Page 85 of The Matchmaker and the Marine

They had plenty of time to get to Newport before the wedding fun began. But who knew what traffic was going to be like on a Thursday during the holiday season?

Adam came down the steps carrying a black leather satchel and a garment bag slung over his shoulder. She popped the trunk and waited for him to stow his stuff. After a minute, he opened the passenger door.

“Good morning.” He beamed as he buckled up. “I’m ready to hit the open road.”

She backed out of the driveway and gave him a grin. “Are you buying coffee?”

His laughter warmed her heart. “Sure.”

Cruising down his street she asked, “Who’s taking care of your fur baby while you’re gone?”

“Actually, Beth is going to stop in and check on her tomorrow and then on Saturday too.”

“Really?”

“I didn’t know who else to ask since all our friends will be in Newport.” He gave her a quick glance. She liked the sound of that, all our friends.

She flashed him a wide smile. “It sounds like the perfect solution.” She slowed and turned into the café parking lot. “Thank goodness, coffee.”

He unbuckled his seat belt. “I’ll be right back.” Before he got out of the car he asked, “Anything sweet?”

“Surprise me.”

Melinda watched as Adam walked into the café. “I wonder why he’s limping. He must have injured it pretty badly when he got hurt.” She tuned the radio to a country station, good background music, and then plugged her cell phone in to charge. After that she tapped in the driving directions on the navigation system. When the door opened, the smell of cinnamon and sugar made her mouth water.

Taking the bag from Adam, she opened it up and peeked inside. “Muffins?” She pretended to roll her eyes back.

“Not just any muffins, they’re coffeecake.”

Grinning she said, “To go with our coffee.” She held out her hand to take a cup. She set it in the holder between the seats. “Driver gets the front holder.” She teased.

Adam laughed. “Mel, do you have rules for road trips?”

She cocked her head and smiled. “I’d like to think of them more as guidelines.”

“Good to know.”

She loved the easy banter with him. It definitely made her nerves settle down. She tapped the screen on the dashboard and said, “I’ve programmed in the shortest route, unless you’d prefer to take secondary roads.”

“I like the idea of getting there so we can explore. We might not have much free time once we meet up with everyone later tonight.”

Melinda backed out and pulled into the light traffic. “Next stop, Newport.”

Adam broke off a piece of muffin and handed it to her. “Try this.”

She popped it in her mouth and mumbled, “This is really good,” after she took a tiny sip of her coffee. “Hey, I noticed you were limping when you got out of the car. Anything serious?”

The look he gave her was unreadable. “Nah, I just turned funny and my knee is bothering me, but nothing to worry about.”

Melinda wasn’t sure if she believed him, but since he didn’t want to talk about it, she said, “Good. I intend to spend some serious time on the dance floor with you.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

She could feel his gaze linger on her as she maneuvered through the small downtown with ease. It was a short distance before they picked up the highway. After she merged, she noticed Adam had become very quiet. “Everything okay over there?”

Adam looked at her and smiled. “I was just wondering how much time we’ll have before dinner tonight.”

“GPS puts us there around two.” She gave him a quick look. “Do you want to do something specific?”

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