Page 35 of A Wedding in the Bay

Marsha and Willis were walking along the sidewalk, less than fifteen feet from Everett’s truck. They seemed to be lost in their own world as they talked with each other, but Johanna wasn’t taking any chances. She ducked down so that they wouldn’t see her in Everett’s truck.

Beside her, Everett was laughing. “Should I hide too?” he asked.

“No!” she squeaked, laughing and feeling as giddy as a teenager. “You need to keep driving!”

Chuckling, he moved the truck forward and turned a corner. “The coast is clear,” he said, winking at Johanna.

She sat up, smoothing her hair down. “Oh my,” she breathed, “that was a close one.”

“They didn’t see you,” he assured her. “They didn’t even notice me. Willis knows what my truck looks like.”

She nodded. “They seemed intent on their conversation.” She reached over to squeeze his arm. “That was a close one.”

He drove the truck up to a curb and parked it, turning off the engine. “Want to hop out and grab some coffee or something? Maybe some doughnuts?”

“Sure.” She smiled. “I’d love that. We—”

She let out a gasp and ducked again. This time, it was Dane who was walking along the sidewalk near Everett’s truck.

This time, Everett ducked too. He bent over with his head near Johanna’s, both of them trying to repress their laughter. They waited for what felt like a long time, and then finally she lifted her head to check the sidewalk.

“The coast is clear,” she told him, and he lifted his head too. They were both laughing and breathless, and their gazes locked. For a moment, neither of them moved, and then he leaned forward and kissed her gently.

Her heart raced. They pulled away from the kiss, both smiling shyly.

“Thanks,” he said, grinning.

“No, thank you,” she said primly, and he laughed.

They sat quietly together for a few moments, as if they didn’t want to break the spell of their tender moment. She realized that she’d let herself think that the romantic, thrilling moments of her life were over, but she’d thought it too soon. Being with Everett felt wonderful—she felt alive and excited and aglow with happiness.

“I’ll go get us some doughnuts and coffee,” he said finally, nodding toward Tidal Wave Coffee, which was just down the street. “You stay here in the warm truck.”

“That’s very gallant of you, thank you,” she said, pressing a hand to her chest. He grinned back and hopped out of the truck.

“Be back in a flash,” he said. “I’ll get you sugar in your coffee this time.”

She laughed, and he gave her a little salute as he closed the door. She watched him walk along the sidewalk toward Tidal Wave Coffee, feeling her heart thud with eddies of excitement.

I don’t know what’s going to happen next with us, she thought, but I can’t wait to see what it is.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“Oh, that looks great, sweetheart!” Alissa said, watching in admiration as Dane carefully painted the branch of a tree onto the wall of the baby’s room.

They were painting a mural there together, and her heart felt warm. They’d been planning it together for days. First, they had drawn up a sketch together, and then they’d gone to the hardware store for the various paints they needed. Finally, after carefully measuring and transferring their drawing to the wall in light pencil strokes—she had not expected it to involve as much math as it had—they had begun to paint.

“Thanks.” He turned to her with a grin. He had a streak of bright green paint on his left cheek that brought out the green in his eyes. “I never thought of myself as an artist, but I have to admit, this is really fun.”

“It is,” she agreed happily. “I’m so glad we decided to do this. We’re making the room pretty for our baby, we’re working on a project together, and we’re creating content for our DIY home renovation column! So many good things happening at once.”

When Dane and Alissa had first moved into their home, the amount of things that needed to be fixed had felt overwhelming to them at first. Then they’d learned that there were a lot of things they could do on their own, and they’d decided to start a homeowner’s column for their magazine. It had become immensely popular, and even though their home was now well fixed-up and decorated, they were still finding ways of adding to the column from their own personal experience.

“You’re right.” He smiled at her. “And speaking of—would you take a picture of the mural at this point? I think we should have more than just a before and after photo, so people can get a better sense of how the secondary color layers work.”

“Sure! I’ll get you in it too.” She laughed when he grimaced. “You don’t have to smile! Just stand there and paint and I’ll snap a picture. You won’t even know when it happens. It’ll be totally painless.”

He chuckled and continued to paint. She snapped a couple of pictures, making sure to get both Dane and most of the mural in the shots.

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