“I understand, Nate. You don’t have to worry. I’m not looking for anything serious either.”
Our attention fell back to the water. He asked about the sand, since it seemed out of place. I explained the park rangers brought in a dump truck of sand every spring to enhance the beach area. It was why the pathway was so wide.
One more question weighed heavily on my mind, and I took a deep breath before mentioning Andrew. “He doesn’t need to know. It’s just sex. No one will get hurt. I won’t tell him, and you won’t tell him.”
“My lips are sealed.”
I leaned back onto my elbows, tilting my face toward the sky. The sun was rising higher with each passing minute, and I savored its warmth. As I settled, I swore I heard Nate mumble something under his breath, but I couldn’t make it out.
The next thing I was conscious of was something dripping on my face, and when I swatted it away, I felt the icy wetness under my finger. My eyes opened in distress before I remembered I was at the watering hole with Nate and the girls.
“Hi,” Molly said, hovering above me. The tips of her hair dripped onto my face and bare shoulder.
“Um… hello.” I sat up and saw Nate was setting up the picnic I packed us. “How long was I out?”
“About an hour,” he called over.
“Sorry.”
“It’s no big deal,” he replied, turning to face me with that sexy smirk on his face. “You had a very long night.”
I pushed up off the towel and walked over to him, swaying my hips more than usual with each step. “That I did. Maybe we’ll get a repeat tonight.”
I really hoped so, at least.
“You were moaning in your sleep just now. What were you dreaming about?” he asked as he handed each girl a turkey sandwich.
I pried open a plastic bag that carried a few of my family’s homemade pickles. Making sure to lock eyes with Nate, I took a hearty bite. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
In fact, I’d been dreaming of dancing again. That was something that hadn’t crossed my memories during sleep in years. Sure, I continued to practice, but it was more for exercise than anything else. I blocked out all my recitals and times on stage after things ended with Stephen.
Eloise was most excited to try the pickles after I explained how pickling worked yesterday at the market. She ate two whole ones before we realized.
After a while, we packed up everything once we changed back into our dry clothes and headed back toward the bed-and-breakfast. Both girls fell asleep along the way, and with Nate driving us back, I almost did the same. It must’ve been something about sitting in a luxury leather seat with the warm breeze swirling through the window.
“If you want to stop in town on the way back, I want to show you something,” I suggested, but Nate’s eyes darted to the rearview mirror. “We won’t need to get out of the car.”
Instead of taking a right to go to the bed-and-breakfast, Nate turned left as I instructed, and we pulled onto the main road that took us downtown. At the first stop sign, I told him to take a right and then another left. Soon, we came upon the street with some of my favorite restaurants. Nestled between a Greek bistro and a coffee shop was a large space for sale. A sandwich shop had once occupied it, but they recently moved across the way, next to the ice cream parlor. It was a bigger space than this one.
“Stop here,” I instructed. “I’ll be right back.”
I’d been tossing the idea around in my head for months, but as I finished up my last course, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to make the leap. I still needed to work out the business proposal, because I’d need a loan from the bank to fix up the shop the way I wanted it. I had some money saved, but it wasn’t enough to cover everything. And I was stubborn enough to want to do it myself without my family’s help.
“What’s this place?”
My entire body launched into the air as Nate snuck up behind me, the pounding of my heart echoing in my ears.
Hand over my heart, I bellowed, “Oh my gosh, you scared me to death!”
He apologized with a chuckle that irked me more than it should’ve. Peering over my shoulder, I worried about the girls sitting alone in the car, but they stood just outside the open passenger door.
“They woke up when we parked. Happens every time.”
Turning back to face the front facade, I stepped up to the door and used my phone to take a picture of the for-sale sign.
“This is where I’d like to put my cake shop.”
Nate took a few steps back and eyed the street up and down and then did the same to the building. There were plenty of people milling about. It was Sunday, and church had let out, after all.
