Page 7 of Hearts Like Hers

Gia raised her hand. “Are you sure this isn’ta knee-jerk reaction to watching Olivia tie the knot? Just wondering.”

Autumn thought on this. Gia, though she had abig heart, wasn’t the type to hold back, and Autumn appreciated her candor. “Ican’t say it wasn’t a wake-up call of sorts. It made me take a good, hard lookat things. Call it a catalyst.” She shook her head with confidence. “But no,this is not about Olivia. For the first time in forever, this is aboutmeand what I want. I’mready to take control of my life. Work less. Live more. Sit on the beach andwrite poems. Find a good ice cream shop.”

“Well, yeah, about that ice cream,” Hadleysaid. “Wait. You write poetry?”

“I don’t. But I will try. It might rhyme atfirst, but I’ll work on it. The whole point is to get me out of my rut.”

Gia nodded. “Valid.”

“Thank you,” Autumn said. She addressed thegroup. “I want a family. Even if that family is just me and a little one, itwould be more than enough. I’d be a part of something bigger than me andimportant and amazing. Raising a human being.”

Isabel stood, looking mildly uncomfortable.“I may be the least sappy person in the room, but, damnit, now I have to hugyou. There’s an unseen force wielding its power and I must obey. This is out ofmy control.”

Autumn laughed and accepted the embrace fromher chair, an embrace that was promptly joined by Hadley and Gia, who piled ontop of her. “Thank you, guys,” she said, as her rebellious sentimentalitybubbled to the surface again. There’d been a lot of the raw, nerves-exposedkind of emoting lately, and she’d like to move past it. This moment wassignificant, however, and she allowed the brunt of the emotion some leeway.“You guys could have made me feel stupid over this decision, or changed my mindaltogether.”

“We would never do that,” Gia said. Shereally was a softy under all that hard athleticism.

“And I have very selfish reasons for mysupport,” Hadley said. “I get to be the best aunt ever.”

Autumn laughed. “Yes, you do. You all do.”She slid the banana bread forward. “Now shovel some of this down your pieholes. I have a new roast to try out.”

“Listen, you don’t have to ask a girl twice,”Isabel said, and grabbed three slices.

For the rest of the day, Autumn moved with anextra bounce in her step, noticing the nice weather through the window, thesmiles on the faces of her customers. Everything seemed to have an extra shinewith her new sense of direction.

She was going to be somebody’s mom. How crazyand scary and blissful did that sound?

“You in there?” Steve asked, waving a hand infront of her face with a smile.

“Right here,” she said, and handed him thecarton of skim milk he pointed at.

“Must be some awesome daydream.”

She grinned at him. “You have no idea.”

Chapter Three

The guy wasn’t there.

Kate was supposed to meet her contact fromAirbnb at 3:30. She’d showed. He hadn’t. He also wasn’t answering his phone.Damn.

Because she had absolutely nowhere else tobe, she put down the tailgate of her truck and took a seat. The downtimeallowed her the chance to take in the neighborhood. Even Venice, as laid backas it seemed, was faster paced than Slumberton. But, of course, it would be.Everything is when your town is literally named after sleep.

The best part about Venice? She didn’t knowthese people. Not the ones who ambled past with surfboards or whizzed by onRollerblades. A group of girls across the street held shopping bags from one ofthose tourist places that lined the beach. She didn’t know them either, andthat was exactly the point of her sojourn. The realization hit her, and a ghostof a smile touched her lips, the first real one in quite a while. As long asshe didn’t let her mind wander too far, she’d be fine. Escapism was what sheneeded.

“Did you know you’re in a tow-away zone?”

Kate swiveled. Standing there on the sidewalkwas a woman with curly red hair that fell partially across green eyes. Prettyones. “What’s that?”

“Your truck.” The redhead pointed up at thesign indicating the times of day one could and could not park on that sectionof the street. Apparently, Kate was in violation. “It’s before six.”

“Oh. Gotcha. Thanks for the heads-up.”

“No problem.” But the redhead didn’t leave.She stood there, watching. Kate knew because she could feel her stare againstthe side of her face. “But you’re not moving. I only say anything because thecops around here are militant about illegal parking. Neighborly thing, youknow.”

“Cool. You’re nice for telling me.”

The woman nodded. “Sure.” She walked on,turned back a moment, and then continued on her way. Kate watched her walk,enjoying the subtle sway of her hips. Feminine if not a touch sassy. She couldnever pull off sassy. Not that she wanted to.

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