Page 40 of A Wedding in the Bay

He nodded and turned toward Johanna. He cleared his throat and grunted, “Hello.”

“Hello,” she said coolly, and she did it so convincingly that he had to repress a chuckle. Then she turned to Marsha and Willis, smiling warmly, and hurried to hug her friend.

“Well,” Dane said, clearing his throat. “Since our lanes are side by side, what do you all say to playing together?”

Everett met Johanna’s gaze for a brief moment. He could sense that she was excited by the way she was holding her shoulders, but her expression didn’t betray any kind of emotion. Personally, he felt thrilled by the idea of getting to bowl with her, and he wondered if he was doing a good job of playing it cool or if everyone in the room could sense his enthusiasm.

“Sure,” Alissa said. “I’d love that.”

Marsha rested her hands on her hips. “Me too.”

Everyone else agreed as well. Johanna and Everett just nodded, and then as everyone else started off to choose bowling balls, they shared a glance. He winked at her, and he saw her repress a smile.

There was a fun variety of bowling balls to choose from. Everett chose a standard black ball for himself, but the rest of the group chose brightly colored balls. Johanna picked a deep purple bowling ball, and he wanted to comment and say that the color matched her earrings, but he knew he couldn’t. He’d have to say something to her later.

They returned to their spot and began to bowl. Dane insisted that Johanna be the one to go first.

“She’ll teach us all how it’s done,” Dane said, nudging his mother.

“Oh, psh,” she said, smiling. She picked up her bowling ball and headed toward the lane. There was a competitive glint in her eyes, and Everett covered his mouth with his hand, pretending to yawn, so no one would see him grin.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Johanna settled her shoulders and gazed down the bowling alley lane, holding her bowling ball with a sturdy grip. She was pleasantly conscious of the fact that Everett was watching her, and she was determined to impress him.

She swung her arm back and released the ball. It rumbled down the lane, straight for the bowling pins. With a satisfying burst of noise, the bowling ball hit the center of the pins, knocking down all but two of them. She grinned in triumph before finishing her turn.

“Hey! I told you all.” Dane laughed, giving his mother a high-five as she returned to her seat. She sat down, laughing. “She’s a rockstar at this.”

“Oh, I’m not that good,” she protested modestly. “I’ve just had a lot of practice. I was part of a league for a little while.” She glanced at Everett and saw that he was looking at her with admiration in his eyes. She quickly looked away, feeling herself flush slightly.

Alissa went next, and then Caitlin, and then Everett. Johanna watched him grip his bowling ball carefully with his big hands, and then send it rolling down the lane in a straight shot. The ball veered to the left before hitting the pins, but it took out most of them right away, and the group cheered. Johanna had to stop herself from cheering as loudly as everyone else—instead, she golf-clapped politely.

When it was her turn again, she got a strike. The group erupted into cheers, and Johanna felt a small rush of adrenaline flow through her veins as she came to sit back down in her chair.

“I may not be able to knit or fish,” she said, laughing, “but at least I can do this fairly well.”

“You’re amazing at it,” Marsha said, leaning toward her as she sat down. “And you’re getting great at knitting and—wait, fishing? Has someone been trying to teach you how to fish?”

Johanna cleared her throat, realizing that she’d almost blown their cover. She wanted to look at Everett in that moment, but she didn’t dare.

“Oh, no, not trying to teach me. I mean, it’s just a Blueberry Bay pastime I know I wouldn’t be very good at. Thankfully I am decent at bowling.”

She smiled, trying very hard not to look at Everett. She wanted to know what his facial expression was.

As soon as Marsha’s attention had returned to the game, Johanna glanced at Everett. He was looking at her, and he waggled his eyebrows just slightly. Suppressing a smile, Johanna turned to watch Alissa’s turn. She did well, and so did Caitlin.

When Everett stood up to bowl, he said, “I’ll have to see if I can get a strike this time.”

He glanced at Johanna, giving her a competitive look. She had to press her lips together to keep from smiling, and she watched in delight as Everett concentrated on his roll, released his ball, and—

“A strike!” Alissa cried. “Wow, that’s amazing! It was like you just decided you were going to get one and then you did.”

“Looks like Mom’s got some competition,” Dane joked, grinning at Everett.

Everett shrugged, not looking at Johanna. “We’ll have to see, I guess.”

As soon as everyone else’s attention was back on the game, she leaned toward him and murmured, “Amazing.”

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