Page 17 of Summer with the Single Dad

That half-smile returned. “Buuut, I’m on vacation, and mixing up my breakfast routine might not be a terrible idea. I did buy a loaf of bread from the bakery stand on the way here that smells incredible.”

“From Let It Rise?” he asked. “The girls are addicted to their herb and olive sourdough.”

“That’s the one I bought. And the oat and sunflower one. I couldn’t decide.” She was trying hard to not smile, and thankfully, seemed to be doing a shit job of succeeding. She was beautiful with and without a smile, but when she did smile, it lit up the whole building.

With the clover honey jar in her hand, she made her way to the cash register. Bennett grabbed an identical jar, but was barreled into by Justine when she abruptly spun around and crashed into him. His fault for being so close behind her.

“Shit. Sorry,” he murmured, only half-truly apologetic.

“I’m going to get the lavender one too,” she said, picking up a second jar with the light purple label. “For my dad.”

She cradled the jars against her chest as they moved forward with the long line.

“So, what are your plans for the rest of the day?” he asked.

A strange unease crept into her expression. Did she think he was asking her on a date?

“I … I don’t know. Maybe a hike? The beach? I don’t know.”

“Heaven’s Leap Park is always lovely, and it doesn’t seem too windy. So the walk along the cliff would be more enjoyable.”

They had such a lovely time discussing honey that he felt like he was making progress, but now she seemed determined to keep her back to him and not engage with him at all.

What the fuck was this woman’s deal?

“What do you do for work?”

Her phone chimed in her pocket. She pulled it out and distractedly looked at it for half a second, made the same stoney frown as the day before, then put it back in her pocket. “I … I, um … I’m between jobs right now,” she said, not really turning around, just pivoting her body enough that she wasn’t completely facing away from him.

“Oh.”

“Just taking some time to figure out what I want to do next.”

“Well, the island is really good for helping people find clarity. The sea breeze, slower pace, and relaxing vibe help a lot of people with epiphanies and problems.”

“I need more than an epiphany,” she murmured.

He was about to dive into that and ask what she meant, but Hershel behind the counter summoned her to the till. So she left Bennett in his place and went to pay for her honey.

He shouldn’t have expected her to wait for him to pay so they could walk out together. So when she didn’t, but rather offered him a half-hearted wave as she took her honey and receipt out the door, he chastised himself for being disappointed.

He was trying to blur the lines between patron and proprietor. Into what? He wasn’t sure. He was attracted to her and liked being around her, but whether or not he was ready for a relationship was another story.

Maybe she was into him like he first thought? Maybe she was just being nice and he was completely interpreting it wrong, manifesting something that wasn’t there because he wanted it to be? She was brushing him off and he needed to take the hint and back away.

“Your girls sure love this clover honey, huh?” Hershel asked as he rung up Bennett’s order.

Bennett snorted. “Yeah, the girls … right.” Meanwhile, it was he who indulged more than anyone on bread and honey. It was his guilty pleasure once the kids were in bed. He sat in front of the television watching wildlife documentaries and eating honey on bread. If he didn’t run every damned morning, he’d probably be three hundred pounds.

Hershel chuckled and crumpled the receipt when Bennett waved it off.

Mr. Popped Collar was still in the building guffawing with his popped collar friends off in a corner. Bennett just rolled his eyes as he walked past them, their heavy cologne following him out the door. He took a deep breath of fresh air and exhaled in disappointment at the vacant spot next to his truck where Justine’s SUV had been.

It was all in his head. It had to be.

He was into her—the first woman he’d been into since Carla—and unlike Clint who found his happily ever after, it just wasn’t in the cards for Bennett. Not yet anyway. Justine wasn’t interested. She had some shit going on and she came to the island to figure it out, not be pursued by a workaholic single dad. He needed to leave her be.

With equal parts resolution and despair in his soul, he climbed into the truck and backed out of the busy lot, eager to get home to his girls, his business, and his life, and forget all about the pretty woman in cabin five.

---