The Kiss on Castle Road (A Lavender Island Novel) by Lauren Christopher Read Free Book Online Page A

there’s Adam.”
    “Adam Mason ?” Paige’s voice went an octave too high.
    “Remember him?”
    Paige stalled. Natalie was about to turn around to see what was wrong, but Paige pushed at her shoulders and started to brush again. “Isn’t he at least thirty-five by now? I picture him as some old man already on the top of that hill at the airport.”
    “You might be surprised,” Olivia said, a strange smile curving her lips.
    The three of them all sat in silence for a minute, sipping their drinks.
    “Oh, there’s the new science guy who lives in Dr. Johnson’s old place,” Olivia suddenly said. “Natalie met him.”
    Natalie snapped her head up.
    “I don’t know who that is,” Paige said. “Is he young? Cute? Single?”
    “What do you say, Natalie?”
    Natalie swallowed a gulp of wine and put her glass down carefully on the table. “He’s young,” she said cautiously. “I’m not sure about the single part.”
    “Cute?”
    Natalie shrugged. For some reason, she wanted to keep her feelings to herself. Somehow she thought they’d tease her. Maybe it was just being back on the island that was stirring old behaviors. Maybe it was the relaxation of having her hair brushed, or the comfort of her sisters’ familiar smells. Or it could have been the one and a half glasses of wine. Whatever the reason, it tempted her to regress. She wanted to prove to all of them that she was an adult now, but being here, like this, in Gram’s old cottage, made it hard.
    “Huh.” Paige took a deep swig of her wine and seemed much too lost in daydreams about the new scientist. Natalie almost wanted to tell her to back off. But that was silly. She wasn’t claiming him. Her hyperawareness of Dr. Nerd seemed senseless and strange. Just because a smart-looking man had approached her with a degree of interest rather than with a trail of drool didn’t mean she was necessarily a more valuable person. Plus, he might be married. Plus, she was taking a break from men.
    “I finally dumped David,” Natalie announced abruptly.
    “Is David the one with the ’67 Harley?” Paige asked.
    “No, that was Devlan.”
    “David’s the one with the broken motorcycle,” Olivia said from the couch. “And no job. And he makes that weird sound when he’s drinking.”
    “And he looks like a troll when he yawns?” Paige asked.
    “No, that was Mike,” Olivia said.
    “Ah. Mike. I can’t believe you broke up with that guy because of his yawn.”
    Natalie shrugged. At least she didn’t try to change the men she was with, like Paige did. She just accepted that everyone had quirks and moved on.
    “Didn’t you break up with Joey Piccolo because he separated all the food on his plate and ate each item one at a time?” Paige asked.
    Natalie couldn’t help but giggle. Her normal reaction might have been to bristle. Her sisters’ teasing could easily be taken as another poke at her. But the wine had loosened her up, the strokes of the hairbrush felt lovely, and she had to admit those had probably been her exact words. The absurdity of her constant breakup decisions all bubbled to the surface.
    Her giggles caught on with Olivia and then with Paige. Next thing they knew, they were all laughing into the pillow cushions for no reason at all.
    It felt so good to laugh for so long—to let her abdominal muscles tighten, to let her cheeks hurt, to just look at her sisters and send one another into another collapsing fit of laughter. It was just like when they were girls, relaxing into the moment where you could be silly with the people who loved you most.
    “So who’s next in Natalie’s Dating Carousel?” Paige finally asked, wiping tears from her eyes.
    “No one. I’m taking a break. That’s the mancation.”
    “ No one? I can’t imagine you without a guy, Natalie. Despite your fear of commitment.”
    “Fear of commitment?” Natalie leaned out of the hairbrush’s reach to turn and look at Paige. “What are you talking about? I’m