Page 56 of The Library of Second Chances
He put a hand over his heart. “Hey, why is everyone ganging up on me?”
“Easy target.” Carly smiled. “Lucy, have dinner with us. I insist.”
“No.” Lucy shook her head. “You need time to catch up as a family. Besides, Logan has had to deal with me enough lately. He probably needs a break.”
When he said nothing, Carly glared at him, her eyes widening as she tried to telepath that she expected him to jump in and back up her invitation.
“From you? Never.” He locked eyes with Lucy. He didn’t smile or laugh. He didn’t try to play it off like a joke. He wanted her to know he meant it.
Because against all odds, and even against his better judgment, he wanted to spend more time with Lucy Sullivan.
Twenty-One
Lucy
“You made her night.” Carly wrapped an arm around her daughter’s shoulders as the five of them walked down the sidewalk to dinner.
After Lucy had locked up the store, she’d let Alex climb the ladder and told her to hold on as she slid her down the wall of books, just like Annie had done with her so many years ago. It made her picture having a daughter of her own someday, something she hadn’t dared to let herself dream of since Carter left. What were the odds she was going to meet a man her age in Heron Isle who actually planned to stick around long enough to get married and build a life here?
“Don’t tell anyone,” Lucy said, placing a finger over her mouth. “I only let special little girls on the ladder.”
Alex put her hand to her mouth and made a movement as if she was turning a key, and Lucy laughed. Carly’s kids were terrific, and she and Carly had made an immediate connection ina way she’d never experienced with another woman. She felt as if she’d known her forever.
When they reached the end of Main Street, they turned the corner to the right along Front Street and went into the Marina Restaurant. Lucy asked if they could be seated at a table on the second-floor balcony so they could look out over the water while they ate. It was a popular place for tourists, but Lucy usually got her food to go and ate it in the bookstore for lunch. It was nice to have a group of people to sit down and eat with.
“I could get used to this view.” Carly slid her sunglasses on top of her long brunette hair as she looked toward the water.
A half dozen sailboats bobbed on the water to the right of the Waterway Café, taking advantage of the calmer water on the southwestern side of the island. Farther south, they could see the outline of Amelia Island—Pete’s hometown—with its fort that was still intact. Islands dotted the coastline in both directions from Heron Isle, part of the more than one hundred that made up the Sea Island chain running from South Carolina to North Florida.
“I have to admit, I take it for granted sometimes. I can’t remember the last time I sat up here.” Lucy turned to follow Carly’s gaze, allowing herself to take it all in.
“And you want to build a bunch of crap out there?” Carly frowned as she nudged her brother and nodded toward the waterfront.
“No, he just wants to park giant cruise ships and casino boats out there so we can become the Bahamas,” Lucy teased.
Carly’s mouth fell open as she gave her brother a look that said she thought he was crazy.
“There you two go, ganging up on me again.” He turned to his sister. “When’s your flight back?” He looked at his watch.
“Not for thirty-six more hours, so strap in, baby brother.” Carly laughed before leaning over to help Alex decide what she wanted for dinner.
They ordered, each of them getting some version of shrimp, then they settled into easy conversation about everything from the history of the island to how Lucy came to own the bookstore. Carly asked her smart questions about how she chose the books to carry and didn’t once make her feel like an alien just because she didn’t have an online store or a Facebook page. She even admitted that she was taking a self-imposed social media break while trying to raise kids who weren’t glued to their phones.
“These will keep us busy for a while.” Carly lifted her bag of books from Lucy’s store, two for herself and one for each of the kids.
“Did Lucy tell you she’s writing a book?” Logan smiled in her direction.
If Lucy hadn’t known better, she would have thought there was a hint of pride in Logan’s voice.
She could feel herself blushing under his gaze, so she turned to Carly. “It’s no big deal. I’m just playing around with an idea.”
“Ooh, tell me about it.” Carly leaned over to take a sip of her Miami Vice, a swirling pink-and-white mixture of piña colada and strawberry daiquiri with a towering crown of whipped cream complete with a cherry on top.
Lucy bit her lip, afraid Carly would ask her where she got the idea. She was a terrible liar, and she didn’t want to tell Carly the story about the Little Free Library. But if she was going to send the idea to Leona, she might as well get used to talking about it.
“Well… Have you ever seen one of those Little Free Libraries that are popping up? People leave their used books and take one if they see something they like.”
“Oh, yeah, we just got our first one recently. Such a fun idea.”
