Read Online Seaside Reunion by Irene Hannon - Free Book Online

nook.
    “I’ll be there in a minute.” She fingered the piece of paper. “This is a very nice gesture. Thanks for offering to help.”
    The warmth in her eyes reached deep inside him, thawing the chill that had long ago numbed his heart.
    “It’s no big deal. And it might not work.”
    “You know the old saying, it’s the thought that counts. This one gets high marks.”
    With that, she swiveled around to answer her father’s summons.
    As she disappeared from view behind the shelves, Nate rested his elbows on the table and linked his fingers. He was glad Lindsey was touched by his gesture. But a story on children losing a parent? What had he gotten himself into?
    He had no doubt Clark Gunn, the features editor at the Tribune , would be interested in the piece. And it was possible that reading about other children whose parents had died would, indeed, help Jarrod find ways to cope with his loss.
    But his gut also warned him he might be opening a can of worms from his own past that was better left undisturbed.
    And his gut was rarely wrong.
     
     
    “How about a second helping of those scalloped potatoes?” Genevieve paused beside Nate’s table and smiled down at him. “You made short work of the first one. And everything else.”
    Nate checked out his plate. It was clean enough to bypass the dishwasher, thanks to his diligent efforts to sop up every last speck of gravy with one of Lillian’s melt-in-the-mouth biscuits.
    “I can’t keep eating like this. I’ll go home twenty pounds heavier.”
    “You could stand to gain a little weight.”
    That was true. He’d grown too lean in Afghanistan. But violence and gore had a way of killing a man’s appetite. As did the memory of violence and gore. Since arriving in Starfish Bay, though, he’d been scarfing down every meal.
    “Maybe. And you and your sister are doing your part. This was the best salisbury steak I ever ate. And the gravy…” He gave a satisfied sigh. “You two should have your own program on Food Network.”
    Genevieve beamed at him. “Flattery will get you everywhere. How would you like a piece of blackberry cobbler—on the house?”
    Nate patted his stomach. “No room, I’m sorry to say. But I’ll take a rain check.”
    “You’ve got it. Does that mean you’ll be staying around a few more days?”
    He gave her a sheepish look as he realized he’d only paid through last night. “I decided earlier today to hang around a little longer. Another couple of weeks, at least. Which means I owe you more money.”
    The older woman waved his comment aside. “You can settle up when you leave. You must be having fun, if you’re staying longer.”
    Fun? Not quite the right word.
    “Interesting would be a better way to describe it.” He wiped his lips on his napkin and set the lavender cloth on the table, next to the paper placemat adorned with orchids.
    “You’ve certainly been spending a lot of time at the Mercantile.”
    “They have Wi-Fi.”
    “Not to mention a pretty shopkeeper.” Genevieve grinned. “Lindsey Collier is a real looker, as they used to say in my day. Before compliments like that were deemed politically incorrect.”
    Nate did his best to keep the flush on his neck from creeping any higher. “I remember her as a little girl with pigtails.”
    “She’s all grown up now.”
    No kidding.
    “That happens to all of us.” He kept his tone conversational, though his pulse kicked up a notch as he pictured the gentle curve of her lips. “I used to be a skinny kid with smudged glasses.”
    “You grew up real fine, too.” She leaned over and adjusted the bud vase that held a single silk orchid. “I hope you won’t think I’m being too personal, but I’ve been wondering if there might be a wife or girlfriend or fiancée somewhere waiting for you.”
    Uh-oh. He knew what that gleam in Genevieve’s eyes meant. Time for diversionary tactics.
    “No. My job isn’t conducive to any of the above. No one’s waiting for me