Read Online Summer Beach Reads 5-Book Bundle: Beachcombers, Heat Wave, Moon Shell Beach, Summer House, Summer Breeze by Nancy Thayer - Free Book Online Page B

with his tanned skin and curly brown hair and large hazel eyes. He had told her when he first showed her the cottage that he was widowed. She wondered whether he had a girlfriend, and what she would think of him taking Marina out for lunch. Probably, given Jim’s gregariousness, it was not unusual at all.
    As they got back into the truck, the rain diminished and suddenly the clouds parted and the sun shone down.
    “Do you still want to go into town and get an umbrella?” Jim asked her.
    “Absolutely,” Marina told him. “I remember how much it rains on this island.”
    She settled back in the seat, rolled down the window, and took a deep breath of the clean rinsed air. “I hope you don’t mind myasking this, but could I have your permission to paint the walls of the cottage?”
    “Well, of course, but you shouldn’t have to do that. I know those walls need some brightening. I can do it or have my crew come over while you’re out.”
    “Oh, I wouldn’t mind at all. In fact, I’d enjoy the painting. I like painting walls, seeing the new color rise, and I like the actual work. It’s kind of like a Zen activity.”
    He laughed. “If you really want to, then please do. But let me reimburse you for the cost of the paint.”
    “It’s a deal,” she told him.
    “Have you ever been out on the west part of the island?”
    She shook her head. “I don’t think so. Mostly we went to Cisco or Dionis, to the beach.”
    Jim pulled into a parking spot on Main Street. “Here you are. I’ve got to go back to work.”
    “Well, thanks so much for lunch!” She turned to face him, and something
zinged
between them. Startled, she blurted out, “The food was delicious and I loved meeting all your friends and maybe I will volunteer in the library. I hadn’t really thought of volunteering, but maybe I will—” She shut her eyes tight, took a deep breath, and opened them. “I’m babbling.”
    “And you do it very well,” Jim told her with a grin. “I’m going over to Tuckernuck someday soon. Want to go? We could have a little picnic.”
    “Oh. Do you have a boat?”
    “I do. A little runabout out in the Madaket Harbor. Nothing elegant. Smells like fish, probably.”
    “I’d love to go out with you,” Marina told him.
    “Then we’ll do it,” he promised. “Soon.”
    She stepped down from the truck and waved good-bye and set off walking down the sidewalk, and all the while she just couldn’t stop smiling.

11

Abbie
    “See what I mean?” Lily and Abbie were peering out the window.
    Abbie let the curtain fall. “She doesn’t have a car. Dad probably agreed to drive her somewhere.”
    “It’s lunchtime. I think they’re going on a date.”
    “So what if they are, Lily? Dad’s allowed to date.” Abbie padded barefoot down the hall to the kitchen. She’d slept late, and she was starving. Opening the refrigerator, she scanned the contents. “No bacon? No eggs?”
    “Dad has to watch his cholesterol,” Lily informed her. “And I need to watch my weight. We’re a bran and granola family now.”
    “Ugh.” Abbie opened the cupboard and took down a bowl and a mug. “Where’s Emma? Did she go out?”
    “Did she go
out
? Are you kidding? You saw her yesterday. She’s been
flattened.
She hasn’t gone out since she got here.” Lily eyed her sister assessingly. “I was right to get you back here, wasn’t I?”
    “Oh, I don’t know, Lily!” Abbie sounded irritable. She bumped the silverware drawer shut with her hip. “Don’t you guys drink coffee?”
    “Dad does. He keeps it in the freezer door. Don’t ask me why. Listen, I have to bike over to the magazine for a staff meeting. I’ll see you later, okay?”
    “Wait a minute, Lily.” Abbie leveled a serious look at her sister.“Don’t think I’m going to
fix
Emma right away or even at all. She’s going through a really tough time, that’s for sure. But she’s an adult. I can’t kiss her owie and make everything okay.”
    “But you can