Chapter: 1
Luna Williams
It was finally summer vacation.
I’d been counting down the days for months.
School had been hard. Being away from my family and friends had been even harder.
But summer?
Summer was my favorite time of year.
It meant lazy days on the beach. Bonfires that lasted half the night. Too much food. Too many people crammed into one house.
It meant being with the people who felt the most like home.
The only problem this year was Emerson.
Emerson Drake.
The guy I’d grown up with.
The guy who was three years older than me and currently living his dream in Nashville.
The guy I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about.
Something had changed last summer.
At least for me.
Somewhere between beach days and family cookouts, I’d stopped seeing Emerson as the boy I’d grown up with.
I started noticing things.
The way he laughed.
The way he always looked out for everyone.
The way I could spend hours talking to him and never get bored.
The way we always seemed to end up beside each other during our family’s infamous “cousin” hangouts.
And suddenly, Emerson wasn’t just Emerson anymore.
Which was a problem considering our families practically treated us like cousins.
A really big problem.
I sighed and stared out the passenger window.
Everyone in our family seemed to have some incredible talent.
Emerson could sing.
Harmony could too.
James could play guitar.
Rose had photography. Which makes sense since her aunt Andrea was a great artist.
Noah could draw.
My brother Colton could play drums just like Dad.
So everyone is talented.
Everyone seemed to have something.
A thing.
A dream.
A direction.
As for me?
I wasn’t really sure what I was good at.
I was majoring in Public Relations because it seemed practical.
A safe choice.
A career my mother loved.
The problem was I wasn’t entirely convinced I wanted it.
Or maybe I just wasn’t convinced I wanted anything.
My phone buzzed in my lap. I glanced over to my brother who was looking at his too.
Group chat.
I shook my head as I opened the thread.
Harmony: We are 10 minutes out. Ryder is tired of riding.
Harmony: See what I did? Ryder, riding? NO.. LOL
I laughed out loud at that. Colton shaking his head.
Noah: Oh you are so weird Harm.
Harmony: No one asked you loser.
Colton and I both burst out laughing.
“What?” Dad asked as he glanced back at us.
“The group chat.” I said.
“Already?” He groaned.
I snickered. “Yepp.”
I heard my mom laugh softly from the front seat.
I turned back to my phone to see more messages.
Rose: Mom, dad and I are like 20 minutes out.
Rose: Emerson??
My stomach immediately flipped.
Which was becoming increasingly annoying whenever Emerson Drake was involved.
Emerson: What do you want?
I smiled.
I felt someone watching me so I looked up. My brother’s eyes were narrowed at me.
Then he turned to his phone typing. “What are you doing?” I asked.
“Nothing.” He smirked.
Before I could question him further, my phone buzzed again.
Colton: Guys, I think Luna misses Emerson.
My eyes widened.
“Oh my God.”
Harmony: WHAT?
Rose: EXCUSE ME?
Noah: Interesting.
James: This just got fun.
I whipped around in my seat.
“COLTON.”
My brother looked entirely too pleased with himself.
Dad glanced between us.
“What happened?”
“Nothing,” I said quickly.
“Something,” Colton corrected.
Mom was already smiling.
Wonderful.
Emerson: Colton, I will throw your phone into the ocean.
My traitorous heart liked that he’d immediately come to my defense.
Ryder: That’s fair.
Harmony: Wait. Why are we talking about Emerson and Luna?
Rose: Yeah. Explain.
I could actually feel my face heating.
I started typing furiously.
Luna: Nobody explain anything.
Colton: Suspicious response.
Noah: Extremely suspicious.
James: Agreed.
“You’re the worst,” I muttered.
Colton grinned. “I know.”
Before anyone else could add fuel to the fire, Dad finally turned into the beach house driveway.
The second I saw the house, I forgot about the group chat.
The familiar white siding.
The wraparound porch.
The beach stretching out behind it.
Home.
For the first time in months, I felt myself relax.
Summer had officially started.
We appeared to be the first ones here too.
Dad and mom got out first. Mom stretching out. Dad groaning.
Colton hopped out next. I was still in shock at what that idiot typed.
I could kill him.
He peeked back in. “Come on Lu.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “That was rude.”
He smirked. “Just saw your face and had to send it.”
I groaned. Still mortified.
Eventually I got out.
Took a deep breath. The salty air filling my lungs.
Oh, how good it was to be home.
I opened up my phone typed out a quick thing.
Luna: Beat all you idiots here!
I grinned as I hit send.
My phone buzzed almost immediately.
Harmony: We are literally turning into the driveway.
I looked up just as an older red truck came around the corner.
“There they are,” Mom said.
The second the vehicle stopped, Harmony launched herself out.
“LUNAAAA!”
I barely had time to brace myself before she slammed into me.
I laughed and hugged her back.
“Hi to you too.”
“I missed you.”
“You text me every day.”
“That’s not the point.”
Ryder climbed out behind her and shook his head.
“I told her we’d see you in ten minutes.”
Harmony pointed at him.
“And I missed her for all ten of those minutes.”
Ryder sighed dramatically.
“I’m surrounded by weird people.”
“Correct,” Colton agreed.
A few minutes later another vehicle pulled into the driveway.
Rose was out before the engine even stopped.
“LUNA!”
I laughed.
Apparently everyone had decided tackling people was the official greeting of summer.
Rose hugged me tightly before stepping back.
“You look good.”
“So do you.”
Andrea and Austin climbed out next.
Noah immediately looked offended.
“Nobody hugged me.”
Harmony looked at him.
“Because you’re annoying.”
Noah gasped. “You wound me.”
“Good.”
I smiled as everyone started unloading bags and talking over each other.
The house was slowly starting to feel alive again.
The way it always did when everyone arrived.
My gaze drifted toward the driveway.
No Emerson.
Not that I was looking for him.
At all.
Absolutely not.
“You know he’s not magically appearing if you stare at the road.”
I jumped.
Rose grinned.
Traitor.
“I wasn’t looking for anyone.”
“Sure.”
“I wasn’t.”
She laughed.
Before I could defend myself, another truck pulled into the driveway.
James was hanging halfway out the passenger window before the vehicle even stopped.
“WE MADE IT.”
Uncle Trey sighed.
“One day he’s going to fall out of a moving vehicle.”
“Not today,” James called back.
Aunt Hailey laughed as they climbed out.
Within minutes the deck was full.
People talking.
Music playing.
Coolers being unloaded.
Dad already trying to start a grill.
It felt exactly like summer.
Exactly like home.
I carried my duffel bag upstairs and immediately smiled.
Nothing ever changed.
The same pale blue walls.
The same old dresser.
The same seashell lamp I’d had since I was twelve.
Mom always joked that the beach house was frozen in time.
Maybe she was right.
I dropped my bag on the floor and walked over to the window.
The ocean stretched out behind the house.
Waves rolling onto the shore.
A couple seagulls flying overhead.
For the first time in months, my chest felt lighter.
No exams.
No deadlines.
No pretending I had my life figured out.
Just summer.
A knock sounded against my door.
Then Harmony walked in without waiting for permission.
Typical.
“Are you unpacking?”
“No.”
“Good.”
She grabbed my wrist.
“We have important business.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“What kind of business?”
“Finding snacks.”
“That’s not important business.”
“It absolutely is.”
I laughed as she dragged me downstairs.
The second we reached the kitchen, I froze.
Everyone was already there.
Rose digging through cabinets.
Noah stealing chips. Colton yelling at him. James right up with them.
The adults called those three the Three Amigos.
My dad trying to figure out where Mom wanted groceries.
Uncle Austin carrying in another cooler.
Chaos.
Complete and total chaos.
And somehow…
I loved every second of it.
Eventually we all found our way back outside. Emerson was the last one we were waiting on.
I hated how aware I was that he was the only one missing.
I looked up as a grey truck rolled to a stop behind Ryder’s truck.
And suddenly my heart forgot how to function.
The driver’s door opened.
Emerson stepped out.
His dark hair was longer than last summer.
Sunglasses covered his eyes.
A guitar case sat in the back seat.
And somehow he looked older.
Not older-old.
Just…
Different.
Like Nashville fit him.
Like he’d stepped into the life he’d always wanted.
For a second I just stood there staring.
Like he felt me staring.
Then Emerson looked up.
And our eyes met.
A slow smile spread across his face.
“Hey, Lu.”
My stomach flipped.
Wonderful.
Summer had barely started.
And I was already in trouble.
