Eyes of Ocean and Sky Chapter 1

The New Year was just around the corner when my husband, our daughter, and I moved into our new apartment in Seabrook. I never expected to run into my aunt and her family right at the community gate.

They asked me when, after all these years, I was finally going to get over it and go back home to talk things out with Liam Blackwood, the heir to the Blackwood Corporation.

Liam was my college sweetheart. We were on the verge of getting engaged four years ago.

But on his birthday, everything changed. He smashed the cake I’d made for him in a private karaoke room, right in front of me, and walked out with Pamela, his college roommate’s little sister.

I broke up with him on the spot and moved to this small coastal city.

Now, seeing me again, my aunt tried to reason with me.

"You know, Liam's never really gotten over you. Even on the day he got engaged to Pamela, he said if you just came back, he’d drop everything and start over with you."

Start over?

I smiled, my voice calm. "Aunt Carol, I got married two years ago. My daughter is eighteen months old."

Liam probably thought I was still giving him the silent treatment, completely clueless that I’d already started a new life.

* * *

I hadn't told anyone back home that I was married. So when I ran into my aunt in Seabrook, she was completely in the dark.

A light snow was falling. I was holding an umbrella, a stuffed animal for my daughter swinging from my other hand as I crossed the small wooden bridge in the park.

That's when I saw them on the other side: my aunt and my cousin, staring at me in utter shock.

We hadn't seen each other in four years, and the first words out of my aunt's mouth were a reprimand. "Stella! Where have you been all this time? You just disappeared without a word, no contact with your family at all!"

I glanced at her, my expression cool, showing none of the joy of a reunion. They, on the other hand, seemed thrilled.

My cousin, Mike, chimed in. "Stella, you're finally back! Liam has been asking about you for years. You have to come home with us!"

My aunt quickly agreed. "He's right! Stella, you have no idea. Liam has taken over the family business now. He's the most sought-after bachelor in our circle."

"If you get back together with him, you'll be the envy of everyone, a wealthy socialite! And our family would get to share in the glory, wouldn't we?"

Her eyes danced with excitement, and Mike looked like he’d just won the lottery. Funny how they never gave a damn about me before. After my parents passed away, they cut off all contact. Now that they saw a potential benefit, they were all over me.

I almost laughed, shattering their daydream. "Aunt Carol, Mike... Liam and I are ancient history."

The name, unspoken for so long, felt foreign on my tongue. I said it as casually as if I were discussing the weather, as if he were a complete stranger.

My aunt and cousin fell silent, looking at me with strange, assessing eyes. Clearly, they didn't believe me. After all, the whole school had known how crazy I was about Liam. They used to whisper about the Hayes girl, the one with no parents to control her, wild and untamed.