Page 23 of Beach Cottage Kisses
And for a second there…as her heart melted…she was jealous.
Chapter Six
The realtor, Walt Wright, asked if he could sit with his clients, a young couple without pets, right there at the cottage to write the offer. Since Scott, as a lawyer, was acting agent for his twin, he granted them permission and then headed toward the back door, to the half-finished beer he’d left outside.
As many times as he’d been in and out of Sage’s house without knocking, it didn’t feel right, suddenly, to remain on the porch, even. In fifteen minutes’ time, the feeling of ownership had transferred.
Figuring Iris would have gone home to dinner, he told Walt as he was leaving that he’d be at his place. Told the realtor to call when they were ready.
And walked outside to see Iris still there. Sitting in the sand, a dog lying on each side of her. A light in the darkness that had fallen.
Both on the day, and in his life at the moment.
His sense that the life he’d loved so much was changing was ridiculous. Sage and Leigh, and now his best friend, were all going to be right there. Underfoot. Just a few cottages farther down. He wasn’t losing his family.
He’d gained a brother.
“Change sucks,” he said as, beer in hand, he plopped down beside Iris.
“Even good change,” she agreed, staring out at the waves, not studying or analyzing him. Something he’d always liked about her.
That had changed for a second or two there over the weekend. Thank God his friend was back, at least.
“I don’t know how long they’ll be,” he told her. “I should get back. Morgan needs to eat.”
As did he.
“I’ve got a large baked potato in the oven,” she said. “I only eat half. And there’s salad. If you’d like to eat down here rather than walking back and forth. Angel has food to share with Morgan.”
He’d rather. Not because of Iris, in particular, but because she understood the melancholy that had fallen over him. More, she shared it.
With Sage’s marriage, her move down the beach and a new baby on the way, life was changing for Iris, too. She was bound to see less of both Sage and Leigh.
And the new buyers, that night’s activity, they’d affect Iris most as they’d be living right next door to her.
Besides, he hadn’t yet had a chance to see all of Iris’s dolphin photos before Walt had interrupted them.
“Morgan, you want to eat with Angel tonight?” he asked the corgi contentedly lying in the sand. Hearing the wordeat, the girl stood up, her short little legs doing her rendition of a dance as she stared up at him.
“I take that as a yes,” he said, watching as Iris stood, too. Resisting an inner nudge to offer her a hand up. He’d never even had the thought before.
Told himself not to have it again as he walked by her side to the lighted cottage he’d only been in once or twice. To help move in the new living room furniture she’d purchased a couple of years before.And once to add an electrical outlet to her workroom.
She was a friend. Just like Gray. Not a slender woman dressed in finery, dancing in his arms.
What a mistake the whole best-man, maid-of-honor thing had been. When Sage had announced the coupling, suggesting to Scott that he bring a date, telling them both that there were seats and meals for a plus one for each of them at the bridal table, Scott had politely declined. The last thing he’d wanted that night was a casual person by his side who had no idea who Sage was, or how big the day was for her.
Or him, as it had turned out.
He’d given his twin away, so to speak.
Sharing the evening with a good friend who’d get it, while expecting nothing from him, had presented itself as the perfect choice.
If anyone had told him that the night would end with a kiss that didn’t seem to fade, he’d have scoffed. Clued them in on his and Iris’s very solidly platonic relationship.
She’d been talking about salad dressing choices. And the turkey and ham she’d already cut up for that night’s meal.
While he’d been trespassing on off-limit territories.
