Page 19 of A Wedding in the Bay

She smiled and pushed her fork into the end of her slice. The creamy topping ended in a crunchy crust, and she sighed in satisfaction as she brought a sweet bite to her lips.

“This is definitely sufficient payment for helping you get back inside your house,” he told her, grinning. “One of the best pies I’ve ever had.”

“Oh, hush,” she said, but she was pleased.

As they ate their pie, they continued to talk about stargazing. Even after they were done eating, they continued to sip their coffee and talk eagerly about their shared interest. After a while, Johanna glanced at the clock and realized what time it was.

“My goodness, we’ve been sitting here talking for an hour!” she exclaimed.

He looked down at his watch and clucked his tongue. “Oh, wow.” He stood up slowly. “I should probably get going. I don’t want to keep you.”

“It’s quite all right,” she said, standing up also. “I enjoyed talking with you.” She smiled warmly at him, realizing that her heart was fluttering again.

“I had a nice time talking with you too,” he said. “I didn’t just stay for the pie.” He winked.

For a moment, they both hesitated. Something was hanging in the air between them, but neither of them seemed to know how to say it. Everett put it into words first.

“I think,” he said slowly, “that maybe we were both a bit too quick to jump to conclusions about each other the other night.”

She nodded. “I think you’re right.”

“Would you like to do something with me sometime?” he asked carefully, his fingers twisting absently together. “Maybe we could do some stargazing together using my telescope.”

She smiled at him, feeling herself flushing a little. “I would like that. I think we should.”

He smiled back at her, his shoulders relaxing a bit as if he had been nervous that she would say no. “Great. Let me get your phone number, and we can talk about a time that works for both of us.”

She nodded and told him her phone number out loud while he typed it into his phone. She felt jittery in a good way—it had been ages since she’d given a man her phone number in a way that hinted at romance.

She packed up a Tupperware with two more slices of pie as he put on his coat. Both of them moved a bit slowly, with a touch of reluctance to end their time together.

“Thank you again,” she said to him at the door, handing him the Tupperware.

“Thanks for the pie.” He grinned. “I’ll see you soon.”

“See you soon. Get home safe!”

“I will.”

He smiled and gave one short wave, and then he disappeared around the corner of her house. She heard his truck start up with a wheezing rumble, and then the sound of its rickety engine faded into the night.

She began to clean up her kitchen, her mind retracing the events of the afternoon. She smiled to herself, still amazed by how unexpected it had all been. Her initial discomfort around him had completely disappeared, and in spite of how much she usually liked time to herself, she’d enjoyed spending a couple of hours with him. She began to hum as she worked, wiping the kitchen counter clean. She liked him very much, and she was truly looking forward to seeing him again.

CHAPTER NINE

“Do you want some tea or something, sweetheart? Coffee, maybe?” Caitlin stood up, smiling fondly at Michael, who was sitting in the chair next to hers at her kitchen table.

“Coffee would be great.” He grinned. “Do you still have that hazelnut creamer?”

“You got it.” She kissed his forehead and made her way to the kitchen counter, where she busied herself with pouring coffee for herself and her fiancé. She gave them both hazelnut creamer and added a little oat milk to her own mug. When she returned to the table, Michael was flipping through the wedding magazines that they had spread out across the table.

“You want to get married in Hawaii?” she teased, nodding toward the picture he was looking at as she set down his coffee mug.

“No.” He chuckled and took a sip of the coffee. “Mm. That’s delicious. Thank you, sweetheart.”

“You’re welcome.” She sat down next to him and they shared an affectionate kiss. “I don’t know why I brought out these magazines, anyway. Most of them are a little outdated, and I don’t want a big wedding again. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and it just doesn’t feel right to me. I don’t need all kinds of fancy, expensive things to feel good about marrying you. I just want you.”

“Well, in that case…” He playfully closed the magazine he’d been looking at and tossed it away to the other side of the table.

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