Chapter 11
Kaiah rubbed her eyes and yawned as she pushed herself out of bed. It was after nine, but she’d only been asleep since five.
She’d been up working on her article, researching Coral Cove, and thinking about Reid. Not necessarily in that order.
Even after she’d sent the article to Libby and crawled into bed, Kaiah stayed awake, replaying the events of the previous
evening—how Reid had handled the raucous crowd, how he had encouraged her to talk to them, how he had rested his hand on the
small of her back, how they’d held hands like it was the most natural thing in the world. He was kind, thoughtful, caring.
And clearly he was becoming important to her. Which had never been part of her travel plans.
Great. Just great.
She groaned and covered her face with her hands.
After taking a hot shower, she dressed and ate a quick breakfast of cold cereal. Just as she sat down in front of her computer,
a knock sounded at her door. When she opened it, she found Reid holding two cups of coffee.
“Good morning.” Reid held out one of the to-go cups for her. “I picked up coffee for us.”
Kaiah took the cup. “Thanks.”
“It’s a vanilla latte. They even spelled your name right.”
She turned the cup to the side and found “Cayenne” written in black magic marker, and she snorted. Then she clasped her hand
to her mouth to shield her yawn.
His face clouded with a concerned frown. “Uh-oh. You still tired?”
“I was up most of the night writing my article, but I got it done. I sent it to my editor around five.”
“Oh, wow.” Disappointment and concern covered his face. “You need rest. I’ll let you go back to bed.”
She grabbed his arm and tugged him toward her. “No, no, no. Come on in. We have a lot of work to do.”
Reid didn’t look convinced. “Uh, you have dark circles under your eyes. I don’t think ‘a lot of work’ should be on your agenda
right now.”
“Fine. How about this,” Kaiah began. “If I start to fall asleep, I’ll take a quick nap, and then we can get together later.”
Reid considered her words. “Okay.” Then he lifted his eyebrows. “Any chance I can read your article?”
She hesitated before slowly nodding her head. “Sure.”
He gestured to the sofa, where her laptop was sitting on the coffee table. She opened the article file and set the computer
on his lap, holding her breath while his dark eyes scrolled across the screen. When he finished, she froze, waiting for his
reaction.
“It’s perfect,” he said. “I love how you describe our town.”
Relief coursed through her body as she closed the computer and set it on the coffee table. “Thanks.” She leaned back against
the arm of the sofa.
“Seriously, it’s awesome. Thank you, Ky.”
“It was my pleasure, truly.” She let out a small breath she wasn’t even aware she’d been holding. “So what’s the plan for today?”
“Well, I had an idea while I was getting dressed this morning. There are so many organizations that host marathons. What if
we have a walk or a run that tied to the festival?”
“I love it!” Kaiah pulled out her notebook. “We could have the start and finish line at the lighthouse.”
He rubbed the dark scruff on his neck. “Exactly. We’ll map out a route that goes in a big circle and comes back to the lighthouse.
The participants could get sponsors to pledge donations based on their performance.”
“I think it’s a great idea. I’ll add it to the list,” Kaiah said while writing in her notebook. “So we need to start planning
a race. What’s our first action item for that?”
“How about we talk to the PE teacher at Piper’s school?” Reid offered. “He has experience with this sort of thing and can
tell us what to do next.”
She pushed her notebook into her backpack. “Good point. Let’s go.”
After checking in at the front office at Coral Cove Elementary School, Reid and Kaiah ambled through the long hallways until
they came to the gym. The scent of rubber and sounds of laughter breezed over him as he watched a class playing kickball.
Kaiah’s blue eyes sparkled as they darted around the hallway and then back at the large gym. “You and Becca went to school
here?”
“Yeah. Not much has changed.”
She hugged her notebook to her chest, and when she smiled, a happy current raced through his veins.
“It must be special raising your daughter in the same town where you grew up. You can share all of your memories and traditions with her and enjoy seeing her experience some of those same traditions, like the festival.”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “It is special.”
A bell trilled in the hallway, announcing the end of class. The students lined up before a young woman led them out, reminding
him of a mother duck leading her ducklings to a pond.
“Reid?” Coach Emmerson rushed over and shook Reid’s hand. “What a nice surprise!” The middle-aged man’s hair was more gray
than dark brown, but he still had the same smile Reid remembered from his school days.
“Coach Emmerson, this is Kaiah Ross. She’s a reporter with The Traveler.” He made a sweeping gesture to Kaiah, who also shook the coach’s hand. “We were hoping to talk to you about an event for
the spring festival. Do you have a few minutes?”
“I do. Let’s go to my office.”
They followed the coach to an office located beside the gym, where Reid and Kaiah sat in front of his desk.
Coach Emmerson leaned back in his chair, which squeaked under his weight. “My wife attended the meeting last night and came
home excited about the festival. How can I help?”
“We’re planning some events to raise money for the school, and we want to have a mini-marathon,” Reid began. “It would be
a walk and run that could start and end at the lighthouse.”
Coach Emmerson folded his hands over his middle. “I like it.”
“I’ve been thinking about names, and I think Beacon of Hope Run and Walk would tie in well with the theme of the festival,”
Kaiah suggested.
“Perfect,” Reid said, and she shot him a smile that melted his heart for a moment. He turned back to the coach. “Could you
help us plan it?”
Coach Emmerson sat forward, and his chair groaned in protest. “I sure can. We have walk-a-thons at the school sometimes, so I can design the forms participants can use to ask for sponsorships and pledges.”
“Fantastic,” Kaiah said. “How about ribbons or trophies?”
“We have a closet full of them. If you send me the logo for the festival, I can take care of decorating them for you.” He
tapped his finger on the desk. “I bet Piper would love to give out the trophies and ribbons to the winners.”
Kaiah touched Reid’s arm. “I’m sure she would.”
Reid nodded, unable to think of much else but the weight of Kaiah’s warmth pressing on his arm.
Coach Emmerson discussed the forms and the awards before they exchanged email addresses and phone numbers.
Soon Reid and Kaiah were heading down the hallway.
Kaiah had a spring in her step. “That went great.”
“It did.” He came to a stop at the end of the hallway and grabbed her hand. “Want to visit Piper’s classroom?”
Kaiah’s blue eyes sparkled. “Of course.”
He led her to the temporary first-grade section and stopped at a door with “Ms. Mason” written on it.
“Reid, look,” Kaiah gasped, gripping his bicep and tugging him toward a wall of artwork beside the classroom, featuring seascapes
and lighthouses. “What are the chances?”
He pushed his hand through his hair and perused the display until he found his daughter’s picture. Piper had colored a seascape.
The careful crayon lines showed a lighthouse with a bright rainbow stretched across a construction-paper sky. He imagined
his daughter concentrating on her drawing, biting her lip with her brow furrowed. Pride swelled within him.
Kaiah sidled up and tapped the bulletin board where the drawings hung. “You know what this means?”
“That we need to have a lighthouse craft booth for the kids?”
“Exactly,” she told him. “The kids can make lighthouses out of different materials or even draw them.” She lifted her gaze,
locking her eyes with his. “This is going to be amazing, Reid.”
“Yeah.” He stared down at her, and when his eyes lowered to her mouth, a heat began to wash over him as his heart pounded
wildly in his chest. For a moment he imagined how soft her lips would feel on his, and he yearned to find out.
His chin dipped, and her eyes fluttered shut.
And just before his lips touched hers, a door opened down the hall.
Reid jumped back and did a mental headshake. He was about to make out with Kaiah. In his daughter’s school. Not the best idea, but could he really help it? Once again, he felt an invisible magnet pulling him toward this woman. He seemed powerless
to resist her.
“Hello, Mr. Turner.” Ms. Robertson, the principal, headed down the hall, her heels clacking on the worn, polished concrete
floor. “Are you here to visit Piper’s classroom?”
Reid cleared his throat. “Hi, Ms. Robertson. Yes, I am. This is my friend Kaiah Ross. She’s a reporter doing a story on Coral
Cove, and we were here discussing an idea for the upcoming festival with Coach Emmerson.” He made a sweeping gesture between
the women. “Ms. Robertson is the principal.”
The principal nodded a greeting.
“Hi.” Kaiah pointed toward the bulletin board. “We were admiring the students’ artwork.”
“I heard about the festival from members of the PTO. The theme is perfect.”
Reid shared their ideas about the marathon and the arts and crafts tent.
“The kids will love both of those events. You should tell Piper’s class about it,” Ms. Robertson said. “I’m sure the kids will get their parents involved in each of them. The PTO is going to work on flyers to send home with all of the students.”
“That’s perfect,” Reid said.
While Ms. Robertson continued down the hall, Kaiah grabbed Reid’s arm as excitement flashed over her features. “Getting the
elementary school involved is such a great idea. I’m sure the other schools will want to participate too.”
“Definitely.” He peeked into the window of Piper’s classroom door and spotted her sitting in the front row. All of the students