cheekbones and full mouth.

She wasnt beautiful, Noah thought. Her nose was a little short and her chin a little too long. No, not beautiful. Yet he couldnt look away.

Something about her touched him, made him feel as if his world was perfect and intact. Safe and stable, as if there was still decency and honor to be found if you looked for it.

He bit back a harsh laugh. His chosen work had stripped him of any such illusions. Any breath could be your last. Any friendly face could hold murderous deceit. He knew that cold truth from personal experience.

He felt something brush his neck. Snowflakes spiraled down in the dark.

He should be going.

But he couldnt pull his gaze from that big window.

She smiled at a man in a dark suit that looked hand tailored. She toyed with her necklace and then shook her head when a waiter offered more champagne. Orchids gleamed on a pedestal beside her. The chandelier winked over her head.

She outshone everything, in nothing but a plain black dress and a necklace with one simple pearl.

A little curve of hair brushed her neck. Noah wondered how it would feel sliding against his fingers. How her skin would warm at his slow touch.

Would she

He jammed his hands into his pockets, suddenly aware of the night and the snow. Was he off his head? He wasnt a man to be easily distracted. He didnt fantasize about strange women he saw through a distant window. Noah enjoyed his share of hot, uncomplicated sex, and he didnt lack for willing partners in his bed. But he made sure that any woman in his arms knew that he was offering only a few hours of pleasure and laughter.