Chapter Twenty-Three
Twenty-Three
Hannah
Simon said he definitely liked me but I was afraid it was more than that for me.
I was falling for him. I didn’t want to.
I didn’t want to be the first one to fall in love or—oh, horror—the only one to fall in love.
But how was I supposed to resist a man holding a tiny baby?
I supposed I could blame it on my system never fully recovering from the hormones I’d had rocketing through me when I was trying to conceive, but I suspected that wasn’t it.
I was smitten with Simon O’Malley for better or worse.
If we had only this summer, so be it. I was going to enjoy every second of my time with him before we went our separate ways.
“You know, I was thinking.” Simon let go of my hand and looped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me up against his side. “On our bike ride to town, we should stop by the beach where our grandfathers first met.”
“Do we even know where that is?” I asked.
“Yes, because I called Tim Larson this morning and asked.”
“Tim from the Scoop? Did he ask you about painting the mural again?” I asked.
What I didn’t tell Simon was I’d looked up his children’s book.
It was a retelling of classic fairy tales.
The artwork was colorful and chaotic and his style would be absolutely perfect as a larger-than-life mural on the side of the building.
I would have badgered him to do it, but I wanted to respect his position that he was done with art even though I disagreed with that choice with every fiber of my being.
“No. He started to talk about it, but I redirected him, a skill I have honed when talking with Charlie when he gets caught in a conversational loop.”
“And what did you learn?” We walked up the steps to our front door together. Our front door. I tried not to get too enamored with the sound of that. Dude was standing in the living room window and started barking a greeting as soon as we stepped onto the porch.
“It’s only a little ways past town. I figured we could poke around town, check out the library and community center, and then press on to the beach. We can make a day of it. It’ll be fun.” He paused to examine my face as if I needed to be talked into such an awesome plan.
“Let’s do it.” I glanced up at the brilliant blue sky and knew I’d go anywhere this man asked me to…
unless it involved selling the cottage. I pushed the thought away.
I didn’t want to think about that right now.
All I could hope was that if he spent enough time here in Cape Split, he’d become too attached—to the town, the cottage, me? —to sell.
“All right, change into your bathing suit and beach clothes and meet me out front in ten,” he said. “Oh, and can Dude come with us? Is it too far for him?”
“No, in fact, if we don’t bring him, he’ll be deeply hurt.”
“Excellent,” he said. “I love that dog.”
And that right there was when my heart went splat as I fell for the man completely.
Dude trotted beside the bike as Simon and I wobbled our way to the beach. We were a little bit better than we’d been the first time, but I suspected it was because I was too tired from the night before to try to steer from the back.
Maybe it was the memory of triple orgasms, but when I looked at Simon in his bicycle helmet with his eyes shielded by a pair of aviators, I felt my heart rate pick up. The man was just irresistible. Good thing I had to hold on to the handlebar or I might have gotten handsy with the steersman.
Dude occasionally veered off the path to chase down a scent.
Simon would whistle and Dude would come bounding back with his ears flapping, his tongue hanging out, and a happy bounce in his step.
I laughed and glanced at Simon to share the moment and found him already watching me over his shoulder.
The intensity of his gaze caused my body to flash hot, and a delicious fluttery feeling hit me low and deep.
I hadn’t felt this sort of all-consuming attraction in forever and I reveled in it.
It occurred to me that this could be the solution to our problem. If Simon fell as hard for me as I was falling for him then maybe he would begin seeing the cottage as our place. Yes, it was a huge if, but I had a few weeks to hope for the best.
As we approached town, Simon guided us down Main Street. Dude stuck to the sidewalk while we stayed in the bike lane. We parked in front of the library, an old brick building that was two stories tall.
“We should get library cards,” I said as we stood outside with Dude.
Simon looked as if he was about to ask why when Monica Fisk exited with her three tykes in tow.
“Simon, Hannah, hello,” she began but the children shouted over her, “Dude!”
And just like that, Dude and the kids took off, scampering across the lawn that was enclosed by a short wrought iron fence.
“Are you going in?” Monica asked. “I can watch Dude for you. It’ll be good for the kids to run around a bit.” She set the large bag of picture books she carried onto the park bench and sat next to them as if relieved to have a minute of peace.
Simon and I exchanged a look. “Thanks, Monica. We’ll be right back.”
“Do not hurry,” she ordered as she relaxed back into her seat.
Simon and I entered the library and I was instantly entranced by the scent of books.
The building had two wings, one side was the adult side and one was the children’s.
The noise from the children’s side was cheerful chaos.
In front of us was a wide curving desk with two women working behind it.
One was middle-aged with a head of gray hair with purple streaks and the other looked to be in her early twenties with glasses and a wide welcoming smile.
“Hi, how can I help you?” she greeted us.
“What’s required for a library card?” I asked.
The young woman told us we needed a proof of local address for a permanent card, which neither of us had, or if we wanted a temporary card for the summer that was available, too. Much to my surprise Simon signed up for a card with me and we spent a pleasant half hour investigating the collection.
When we were leaving, the librarian with the purple streaks in her hair waved us over. “Hi, I was entering your information in the system, when I noticed your names. Are you related to Billy and Bobby?”
“Billy.” I pointed to myself.
“Bobby.” Simon did the same. “We’re their grandchildren.”
“Of course.” She nodded. Her eyes took on a shimmer and her lips were pressed tight. She forced a smile and said, “The reporter and the illustrator, your grandfathers spoke of you both quite highly. In fact, we have your book here, Mr. O’Malley, but I checked and all copies are out.”
“That’s very nice of you,” Simon said. He looked embarrassed so I quickly changed the subject while making a mental note to put the book on hold for myself.
“Were our grandfathers frequent patrons?” I asked.
“More than that,” the librarian said. “They were members of the Friends of the Library and volunteered to work every book sale. Billy always said they did it to get first dibs on the good stuff.”
I smiled as that sounded exactly like Pops.
“I was very sorry to hear of their passing,” she continued. “I’m Linda Tolliver. If ever you need anything, please come and see me.”
“Thank you, Linda, that’s very nice of you,” Simon said.
She smiled and then handed us two postcards. “These are Friends of the Library applications. If you just use the QR code and fill out the online form you’ll be all signed up.”
“Thank you,” Simon and I said together. We left the library with a wave, not speaking until we were outside.
“Did we just get muscled by a librarian?” Simon asked.
“And how,” I said, and then laughed.
“Let me guess,” Monica said as we joined her. “Linda got you to join the Friends.”
We both held up our cards and Monica tipped her head back and guffawed. “That woman is a marvel. If she ever decides to run the world, she’ll have it sorted in a week.”
Dude spotted us and ran across the grass as if he hadn’t seen us in years. He flopped at my feet with his tongue hanging out and Monica sighed as she rose from the bench. “Ah, well, break time is over. Come on, kids.”
“But, Mom…” the oldest, who had flopped on top of Dude, started to protest.
“No buts except the one on top of your legs that had better be headed to the car if you want ice cream from the Scoop for dessert tonight,” Monica said.
All three children fell in line, holding hands, as they speed-walked to the car. Monica smiled at us and said, “Never underestimate the power of ice cream.” She waved as she jogged after the kids.
“No truer words,” Simon said.
We ambled through town and I was struck by how idyllic life seemed here. Oh, sure, I knew people still had bills to pay, health crises, bad breakups, and dental appointments. I knew it wasn’t a utopia but at the same time, I could see why Pops and Gramps had made this their special place together.
By the time we got back on the bike, it was late afternoon as the day had gotten away from us. We were cruising past the shops when Simon turned his head toward me and said, “I need to make a stop.”
He steered us to a bike rack in front of Stephanie’s bakery, Beach Buns. The name still cracked me up. Dude sat beside me while I took off my helmet and settled it on the handlebars.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Nowhere,” he said. “I’m waiting for someone.”
I eyed him curiously. Now I was intrigued. Outside the bakery was a bowl of water for dogs and Dude helped himself. While he was slurping away, Stephanie came out of the bakery with a large tote bag and handed it to Simon. “Here you go, Simon, I got everything you asked for.”
“Hey, Hannah,” Stephanie greeted me. She leaned over and gave Dude a big old hug. “Who’s my sweet boy, Mr. Dude?”