Seaside Heartbeats: A Sweet Romance (The Seaside Hunters Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

other. They had always gotten along fine, and Brayden thought she knew how he adored her…it's just that they didn't have anything in common. They might have now, as adults. But by the time she got older, he was already in Dallas.
    He put his face in his hands and allowed himself to sob. Would he ever forgive himself for not being there for his baby sister when she needed him most? Sure, he'd sought out as much medical advice as he could. He'd been on the phone nearly every day with his parents or Jake, who had been the ones primarily taking care of her. But why hadn't he asked to speak with Sophia more? Probably because he'd had it in his mind that she would pull through.
    "I'm so sorry, Sophia." Brayden cried a little longer before standing up. He went over to the mirror on her desk and looked at his face. His eyes were red and the skin around them splotchy.
    Brayden's gaze moved from his face to the pictures attached to the mirror. Sophia had managed to attach almost thirty pictures of herself with friends. He studied each one. Sophia was so happy in each one—and without a doubt the prettiest. Brayden tried to name any of her friends, but couldn't think of a single one.
    He frowned. Some big brother he had been. Was he as distant to his brothers now? He had a meal or two every week with his parents, Jake, and Cruz. They talked and laughed, but they weren't particularly close. That was why Brayden had gotten so upset about everyone discussing his love life. He thought about Rafael and Zachary, who were closer in age to him.
    Rafael was in LA working as a fashion designer, every bit as successful with that as Brayden had been with his cardiology clinic back in Dallas. Brayden knew next to nothing about fashion. He always had the girls who worked at the mall pick out his clothes so he would be as professional as possible.
    Zachary lived in New York City trying to get the attention of a big publisher. He was writing a novel, hoping to hit it big. But while he waited, he worked as a journalist. Did he like his job? Brayden couldn't answer. Sure, Zachary always had his nose in a laptop or tablet, but Brayden had never done anything much to try to engage him to talk when they were home.
    He wasn't any closer to any of his brothers than he had been with Sophia. Brayden was the oldest of the Hunter clan. It was his responsibility to reach out to his younger siblings, and so far he'd failed miserably. He looked over the pictures of Sophia and her friends before looking himself in the eyes.
    As he stared, he promised to be a better brother. He should have learned from Sophia's passing almost three years earlier, but it was better late than never. Just moving back to Kittle Falls wasn't enough. He needed to actually engage his family. Besides, if he did that, maybe they would leave him alone about settling down to have a family.
    Brayden rubbed his eyes and then went out into the hall.
    His mom stood there, looking surprised. "There you are. We weren't sure where you had disappeared to."
    Brayden wrapped his arms around her. "I love you, Mom."
    She stiffened, obviously surprised by his show of affection. His heart ached. What had he become? She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed. "And I love you, too."
    He kissed the top of her head. "Should we get dessert?"
    "Dessert?" she asked, appearing surprised. "Isn't that bad for our hearts?"
    "But it's good for our spirits."
    They made their way into the kitchen, and Brayden ignored the exclamations of surprise as he pulled the three cartons of ice cream from the freezer. His family wasn't used to him eating, much less making, dessert. He opened the fridge and pulled out chocolate syrup.
    His mom dropped bags of candy next to the ice cream. "Who wants bananas in their sundaes?"
    Tiffany came over. "Let me help you guys. That's a lot of ice cream to scoop."
    In a matter of minutes, everyone had gathered back around the table, happily eating piles of ice cream and candy. Brayden tried