Page 19 of A Future in the Bay

She’d seemed so serious when he’d met her. Perhaps it wasn’t fair of him to assume that she was that way all the time—after all, they’d almost gotten into a car accident—but he’d gotten the impression that she was a no-nonsense, all business type of person.

As he walked along the school hallways, looking for a drinking fountain, he began to wonder how he might be able to lighten her up. He pondered the puzzle energetically—the challenge was something he was looking forward to tackling. He smiled a little to himself as he filled up his water bottle, imagining the serious Gwen starting to laugh and smile. He wondered what he could do to make her feel happy and at ease.

As he was making his way back along the school’s hallways toward the playground, he heard someone call his name. He turned, and saw Olivia hurrying toward him, grinning.

“Hey, you,” she said, giving him a bear hug. “I was just coming outside to pay you a visit. How’s it all going?”

“Great,” he said, returning the bear hug. “I was just coming back inside for some water.”

“I’ll walk you back to the playground,” she said. “My teaching assistant is getting the kids settled for a half hour video, so she told me I could sneak out and talk to you for a while.”

“I have a feeling you want to talk to me about more than just the renovations,” he said, grinning. “You’ve got that impish look in your eyes again.”

She chuckled as they stepped back out into the sunlight. “I might have something to relate that I feel a little extra excited about.”

“What is it?” he asked, and then he knew what it was in the next instant. “You went to visit Gw—that doctor?”

“I did.” She clasped her hands behind her back and sashayed along beside him. “I brought her lemon bars. I’d misplaced my own recipe, but I asked Paige Garner for one and they turned out even better than my usual ones. Of course they would. Paige is a baking wizard.”

“Did she like them?”

She shrugged. “She didn’t eat any of them while I was there. I snuck in there in the middle of her workday, so she was probably feeling busy.”

“What did you think of her? Does she seem as serious-minded as I thought she was?”

She nodded. “She definitely does. I see what you were talking about. And I like her. She seems like a kind person, but the type that puts kindness into practice in different ways. Like, she spends her days helping people, but seemed uncomfortable with a friendly conversation. She seems like she doesn’t really know how to let loose.”

“Hmm.” He nodded. “Maybe Blueberry Bay will show her how to enjoy the fun side of life.”

“Blueberry Bay and you,” she teased, amusement dancing in her eyes.

He chuckled, lifting one shoulder in a shrug.

“You know,” his sister said slyly, grinning at him, “maybe the two of you will really hit it off. I think she would be the perfect woman for someone like you. You’d provide the fun, and she’d provide the structure. You’re so relaxed that you need someone more structured in your life.”

His jaw dropped for an instant, and then he collected himself and waved his hand through the air, dismissing her teasing.

“Nonsense,” he said. “I’m just hoping to be her friend and tutor her in the ways of optimism. I’m not looking for a relationship or anything like that.”

“Just friendship.” She gave him a look that suggested she could see right through him.

He wondered if the tips of his ears were turning pink, but he just shook his head at her, laughing.

“I do want to spend more time with her. I want to try to make it up to her for almost hitting her with my truck. I don’t want her to think that the people here are inconsiderate, or that I don’t take it seriously that I should have been more careful. And I want to get to know her better. She—she seems like an enigma to me. I’d like to try to crack the code of her, so to speak.”

She laughed, looking impish. “You do, huh? Well, I warned her that you weren’t just going to let the situation go, and you wanted to make it up to her.”

“Really? What did she say?”

“Well, I guess your description of a fish out of water really was pretty accurate. She blinked at me a lot. She didn’t seem totally opposed to the idea, though.”

He grinned. “Did you paint me as some kind of devastated, guilty man who needed to atone for his errors?”

She laughed. “No. I said you were very nice. I think she gets the idea. You’re the type to want to make up for things when you make a mistake, and your outgoing nature makes you the kind of person who’s always willing to approach a stranger and pull them out of their shell. She’ll have all kinds of fun with you. She just doesn’t know it yet.”

He shrugged, grinning. “Hey, at least she’s been warned. Otherwise, me showing up out of the blue with the intent to be friendly might have been too much for her.”

She laughed. “You’re like an extraterrestrial to her. She needed advance warning of the alien landing.”

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