Page 63 of A Wedding in the Bay

“Do you want to go sit down on the couch in the living room?” he suggested as he handed her the coffee cup—a light blue one that he knew she liked.

“Sure.” She smiled at him, and he got the sense that her heart was thumping. That made his heart thump in response, but he returned her smile, and the two of them started toward the living room together.

They settled down on the couch together, facing a window that looked out onto the snowy backyard. As much as he wanted to blurt out the question, “Is something bothering you?” he decided not to press her. If she had something she wanted to say to him, she was going to say it. He knew her well enough by then to know that was how she operated.

“Beautiful day, isn’t it?” he said, taking a sip of his coffee. He sat back against the couch, letting the softness of the cushions support his tired muscles. “Cold, but beautiful.”

She chuckled. “You must be freezing. I’m still thawing just from walking to and from my car.”

She hesitated, as if she wanted to snuggle up to him but then stopped herself. He watched her carefully, feeling troubled and wondering what it was she was going to say to him.

Johanna gripped the sides of her coffee cup, staring at Everett’s carpet. It was an old rug—a beautiful old Persian rug, and she noticed a couple of holes in it and made a mental note that she’d liked to repair it for him. She knew enough about rug-making from Marsha to be able to repair a rug with yarn. It shouldn’t be too hard, all she would need was the right color of yarn—

She realized that she was still intending to be his girlfriend and be in his life. But what if after the conversation they were about to have, she wasn’t his girlfriend anymore?

She took a deep breath, telling herself to stay steady. She reminded herself of what she and Marsha had talked about, and she told herself to focus on how much she cared about him. Now that she was sitting next to him, however, that seemed to make her jitters worse. Reminding herself of how much she cared about him made her even more nervous about losing him.

“That was a beautiful wedding, wasn’t it?” he said, turning to her with a smile.

“It was.” She smiled back at him warmly, but inside her stomach twisted. Things were definitely awkward between them, and it was clear that he was trying to make small talk. It was like they were on a first date all over again—except their first date had been decidedly more comfortable than this. “Josie and Wesley are such a lovely couple. And the whole thing was just so pretty—so well decorated, and that venue is gorgeous. I’d never been there before. Blueberry Bay is full of hidden gems.”

“It certainly is,” he said, looking right at her as he said the words, and she felt herself blushing.

I’ve got to work up the nerve to tell him what I came here to say, she thought, holding onto her mug tightly.

She knew she was sitting stiffly, with her back straight and her feet held together, and she wondered if he was starting to get worried. He did look a little nervous. She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, that was the last thing she wanted to do—

“And it was fun to see so many of our friends at one time,” he said, still talking about the wedding. “It’s nice to have something important to come together to celebrate.”

She nodded. “Oh, certainly. Weddings are always so joyful.”

A couple of seconds elapsed, and then she set down her coffee mug on the coffee table in front of them. She twisted her hands together, trying to work up the nerve to say something. She told herself she was being silly to feel so nervous about it, but she also felt completely out of her element. She wasn’t used to dealing with matters of the heart—certainly not like this.

“Would—can I get you more coffee?” he asked softly, looking decidedly worried now.

“Did you mean it?” she blurted, the words spilling out of her all at once.

He blinked at her. “Did I mean—did I mean what?”

“Did you mean it when you called me your girlfriend?” she said, still clasping her hands together but speaking more calmly and slowly this time. “Is that what you want?”

For a second, he just stared at her, and she felt her heart drop through the floor. She felt sure that he was hesitating because he was questioning whether or not he wanted to be with her.

“Johanna,” he said softly. “How can you even ask me that? Of course that’s what I want.”

A smile broke over her face, and he grinned back at her. “Is that what you want?” he asked. “Are you having second thoughts now that we’ve made our relationship public?”

“I’ve gotten nervous now that we’ve made our relationship public,” she admitted honestly. “I find love incredibly scary. I guess that’s why I’d wanted to keep our relationship a secret in the first place. But I’m not having second thoughts. Not at all. I feel very confident that I want to be with you. I guess I was just starting to worry that maybe you were having second thoughts.”

“Why would I?” he said, brushing a strand of hair back behind her ear. His calloused fingertips touched her cheek. “How could I have second thoughts about getting to be with someone like you?”

Her heart stirred, and she leaned her head down toward his hand, pressing her cheek against it. “Do you really mean that?”

He rubbed his thumb gently over her jaw. “Johanna. Our relationship is definitely what I want. I wish there was some way I could show you how I feel about you.”

“You could tell me,” she said, smiling coyly and snuggling up against him.

He laughed and wrapped his arm around her, squeezing her tightly. “Hmm, well, I’ve never been one to wax poetic about things, but I’ll see if I can give you a decent sense of how I feel about you.” He stared into space, his eyes taking on a tender look, and her heart flooded with warmth. She tingled with excitement, wondering what he was going to say next.

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