Falling for the Guy Next Door

He’s the handsome new neighbor, a rock star and … completely off-limits.

I, Layla Lovely, youngest sister of the Fabulous Five, have officially become the ninth wheel. All of my sisters have found their soulmates, and although I’ve been dating a man named Dustin for the last few months–we aren’t a match, and I need to end things.

Aside from dating, my social life is going well. My best friend, Emily, has found her newest obsession in Nash Ledger, the singer of a popular indie band called Moonstone. When Moonstone announces a gig at a local bar, Emily convinces me to go see them live. I accidentally have an interesting run-in with Mr. Ledger, but that’s just the beginning of our story…

Back home at the cottage, a new renter has moved in next door. The new neighbor has the most wonderful dog, and when I discover the dog’s owner and our new neighbor is none other than Nash Ledger, we start a friendship. But having to keep the whole thing secret from Emily creates a snowball of lies that I can’t seem to stop. Nonna would be horrified.

In the meantime, Dustin is certain our breakup is just temporary and he becomes that guy–the one who can’t take no for an answer–and things take an upsetting turn. So, as usual, I have found myself in the middle of a good deal of chaos, only this time my heart is on the line.

I couldn’t put my finger on it. It was a feeling, a sense of satisfaction, happiness, a moment in time when everything lined up perfectly. It reminded me of the time I won the talent contest in school with a flawless baton twirling routine. My main competitor, Arnie Foreman, sneezed during his piano performance, throwing off his concentration and tempo so badly he had to give up mid-song. Nonna had winked at me as I walked out holding my trophy. She said, “Layla, my tiny treasure, the stars don’t always line up like that, but when they do, it’s always nice.”

That day, it was easy to trace my joy back to the talent contest. Today, there was no clear evidence, no ill-timed sneeze or flawless baton routine to point the way to the perfectly aligned stars. It was a lovely day on the cove—blue sky, emerald green water gently rolling in, and just enough breeze to cool our skin under the blazing summer sun. “Postcard perfect” was what my sister Ella liked to call it, but postcard perfect days were common in our little slice of the cove. The idyllic setting was one I’d found myself in many times. It wasn’t our heavenly section of beach giving me that feeling of joy. I just couldn’t put my finger on the source.

I glanced around the circle of beach chairs. We’d dragged them down to the cove for our wedding planning lunch. Isla, the second eldest of the fabulous five Lovely sisters, had recently gotten engaged to Luke Greyson, a man who’d had all of us at the word “hello.” He was handsome, rich and, most importantly, he adored our sister.

Aria, the eldest Lovely sister, had a pad of paper on her lap. She’d been writing down suggestions for wedding locations. Ella, the middle sister, had carried her laptop down to the sand and connected it to her phone’s Wi-Fi hotspot. She was the professional writer of the family, and she was rarely without her computer. She was also the expert researcher, and, as location ideas were tossed out, Ella’s fingers would fly over the keyboard to look up cost and availability. Ava, the adventurer of the group, kept suggesting exotic locations like a beach in Belize or a winter ski wedding in the Alps. Those locations were fitting for the wedding of Luke Greyson, heir to a massive old money fortune, but Isla liked things kept simple. And then there was me, Layla, the youngest. I had little to add. Not that I wasn’t thrilled about Isla’s engagement to Luke, but her marriage came with the sad reality that one of my sisters would be moving out of the tiny cottage that the four of us shared. Nonna’s storybook cottage had been our home and the cove below had been our backyard for years. After the profound heartbreak of losing our mom to illness, our busy dad shipped us off to live with our grandmother. Nonna welcomed us with open arms. Growing up in her tiny, creaky and drafty cottage was nothing short of magical.

I’d had the least amount of time with our mom, but I remembered her holding my hand while I sounded out the words in my books, and she always brushed my hair, reminding me only a few people in the world were blessed with copper-colored hair. (Of course, I’d found that hard to believe because Aria had the same copper hair.) Still, she always made me feel special, and I remembered feeling an ache through my whole body after Dad told us she was gone forever. I was young enough to still wonder if forever was a long time. Now I knew, and yes, forever was a really long time.

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but this wedding stuff has made me hungry.” Isla leaned over the cooler we’d carried down. “Let’s see, cheese and ham, no mayo for Ava.” Isla had placed a sticky note on each sandwich wrapper to make sure we got the right one. “Ella, extra mustard.” Isla winked as she handed the sandwich over to Ella. “Extra cheddar for the big sis of the group.” Isla handed the sandwich to Aria. “And here’s mine.” She sat back with a slight grin, knowing full well I didn’t have a sandwich yet. We were all grownups, but my four sisters still loved to tease me. “Oh, that’s right.” She leaned into the cooler and pulled out my sandwich. “Cheese only for my baby sister.”

Everyone laughed, as if it had been a real “gotcha” moment. And as they laughed, it hit me—the reason I felt so completely happy this afternoon. I could finally put my finger on it. In the past few years, every one of my sisters had found their soulmate. Isla, of course, had dreamy Luke. Aria had found Dex, a man who’d come with some baggage, some family strife and a heart that was nearly as massive as his build. Ella had stumbled unexpectedly on the man of her dreams while pursuing a story about a cursed house, and recently, even Ava, the one sister I’d counted on to stay single and unattached with me, had discovered true love with a man who she’d considered an enemy until they realized they were madly in love with each other. For months our gatherings had included at least one or more of their respective soulmates, but today, it was just us, Nonna’s fabulous five.

Ella caught me grinning into my bottle of iced tea. “What’s going on with you, smiley?”

I shrugged. “Nothing. This is nice.”

Aria looked out at the water. “It is. The weather is great today.”

“No, not that,” I said. “I mean, the weather is nice.” I realized I’d started something that would have been better kept to myself. But that wasn’t really my style, as all of my sisters could attest. “It’s just nice to be here, all of us. Just us,” I added.

Isla, who was always the most intuitive, caught on first. She smiled. “You’re right, Layla. It is nice—just us for a change.”

Heads nodded in agreement.

Now that we had sandwiches free from their wrappers, a group of gulls moved in with curious orange beaks and black beady eyes. We watched them as they watched us.

“Look, Layla, isn’t that Peggy?” Ava asked. “There, at the end of the group.”

A gull with a black streak on her beak was standing in the group. She wore an orange band around her leg. Peggy was one of the gulls the wildlife rescue used to keep track of the flock. “Yep, there she is. Haven’t seen you in a while, Peggy.” I’d named the gull Peggy after a girl in middle school. One day, I’d removed my friendship bracelets to wash my hands in art class, and when I went to put them back on, my orange one was gone. As we left class I spotted it on Peggy’s wrist. When I confronted her about it, she told me it belonged to her.

“I wonder what ever happened to Peggy,” Ella said.

Aria lifted a brow. “Uh, she’s right there, staring at your sandwich.”

“No, I meant the bracelet thief, Peggy,” Ella said.

“How long do they live?” Isla asked.

We all looked at her in confusion.

She laughed. “I guess that wasn’t the smoothest transition. I meant the gulls. Seems like we’ve been seeing Peggy out here every summer for years.”

We all looked at Ava for the answer because she was the flora and fauna expert. “I think if they avoid all the usual pitfalls of being a gull out on the water, they can live about fifteen years. Peggy’s getting up there in bird years.”

I raised my bottle of tea. It caused the birds to shift around in anticipation that something might be thrown their way. “Oh, relax, guys, and raise your little beaks in toast. To another fifteen years, Peggy.”

My sisters lifted their drinks and joined in the toast.

We returned to our lunch.

“Audrey leased her cottage to a long-term renter,” Ella said as we each reached toward a bag of grapes that Isla held up. We all glanced instinctively up the hill to the small cottage at the top. Beach peas covered the hillside with papery blossoms that ranged from lavender to royal purple. The vines grew all the way up to the patio at the back of the house. Audrey was our neighbor growing up, but she no longer lived in the cottage. She decided to keep the place as a beach rental, which was a great relief to all of us.
Developers were constantly trying to get their hands on Audrey’s and Nonna’s cottages because they were built on what was considered prime real estate. The views from our cottages were the finest on the cove, and both houses had a short trip downhill to what was, without a doubt, the finest strip of beach for miles.

“She doesn’t usually rent long-term,” Aria said. She was already wearing her oldest sister stern brow, newly concerned about the renter. “Who are they?”

Ella rolled her eyes. “How would I know? Audrey said the person was working somewhere nearby and needed the place through October. She said it made her life much easier to just have one person in the house for several months.”

“That makes sense,” Ava said. “I thought I saw a truck parked in the driveway yesterday, but I haven’t seen anyone yet.”

“Me neither, and if there is someone there, they’re quiet.” Ella worked from home, so she’d be the first to know if someone had moved in next door.

My phone vibrated in my beach bag. I reached in and pulled it out. Seeing Dustin’s name on the screen made me sigh … and not in the dreamy way Isla sighed whenever Luke’s name popped up on her screen.

“Want to get an ice cream later? I’m off early.”

“I’m with my sisters right now, but I can meet you at the ice cream shop after three.”

“Sounds good.”

I dropped the phone back in the bag.

“Was that Dustin?” Aria asked.

“How’d you know?” I asked.

“Because you wear that same look on your face whenever it’s him. And it’s not a look of admiration or longing.” Aria had taken on the role of guardian when our dear Nonna passed away just as I graduated high school. She made it her job to keep up on all our social lives, especially mine. I was almost thirty, but it seemed I’d never be old enough to lose the baby sister title.

“I thought you were going to break up with him,” Ella said.

I stretched my legs out and dug my feet into the warm sand. “I can’t break up with him.”

All faces turned toward me with puzzled brows.

I dug my feet even deeper to reach the cooler sand beneath the surface. “Look, I am now the third wheel whenever I’m with any of you, which, I guess, makes me the ninth wheel when we’re all together. That’s why this has been so nice, just us gals. I’m not going to show up to Isla’s wedding without a date.”

“But Luke and I aren’t getting married until next year. And if we can’t find a wedding venue, we might just elope and leave the whole wedding idea behind. I’m not entirely opposed to that.”

Aria and Ella turned to Isla with expressions that assured her elopement was not on the table. Ava, on the other hand, nodded along with Isla’s notion of eloping. I was on Aria and Ella’s side, but it would make life much easier on me if I didn’t have to worry about having a date to the wedding. Dustin and I had been dating for three months, and I’d been wanting to break it off for the last month. I’d discovered fairly quickly that he wasn’t my type. He rarely laughed and didn’t take teasing or joking well. He took himself far too seriously. On the other hand, he had no problem laughing if I tripped or spilled a drink or did something embarrassing.

Isla decided to get the attention off her. “Layla, don’t keep dating him just because of the wedding. That’s silly. Don’t string him along, or it’ll be harder to end things.”

Ella picked up the bag of grapes. “Yeah, really, Layla, that’s just silly.”

I crossed my arms and rested back.

“It’s not silly, guys,” Ava came quickly to my defense. “Layla, we’ll all be together for the wedding, and you’re not a ninth wheel. You’re a Lovely sister, and the men in our lives can never break that bond between us. Isla’s right. It’ll only be harder to break it off if you let it go on too long. It’s not fair to Dustin.”

I shrugged. “I’m seeing him later. I’ll let him know it’s not working out.” I rested my head back.

“Well, I hate to end this fun lunch break, but I’ve got to head back to the café and finish prep for tomorrow,” Aria said.

“Yep, I need to get to the bakery for some prep work, too,” Isla said.

I lifted my head. “I thought we’d at least have time for a swim.” I looked at Ella and Ava.

Ella shrugged. “I’ve got work waiting.”

Ava was avoiding eye contact. It was summer, so I knew she didn’t have to get back to the college because classes ended weeks ago.

“You’ve got plans with Jack, don’t you?” I asked.

She crinkled her face in an apologetic smile. “We’re driving along the coast and going out to dinner.”

Isla sat forward suddenly. “Hey, guys, I just had an idea.”

We all looked at her.

“Here, right here on the cove,” she declared.

A few looks of confusion crossed the half-circle. “My wedding. We could get married right here on the cove, my favorite place in the world. Our favorite place in the world. We’ll keep it small, just close friends and family.”

Aria laughed. “Uh, did you forget about your future mother-in-law, Cruella de Vil on steroids? Do you think she’s going to go along with a small, intimate wedding on the cove?”

“Who cares what she thinks?” Ava asked.

But Isla was already rethinking her idea. Some of the enthusiasm washed out of her expression. “You’re right. She’ll put up a big stink.”

Ava sat forward. “You’re the bride, right? See what Luke thinks before you cross the cove off your list. I personally think it’s a brilliant idea.”

“It’ll be the closest thing to having Nonna at the wedding,” I added.

Isla’s smile was back. “You’re right, Layla. It would be like having her nearby. I’ll talk to Luke about it later.”

Aria and Isla were the first to get up. Chairs were folded and Ella and Isla grabbed the handles on the cooler for the hike up the hill. I stayed seated and pulled out my phone.

Ava folded her chair. “Aren’t you coming up?”

“Nope, unlike the rest of you, I don’t have any commitments right now, so I’m going to stay and work on my tan.” I pulled my straw hat out from my bag and pushed it on my head.

My phone rang as I rested back. I hoped it was Dustin cancelling our ice cream date. My sisters were right. I needed to break it off with him. I figured three months of dating deserved an in-person breakup. I could do it over a cone of rocky road. The ice cream might soften the blow.

I pulled out the phone. It was my best friend, Emily. We’d been best friends since fifth grade. Back then, Emily and her parents were new in town, and Emily had made the unfortunate decision to wear a red pair of shorts with a yellow T-shirt on her first day of school. The other kids started calling her “ketchup and mustard,” and she ended up alone and in tears at recess. I felt bad for her and walked over to talk to her. She was funny and smart, and we became instant friends.

“Hey, Em, what’s up?”

“What’s up? ‘What’s up,’ she asks,” Emily said as if talking to a group of people about the phone call.

“Uh, yeah, seemed like a reasonable way to answer the call.” Ella had left behind the bag of grapes, so I helped myself to one while I waited for Emily to tell me the apparently big news she was bursting to share.

“I’ll tell you what’s up, bestie. You know that band, Moonstone, that I love?”

“You mean the one that you talk about incessantly because you are obsessed with the lead singer? Yep, I remember. It’d be hard to forget since you send me a constant stream of Moonstone social media.”

She scoffed. “You exaggerate.”

“Actually, I might even be understating the whole thing. What about them? Don’t tell me. You reached out to the singer, and the two of you are going to elope to Hawaii this weekend because he realized he just couldn’t live without you.”

“Well, that’s almost verbatim the way my daydream went this morning, but since you’re being so flippant about it—” She pretended as if she wasn’t going to tell me, but I knew better.

“Sorry, flippant mode turned off. What’s going on with Moonstone and their dreamy, hunky singer?”

“They’re going to be playing at the Comstock Bar tonight over in Fairview. We’ve got to go see them in person. I’m planning to make myself quite visible to the singer. Who knows? Maybe a Hawaiian elopement isn’t that far in the future.” It was what I loved most about Emily. She always dreamed big. Although this wasn’t all that big. Emily was pretty and funny, and while it seemed the lead singer of the band had an impressive following, mostly starry-eyed groupies like Emily, it wasn’t as if he was a superstar. “So, you’ll go with me, right? I don’t want to go alone. Please.”

“All right. I could probably use a margarita or something tonight. I’m going to break up with Dustin this afternoon.”

“It’s about time. It was so obvious that you two weren’t a match.”

“Yeah, I guess I’m still holding out hope for a fairy-tale ending like my sisters all managed. Just don’t think it’s in the cards for me.”

“Well, the bass guitarist is kind of cute, although I think he is supposed to be temperamental. He once smashed a guitar on stage.”

“I think they all do that. Anyway, that’s all right, Emi. I’m going on a man hiatus after I break up with Dustin. It’s been one disappointment after another, and my sisters’ boyfriends have all set the bar very high.”

“Ugh, here comes the boss,” Emily lowered her voice. “I’ll pick you up at eight, and expect several fashion photos before then. My outfit has to be perfect. I need to catch his attention while he’s up on stage.”

“Maybe a dress with neon lights that say ‘I love you,’” I suggested.

“Funny friend. See you later.” She hung up quickly, which meant her boss, Lucille, or dragon lady, as Emily liked to call her, had returned to the shop. Emily worked in a dress boutique in Fairview. The boss was always angry and yelling, but Emily refused to quit because she got a twenty percent discount on clothes, and she also got to grab the newest styles as they came in the door.

I dropped my phone in the bag, rested back and closed my eyes. I was about to drift off when something cold and wet touched my arm. I sat up and found myself staring into the big brown eyes of a shaggy dog. His beard was covered in wet sand, and he seemed to be smiling at me.

I pet the top of his head. “Well, hello, sweetie. You must be my new neighbor.”