A Secret in the Bay, page 1
A SECRET IN THE BAY
CHASING TIDES BOOK TWO
FIONA BAKER
Copyright © 2024 by Fiona Baker
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Published in the United States of America
First Edition, 2024
fionabakerauthor.com
CONTENTS
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Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Also by Fiona Baker
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CHAPTER ONE
Luke Ward breathed a sigh of relief as he tucked his laptop into his backpack and toed into his sneakers. The TSA line at the airport hadn’t been as long as he’d seen it before, but traveling with all of his gadgets made getting through security a bit of a hassle. He had to take everything out and sort it into baskets. And inevitably, he’d forget to take something out and his bag had to be searched, just as it had been today.
He expected it, though, and didn’t mind at the end of the day. He would have felt naked without all of his gear. His hands always itched to work with something, to take things apart and put them back together once he figured out how they worked.
He fully intended to soak in the beauty of Blueberry Bay that summer, but keeping up with his repair skills in his down time away from his aunt Sandy and uncle Daniel’s grocery store wasn’t going to hurt. The process that was so frustrating to most people was relaxing to him, and always had been. It had driven his parents crazy when he was a kid. He’d take apart anything he could get his hands on, just to see how it worked.
Eventually they started to swing by second-hand shops just to get him something that he could fix without costing them hundreds of dollars. Soon he learned he had a knack for fixing things that people thought were broken for good. Selling refurbished electronics he’d picked up from various stores gave him a steady income of spending money in high school and college. He saved half of it for his eventual business and used the other half as spending money.
The thought of running his own business gave him a small rush every time. He didn’t mind working for others, but the idea of building something himself, something he could call his own, was incredibly appealing and had been since he was young. Sandy had inspired him—she had built up her store alongside her husband and now it was the go-to place for groceries or anything else someone might need in Blueberry Bay. It was hard work getting there, but it was satisfying.
He glanced up at the signs for the various gates and found the one he was looking for: a flight from Indianapolis to Boston. It was at the far end of the terminal and he had plenty of time before boarding, so he took his time. He wove through the crowds of people, stepping into a gift shop and balking at the price of a bottle of water. It wasn’t even sparkling water, just plain old water.
He decided against buying any water, but he was a graduate student and coffee got him through the hardest days. He’d gotten up early to finish packing and make the hour long drive from Bloomington to the Indianapolis airport, so he desperately needed a cup. The line to the coffee shop was easy to spot. It wound around the food court, so he stood at the end. It went by faster than he anticipated. Forking over six dollars for a large coffee with cream and sugar hurt, but he forgot all about the blow to his graduate student budget once he took his first sip.
Eventually he got to his gate and sat down, excitement buzzing through his veins as planes pulled up and away from the various gates. Finishing all of is final projects lifted a huge weight off of his shoulders and he was glad to get a chance to unwind.
He pulled out his worn paperback and thumbed through it. How long had it been since he read for pleasure? Way too long. The flight from Indianapolis to Boston was a little over two hours, then he had to take a ferry to get to Blueberry Bay. He had more time than he’d had in ages, so he opened the book and started reading. Before he knew it, it was time to board.
He polished off his coffee and tossed the cup away before he boarded. The airplane was big, not that that meant a lot. His long legs didn’t have enough room to fit comfortably, but he’d gotten a window seat. The view as the plane took off almost made up for the lack of leg space. The world got smaller and smaller until everything was made up of green dots and empty fields.
He smiled to himself. Summers in Blueberry Bay were always filled with the unexpected, and he was excited to see what this year would bring.
“Two BLTs, one without the T,” Hannah Jenkins called back to her father, Willis, who was hard at work on the lunch rush at their restaurant, The Crab.
Willis peeked through the service window, raising an eyebrow at the order as if to ask, what’s the point of a BLT without one of the primary ingredients?
Hannah bit the inside of her cheek to hide her smile. There was always one customer who had an order like that. She had been working at The Crab with her dad since she was a teenager, so she had seen it all. Today wasn’t an unusual Tuesday by any means.
She went back to the register with a smile, steadily taking the lunch rush orders. The Crab specialized in sandwiches, so it was the go-to spot for most of Blueberry Bay’s lunch hour. She’d been working there for so long that she hardly blinked as she went between the register, answering questions about the menu, and cleaning up tables in between customers. Eventually it slowed down enough for her to take a breath and tidy up behind the counter.
“Hi, welcome to The Crab!” Hannah said to a couple who had just walked in. She could clearly tell they were tourists. She knew most of the people who came regularly, and she didn’t recognize these people. They were in their early twenties, just like Hannah, and were dressed up more than the locals too. If she had to guess, they were from Boston or New York City, where the vast majority of tourists to their town came from. “What can I get for you guys?”
“What’s good? We’ve never been here before,” the woman said, absently playing with the row of earrings lining her ear.
“Depends on what you’re looking for. Do you want something light, or something a little heavier?” Hannah looked up at the menu board even though she knew everything on the menu plus the specials by heart. “Our crab roll is one of our customer favorites, just light enough but not so light that you don’t feel like you’ve eaten. The crab is super fresh, just arrived this morning. But if you want something that’ll stick to your ribs more, our chicken cutlet sandwich and fries will keep you full for a while. It’s not greasy at all, but it’s enormous. Definitely for a big appetite or if you want to split something.”
The man in the couple laughed. He also had a few earrings, plus a septum piercing under his nose.
“I feel like having a big sandwich and passing out on the beach is exactly what I’m after,” he said. “I’ll try the chicken sandwich and fries.”
“And I’ll have the crab roll since I want to read instead of falling into a food coma,” the woman said. “With the homemade chips on the side.”
“Gotcha.” Hannah plugged in their orders. “Anything to drink? We have some local beers and ciders right now. We serve harder drinks in the evening. And we have iced tea, water, sodas…”
“Iced tea sounds nice,” the woman said.
Hannah nodded and plugged in their orders before calling them back to Willis, more out of habit than anything. She’d upgraded their system so it printed out a ticket in the kitchen a few years back.
“This place is so cute,” the woman said, wandering along the shop. “Even cuter than the reviews said. How long have you been working here?”
“Since I was a teenager. My dad—he’s back there—owns the place.” Hannah stacked some napkins and put them on the utensils stand. “Are you guys visiting from out of town?”
“Yep! From Boston,” the man said, following the woman. “We needed an escape from the city. It looks like we’re not alone.”
“Definitely not,” Hannah said. July was always packed with tourists. “We love for people to visit.”
“People are so friendly here.” The woman smiled and ran her fingers along copies of the local newspaper, The Outlet. After glancing at the headline, she picked up a copy.
“The Outlet is great,” Hannah said. “If you ever need to find out anything that’s going on, it’ll have it.”
“Cool.” The woman thumbed through it and looked up at her companion. “Maybe we can look through here to find things to do.”
They fell into their own conversation, talking about finding time to rest and recharge their creative spirits while they were away. Hannah was curious, but she didn’t want to pry. Based on the context, they were musicians.
&nb
The couple’s food came up and they went outside, leaving Hannah with a loose knot in her stomach for reasons she couldn’t pinpoint.
The Crab was a second home to her and had been for years. It had been just her and her dad since her mother left when she was young, so she felt tied to the place. In the past, she had found comfort in that. She always had a place to go, a place that felt like home. But now it was starting to itch, just a little bit. Was there anything for her outside of Blueberry Bay? Maybe something with music?
She brushed those thoughts off, as she often did. She loved Blueberry Bay and always would, but she’d long accepted the fact that the things there and the people were just… ordinary. Sometimes a minor celebrity came through, but that was as exciting as it got. It was definitely not Boston or anything close to it.
Hannah finished tidying up, the end of the lunch crowd now settled with their food, and went to the back to help with prep for the dinner menu. They served similar dishes every single day, so she didn’t have to think twice about what to do. She fell into the easy rhythm of chopping and checking ingredients until the bell above the door jingled.
“Be with you in a second!” Hannah called. She washed her hands and went out front, her heart flipping in her chest when she saw who had come in. “Oh, hi, Michael.”
“Hi, Hannah.”
Michael O’Neil looked like he had just come in off the waves. His dark hair was windswept off his handsome, tanned face. He was the one thing around Blueberry Bay that didn’t feel ordinary to her. Something about the way he carried himself and talked to people made him feel like he had the answers without being arrogant. Like he’d seen enough of the world to know himself well and be secure in who he was.
He owned the most popular coffee shop in town, Tidal Wave Coffee. A lot of her friends from high school had worked there since he liked to employ local young people to give them a good first job for their resumes. On top of that, he was a pro surfer and was sponsored by major surf brands.
To Hannah, he was a movie star. Looks and all. Despite that, she wondered if he’d ever notice her. Sure, he was older than her, somewhere in his early thirties, but she always held onto a little hope. Couples had age differences all the time.
Then again, she was far from the only one in town with a little crush on him. Hannah was sure that some of the girls she knew who worked at Tidal Wave had gotten the job partially because Michael would be their boss. And wherever he went, eyes followed him.
“Um, what can I get you?” Hannah asked, stumbling over her words.
“I’ll take a crab roll and chips. Plus an iced tea to go,” Michael said.
“Gotcha.” Her heart fluttered and she played with her necklace in the hopes that it would calm her down.
“Has it been busy today?” he asked as he paid.
“Yeah. I mean, sort of.” Hannah felt her cheeks warm. Despite living in a seaside town, her skin was extremely fair, so every blush showed. “Just a regular Tuesday.”
“Yeah. I swung by Tidal Wave and it was about the same. The waves were perfect, though.”
“Yeah?” She had seen him surf before. He made it look so effortless. She knew how to surf and enjoyed it, but she wiped out a few times before managing to catch a wave. Luckily no one had recorded her flailing off her board and plunging into the water. She poured him some iced tea in a to-go cup.
“Yup. And the water is finally getting warmer.” He smiled, making his already attractive face even more so. She loved the faint lines that appeared around his brown eyes.
“That’s great.” Any more eloquent replies escaped Hannah as their fingers brushed when she handed him his tea.
Her ability to think clearly didn’t come back until Michael had his sandwich and was out the door. Hannah’s heart finally slowed down and her shoulders sagged. Maybe next time she’d think of the right thing to say.
CHAPTER TWO
Alissa pushed her glasses up on her nose, then went right back to typing. Her latest article for The Outlet, the first of a few pieces on the upcoming Blueberry Bay Luau, was flowing out of her almost faster than she could type.
The event was over a month away, but she couldn’t wait, even though she hadn’t been before. People were going to come from out of town to enjoy the games, vendors, surfing, and of course, hula dancing. Blueberry Bay was a tight-knit community, so any event that brought everyone to the same place was bound to be fun.
She suppressed a smile, trying to imagine herself doing the hula. Even though she wasn’t much of a dancer, she was more than willing to try it. These past few months had been a series of trying new things. If someone had told her that she would be living in a small town, working as the head reporter at a new and rapidly growing newspaper and magazine, she wouldn’t have believed it.
But she was, and she was happier than she had been in a long time. Her happiness had come from one of the worst periods in her life. She’d gotten fired from what she’d thought was her dream job at Epic News and on a whim, she’d come to Blueberry Bay to figure out what she wanted to do next. Through a series of lucky happenstances, she’d found The Outlet, which was desperate for writers, and started working there. The beautiful Rhode Island scenery had inspired her to write again, a hobby long put aside because of the stresses of work, and now her debut novel was on shelves across the country.
She had taken to Blueberry Bay almost right away, finding joy in bonding with the locals, who embraced her. It was so different than being in Denver. It wasn’t the biggest city by any means and the people were friendly, but there was an impermanence to it that she didn’t find in Blueberry Bay. People didn’t stop to linger in places or strike up conversations with people they saw regularly—two things Alissa had come to love about the town.
She bit her bottom lip, trying to think of the perfect way to end the article. After a few moments, it came to her, and she typed it out with flourish. The satisfaction of finishing an article was second to none.
“Hey.” Her boss and boyfriend, Dane, appeared in the doorway and knocked on the frame.
Seeing him still made her heart flip-flop in her chest even though they had been together for a few months now. He was one of the most handsome men she’d ever seen, with thick auburn hair and fiercely intelligent green eyes. He had come from New York City and still dressed the part to some extent in his slacks and neatly tailored button-down shirt. But he had lost the tie and vest that he used to wear regularly. Alissa liked him either way.
Dane was one of the best things to happen to her since her move. He had been a crabby workaholic when they first met, barely able to crack a smile or see what Blueberry Bay had to offer. But now he had fallen in love with the town just as much as she had and had rediscovered why he loved writing too.
They had fun going out and exploring, but also just enjoying each other’s company, curled up on the couch together with books. Sometimes getting him to relax took a little effort, but he was getting more and more willing to slow down the more she encouraged him.
“Hey! Perfect timing. I just finished my article on the luau.” She tabbed over to her email and opened a new draft. “Let me send it to you.”
