Promises at Pyramid Rock - Signed Paperback

Chapter One: Ana

“Good morning, sunshine,” I said, propping my phone on the counter so I could see Mac’s face while I washed the skillet I’d used for my breakfast. His brow was furrowed, and his eyes told me something was bugging him. “What’s up? Isn’t it a little early there?”

“Yeah, I figured I’d call you before work. I have bad news,” he said, sighing heavily.

I looked up, freezing mid-swipe with the soapy sponge in my hand. “What is it?”

“I can’t pick you up from the airport next week.”

“Seriously?” I blew out a breath and resumed washing the skillet. “That’s it? Mac, you said you had bad news. I thought somebody died.”

“That is bad news.”

“That is not bad news, Mac. I travel all the time for work and rarely have someone there to pick me up. This is not a big deal.”

He mumbled something under his breath, then sighed. “Fine. But I’m still sorry.”

“Don’t even worry about it,” I said, grinning at my best friend. “But just because I’m curious, why can’t you?”

“I have duty. I was supposed to have it this week, but the guy who has it next week needs to switch and no one else can do it. Apparently, their reasons to get out of it are more important than mine.”

I chuckled. For one reason or another, Mac always had something to grumble about when it came to the monthly duty roster. All of the guys he worked with rotated days standing guard over the aircraft hangar for a twenty-four-hour period. The way he told it, he basically had to prowl around the flight line and massive building and keep watch over everything in case someone snuck into the restricted area. But he was also in charge of the lower-ranking guys who were standing duty at the dorm-like barracks, and that meant there was always the potential for shenanigans. Mostly, they just needed to keep their music down, but sometimes they also needed to be told to stop lighting things on fire. It was like overseeing the babysitting of wild, young Marines, and it was bad luck to at any point to say it was a “quiet” night on duty.

“It’s totally fine. I promise. Maybe I can Uber to the base and bring you dinner while you’re on duty,” I offered, praying he’d say yes. I really wanted a glimpse of Mac on duty. It sounded terribly exciting to watch him and his surly attitude handle the minor disturbances that could come up. It would be so entertaining to watch Mac have to deal with some of the ridiculous antics that I’d always heard about. I turned off the water and dried the skillet, trying not to look too eager as he mulled it over.

“Hmm, maybe. I guess there’s no harm in you hanging out in the duty hut with me,” he said. “Oh, wait. You can’t get on base without a military ID.”

“That’s fine. My Uber can bring me to the gate. Can’t you just have someone meet me there and bring me through? One of your friends or something?”

He raised a brow at me, and I smiled widely back at him. After being friends for our entire lives, he was used to me and what he called my “brainy ideas.” I was always the one ready for adventure, ready to figure out the next move. When the world made me zig, I zigged. When I had to zag, I zagged. Mac always said there wasn’t a roadblock big enough to stop me when I was in steamroller mode, and I tended to think he was right. There was no way I’d have been able to become a six-figure-earning content creator without that kind of tenacity. It was necessary in my world.

“You know what,” he said, “I’ll see if my buddy Tyler can come grab you from the airport. He wasn’t able to take my duty shift because he’s already had duty this month, and they don’t let you do it twice in one month. But that means he’s free to pick you up.”

“Awesome. See? I knew I could count on you.”

“Always. When will your house be ready?”

I smiled, putting a hand on my heart. “My house. I love the sound of that.”

“I still can’t believe you’re getting your own place. I really thought you’d keep bunking with friends forever.”

“So did I. But I need my own space to live life without anyone passive-aggressively hovering over my shoulder, you know?”

“Yeah, well, after the last few roommates you’ve had, I don’t blame you. I got lucky rooming with Russo.”

“Are you bummed he’s leaving soon?”

“Yep, but you’re moving here, so I’m trading one best friend for another.”

“Happy to help.”

He shook his head. “It’s going to be weird seeing you all the time. I’m so used to the long-distance thing.”

“Which we’re great at, don’t get me wrong. But when I thought about getting my own place, it just made sense to come out there. It’s where my person is.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Anyway, I’m a content creator. Hawaii is pretty much the best scenery I could ask for. Plus, I’m applying for some sponsored gigs with the tourism board out there, so hopefully that pans out.”

“I have no idea what that is, but I’ll cross my fingers for you.”

“Thanks. Seriously, I think Hawaii will be a turning point for my business.”

“Well then, I’m glad they let me sign on for another three-year tour here.”

“Oh, me too. We’d still be long-distance friends if you were about to move to the middle of the desert. Trust me.”

He chuckled. “What, you don’t want to write about desert living?”

“Maybe for a week. Not a full tour of duty.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, answer the question. When will your house be ready for move in?”

I shook my head. “Right, sorry. Squirrel. I get in on a Friday and she said she’d meet me there with the keys on Monday. Is there a hotel on base where I can stay that weekend?”

“Yeah, I’ll text you the link. There’s one that’s very you.”

“Oh, yeah? How so?”

“The Beach Cottages are little two-bedrooms right on the water over by the flight line. There’s a kitchen and living room and all that. I can see you creating a lot of social media-worthy stuff there. You know, hashtag-no-filter type stuff.”

“Very funny. But a two-bedroom might be kind of overkill for just me though, don’t you think?”

“Maybe. But you’re pretty overkill by nature.” I made a face at his dig, and he laughed then looked up at someone and nodded his head. “All right, we’re about to leave for work. Sorry again about not being able to grab you from the airport.”

“Don’t sweat it. Tell Roman I say hi.”

From somewhere in the background, I heard his roommate yell a greeting to me.

“Did you hear that?” Mac asked.

“No, what did he say?”

“Nothing, he’s just being dumb. I’ll talk to you later.”

Shaking my head, I gave him a small wave. “Have a good day, Macaroni.”

He scowled at my use of his silly nickname before disconnecting the video call, and I laughed as I put the skillet under the counter. He could complain all he wanted, but he’d earned that nickname. Shooting pasta out of your nose isn’t something your friends let you forget.

I stood, stretching, and gazed around the apartment where I currently hung my hat in Fort Worth, Texas. The last in a long string of awful roommates was at work for at least another four hours, so I figured I’d make the most of it and pack what little belongings I had.

Ever since my parents divorced and my dad and I moved out of my childhood home, I’d never really been one to get attached to things. When they were together, my actress mom had money and my struggling screenwriter/novelist dad had none. When they split, I went with him because he was the one who wanted me, and that also meant leaving a lifestyle where my mom showered me with toys instead of love. So now, I was all about experiences. Making memories. Taking photos. I didn’t need meaningless clutter. I needed a giant savings account, a diverse portfolio, and independence.

Sighing, I looked around the quaint little country-chic space. I might actually miss this place. I’d had nothing to do with the decor since I’d merely answered an ad the crazy roommate had posted, but I had to admit I’d enjoyed the apartment itself. I loved the tiny horseshoe handles on the kitchen drawers, the giant barn star above the rustic breakfast table, and the cherry-red kitchen table that served as the room’s pop of color.

But my favorite part had been the seat in the bay window that overlooked the river winding through Fort Worth’s central business district. I’d created hundreds of posts and written thousands of words for my blog from that spot, and I’d loved every minute of it.

But now, it was time to move on. Even though Mac was the reason I was headed to Hawaii, he was only there for another three years. But I didn’t have to leave when he did. The whole point of buying my own house was to create a life I loved on my own terms. I could spend the rest of my days posting awesome content, doing sponsored posts with amazing scenery, and writing blog posts about Hawaii for tourists. Each season’s tourists would need new posts and videos, even if it was some of the same tips recycled year after year. Tourists who do travel research just wanted up-to-date info, so as long as the current year was in the title of the post and the info wasn’t outdated, I could mention some of the same stuff, just worded differently. Success in the world of content creation was all about efficiency, engaging content, and giving the people what they want. While running ads, of course.

My phone buzzed with the hotel link Mac promised to send. I opened it and scrolled through the information about the lodging on base. I still couldn’t believe I was about to live near him for the first time since we were eleven years old. We’d spent a couple of days at a time together over the years, but our suburban neighborhood in LA was the last place we’d both called home at the same time. The haunted look on his face as he’d stood on the sidewalk watching us drive away was burned into my memory. It was like he thought we’d never see each other again and there was nothing he could do about it. The frustration had been clear in his eyes. Well, the joke was on him, because there was no way I’d let a little thing like distance keep me from my person.

Mac wished more than anything that I could have stayed behind with my mom so I’d still live next door to him, but the hard truth was my mom hadn’t wanted me. Even at such a young age, I’d known it. She’d never wanted to be a mom and had gotten pregnant unexpectedly, so at the end of the day, divorcing my dad wasn’t just divorcing her husband, it was divorcing her family. And she hadn’t looked back. In fact, I hadn’t talked to her in over ten years. That was about the time she stopped pretending to care how I was doing.

To be fair, my dad and I hadn’t cared much about her at the time either. She was busy living her Hollywood lifestyle, pretending that brief detour into a domestic situation had never happened. She’d never changed her name when she married Dad anyway, so really, I imagined it was pretty easy for her to pretend we’d never existed. Out of sight, out of mind.

When my dad and I pulled away from that house, I’d been relieved. I’d looked forward to being happy. It had felt like I was finally going to be free. Nothing but the promise of new beginnings was ahead of us, and I couldn’t wait to read our next chapter as a family of two. But there was another promise made that day. And that was the one I’d made to Mac.

We’d sat cross-legged in the tree house in his backyard, trying not to cry even though we both wanted to. We were big kids. We were way too cool to cry. But we had never spent more than a weekend without each other since we were toddlers, so we had no idea how we were supposed to live on opposite ends of the country.

The fact that my parents were finally ending their marriage after living miserably together for so many years had been a shock to both of us. Mac and I had spent our entire childhoods up until that point bonding over our parents fighting. His were just as bad as mine, but neither couple seemed interested in doing anything about it. That is, until the day my parents pulled the trigger on the divorce they’d always threatened the other with. And then my dad and I moved out within a week of the big announcement.

Since neither one of us had a great example of what true love really was, we figured the safest thing to do would be to skip the idea of marrying for love altogether. Even as sixth graders, we figured that if two friends got married, there would be no danger of them falling out of love with each other. And since we assumed that was what happened with our parents, we knew that was the key to happiness in life. Avoid love at all costs and marry your best friend.

We’d pinky promised right then and there that when we were old, which to us meant the positively ancient age of thirty, we’d marry each other. I vaguely remembered one of us saying we’d rescue the other one if they ever so much as spoke of love with someone, but I don’t remember which one of us it was. It didn’t matter though, since neither of us had ever let any relationship get to the point of the L-word. We both enjoyed dating, sure, because who wants to be alone all the time? But love? No way. Not for us. Not after what we’d been through.

Did he remember the pact? I bit my lip, staring out the window but seeing nothing. That was something I hadn’t considered until just now. Oh no. Was moving to Hawaii a mistake? I’d live in the same zip code as Mac for the first time in seventeen years. And eleven-year-old me had promised to marry my best friend and then we hadn’t spoken about it since. What if spending all of that time together in real life sparked feelings that I’d always wondered about but never acted on? What if we started down a road we couldn’t navigate without ruining everything?

Mac always said there wasn’t a roadblock I couldn’t steamroll over. But this time, I think I might be the roadblock. Because at the end of the day, I wasn’t willing to lose my person. So if he did remember our little pact, I needed to make sure it stayed in the past where it belonged.

❤️ Childhood Friends to Lovers

❤️ Military Hero

❤️ Travel Blogger Heroine

❤️ Neighbors

❤️ Beach Romance

❤️ Small-Town Vibes

Kailua Marines

📚 Treasured in Turtle Bay - Roman & Molly

📚 Promises at Pyramid Rock - Mac & Ana

📚 Stranded at the Sandbar - Tyler & Kate

📚 Romance on the Reef - PJ & Maggie

📚 Heartbeats in Honolulu - Hunter & Nora

📚 Christmas in Kailua - Logan & Tess

📚 BONUS 📚

Love the Kailua Marines? They follow our San Diego heroes! For a fun detour, you can read "Trusting in You" between "Heartbeats in Honolulu" and "Christmas in Kailua." It's where our San Diego and Kailua worlds collide! But no worries—if you're all about that island vibe, feel free to skip straight to "Christmas in Kailua."

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Romance and love at its best!!

"From start to finish I loved this book! Jess Mastorkos hits out of the park with the second book in series! The main characters Ethan and Ana have been best friends for ever. Ethan has always loved Anna! However how do you move from being bestie to lovers?? Read this book and find out if you can!"

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Kailua Series

"Just love this series❤️. Can’t wait to read the next story. This series is a must read. The writing is fantastic!"

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A great story

"This is a well written story that was really enjoyable to read. The author does a fantastic job of adding the right amount of drama and adventures to make it perfect."