Summer at Oyster Bay: A gorgeous feel good summer romance Read Online Free Page A

everything, but at that moment, with the rush of wind across the water and the rustling of the trees, she just wanted to clear her head and try not to have to think so hard.
    Rachel pushed herself back and let go, her legs outstretched like she’d done as a girl, the old rope creaking as she swung across the sand. “I heard he’s quite easy on the eyes.”
    Emily smiled and shook her head. “And how would anyone know that? Gossip runs wild in this town.”
    “Supposedly, he’s trying to make structural changes to the inn. I know because Rocky McFadden told us. He’s going to meet with him to hear his plan.”
    “So did Rocky tell you Charles Peterson was attractive?” she said with a grin, teasing her sister.
    “No!” Rachel giggled. “His wife did!”
    Emily clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her laugh. “Elizabeth McFadden better not dare be looking elsewhere. Rocky’s too handsome himself!”
    “Yeah, but I can’t get past the fact that he used to eat glue in first grade.”
    “Haha!” Emily smiled long after the moment had passed. She could always rely on her sister to make her feel better. When they’d lost their parents, Gram and Papa had taken over raising them, and they’d done a wonderful job, but it was Rachel who would crawl into bed with her at night; it was Rachel who sneaked out of class to peek in on her the first day of school each year; it was Rachel who’d put her arm around her when they’d sat on these very swings while Emily grieved the loss of her parents in her quiet way.
    “Wanna talk about Brad?” Rachel asked.
    “No.” Emily bit her lip, trying to keep her face from crumpling at the mere mention of his name. She could still see the fear in his eyes when she’d told him “no,” and she could feel the loss of all her life plans.
    Rachel plucked a small shell from the sand and tossed it into the water. It made a circular ripple on the surface until the current erased it.
    “Do you think you were ever in love with him?” she asked anyway.
    Emily turned to look at her sister, blinking her tears away. Rachel had been there for the proposal, and she’d held her after, but they hadn’t talked about it until now. “At first. But we just grew apart—at least I thought we had, and then, out of nowhere he proposed. We’d never really talked about it, but I could feel us slipping apart. Maybe he panicked.”
    Rachel studied her sister, her eyes squinting slightly. “You’ll find that perfect person one day. I have faith.”
    The evening sky was an electric blue without a cloud in sight. “You’re a romantic,” Emily said. “I don’t believe there’s a perfect person.”
    “You only say that because you haven’t ever felt it, but it’s real. I promise. When I met Jeff I felt it…”
    To Emily’s complete surprise, she saw tears in her sister’s eyes as she dropped her head and pretended to be looking for something in the sand at her feet.
    “What’s wrong?”
    Rachel tipped her head back as if the motion would keep the tears from falling, but they fell anyway. “Jeff and I are having a little trouble.” She shook her head. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t expect to say anything. I know you have enough to deal with…”
    The revelation hit Emily like a wrecking ball. Jeff had been one of those people that had seemed like part of the family even before he’d married Rachel. He was like a brother to Emily. She adored him and she couldn’t believe anything could come between him and her sister. He had always been so good to Rachel.
    “Why? What’s wrong?”
    “We’re at an impasse,” she said, her words breaking. “I’m so sorry,” she said again. “I didn’t want to bombard you with this. I thought I could keep it in.”
    “I want to know. It’s fine. Just tell me. What kind of impasse?” The one thing about the two of them was that no matter what was going on, they could always muster the energy to help the other out. They’d had to learn how to