Page 40 of All You Need Is Love

Chapter 9

He’d managed to successfully avoid Quinn all day, but Marshall’s luck likely wouldn’t hold much longer.

He opened the back seat of Shannon’s Corolla and pulled out the last two desserts—some sort of cream pies. With as much care as possible, he shut the door with his foot and walked from the Walker Beach Community Park’s car lot back toward the huge grassy area where Shannon and several of her cousins bustled, putting the finishing touches on tonight’s picnic event.

They’d taken over the ramada, where picnic tables were lined with a variety of foods prepared by family members who had already started to arrive—fried chicken, pasta salad, baked beans, onion dip, potato salad, and chips. And that was only for the main course. The dessert table had already begun to fill with cakes, cookies, and every other sweet thing under the sun.

Even though the Bakers had taken over quite a bit of the park, a few other families currently lingered. Kids swung and played tag on the playground on the other side of the ramada. Across the park, a youth baseball team practiced on a field with floodlights that would turn on automatically at dusk, which was still several hours away.

Amazing how much open space there was here—room to breathe, to think, to gather—compared with Manhattan. Marshall couldn’t deny the strange ache that deflated his chest at the thought of leaving here on Monday—in just four days. Of course, that wasn’t all due to the beauty of California.

Not the beauty of the town anyway.

As he approached the ramada, his eyes sought her out. And there, her hair blowing about her cheeks as a draft caught it, Shannon was writing something on a clipboard. She glanced up.

His heart gave an extra tap.

“Are those for the pie-eating contest or dessert table?” she asked.

“Not sure. They’re the last ones from the back of your car.”

“Okay, the contest then.” Using her pen, she pointed toward a table in the grass. “Can you put them over there, please?”

Today she was all business, laser-focused. At some point, though, maybe he’d get to spend some time with her. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t pictured them latched together during the three-legged race. Or maybe instead, he’d steal her aside and talk about yesterday—and the fact he’d almost kissed her.

The fact he still wanted to. More than anything.

But after she’d outmaneuvered him yesterday, things had gotten less personal, just like now. They’d talked through event details and then she’d kicked him out so she could go to her aunt’s house and prep for this morning’s bridal shower.

Could be she just had her mind full with the event details. Maybe she’d be more open to talking once her part was finished. Then he could finally figure out what she was thinking.

And hopefully ease the ache in his chest—the one that was halfway sure the part of him that was starting to open up to someone was about to be crushed.

He shot her what he prayed was a casual grin. “Absolutely I can put them over there. What do you need me to do after that?”

“We’re almost done with the setup.” They’d been at it for a few hours at least, once she’d come over from Bella’s bridal shower. “Can you double check that all the equipment is in the right bin for each of the games?”

He saluted her. “You got it, boss.”

“Thanks, Marshall.” She stuck the pen in her mouth, biting down on the end for a few seconds before lowering it again. “Hey, so I have a confession to make.”

The cold of the pie tins seeped into his palms. “Okay.”

“Um … Quinn knows that I know.” Swiveling, Shannon took off in another direction.

Well, okay then. At least it was all out in the open—among the three of them, anyway.

As he walked the pies over to the table sitting in the shade of a huge elm, a horde of Bakers shouted their hellos to him, including Shannon and Quinn’s parents.

These were good people and he hated lying to them. But now that Shannon knew, could he convince Quinn to call the whole thing off? Maybe Shannon was right and he didn’t need her sister’s recommendation for the promotion anyway.

Marshall settled the pies on the table next to about a dozen others. A few flies buzzed around and he shooed them away. As he glanced up, Quinn approached. “Marshall.”

Just the person he’d been hoping to avoid—and yet, needed to talk with more than anyone. “Hey, Quinn.”

“Nice to finally see you. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you disappeared on me the last few days. Oh, and by the way—you told Shannon?”

He sighed. “Come on. I need to check a few things. We can talk as I work.” Turning, Marshall walked toward the game course, where several blue plastic tubs were lined up on the sidelines. “I told her the truth because I like her, Quinn. And I didn’t want to lie anymore.”

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