“Yes, I guess you should.”She sat up and stretched, then rose from the glider.
He took her hand, and they walked through the cottage and out toward his car. She turned to him.“You think we could walk?”
“I’d like that very much.”Anything to delay the moment of her leaving him.
They held hands and walked through the streets of Moonbeam, passing no one, in and out of the light of the streetlamps, as the sky continued to lighten.
He dropped her off at the lobby of her condo, kissing her again, and turned to walk back home. Alone with his thoughts, he reviewed every moment of the night. The kisses. The look in her eyes. The way she felt so right in his arms.
Could he really be lucky enough to have a second chance with Heather Parker?
Heather sat on the balcony of her condo, not quite ready to go to sleep. Not quite ready to call it a night. Although actually, it was almost morning. Soon the sun would burst above the horizon. A new day would begin.
She reached up and touched her lips and smiled. So many kisses. Some gentle, some filled with desire and need. Her emotions swirled around her, but one thing, one emotion, was clear. She cared about Jesse. She always had. But could they really become more than friends?
She guessed they’d crossed that line tonight, anyway. The more than friends line.
She rose and paced back and forth on the balcony. But if they were going to work things out, see how things progressed between them…then they shouldn’t have any secrets. She stared out into the distance as the sun began to pink up the sky, hoping the sunrise would give her answers.
But her heart knew what she had to do. Needed to do. She’d tell him tomorrow. He’d understand.
Maybe.
Or it might ruin everything.
Okay, maybe she wouldn’t tell him tomorrow. Well, today, since it was daylight already. She’d like a few more days of this peacefulness with him. This truce. This rightness. But she’d tell him soon. And all she could do is hope he’d understand.
She had the wildest desire to call Livy and explain everything to her. Talk things through. Get her advice on the best way to tell Jesse. But it was way too early to be calling her cousin. And she wasn’t certain she was ready to tell Livy either.
She sighed and turned to go inside and try to get a few hours of sleep. With one last look out at the bay, she slid the door closed behind her.
At least this time, at the end of the night, Jesse hadn’t said it was all a mistake. Not like last time, when he’d said it and shattered her heart.
Chapter 14
The next day Jesse opened the door to his cottage to find a boy, maybe about Emily’s age—although he wasn’t very good at guessing kids’ages—standing on the front step.“Can I help you?”
“Are you—are you Jesse Brown?”A gleam of curiosity hovered in the boy’s eyes, and he quickly bit his lip.
“Yes.”He leaned against the doorjamb, wondering what the boy wanted. Maybe selling something? Was it candy selling time, or a wrapping paper fundraising, or…?
“I’ve been looking for you.”The boy shifted carefully from foot to foot, and a battered backpack slipped from his shoulder to the ground. He had on worn shorts, a t-shirt with some band name on it that he didn’t recognize, and scuffed up tennis shoes that had seen better days.
“Looking for me? What for?”
“Have you lived here forever?”
Curious question.“Yes, all my life.”
“Are there other Jesse Browns in Moonbeam?”
“Not that I’ve heard of.”He narrowed his eyes as a sense of wariness enveloped him.“What’s this about?”
The boy looked up, a mask of protectiveness firmly held across his features as he gulped a large breath of air.“I think that—at least I’m pretty sure—”His tone was overly nonchalant if a bit tinged with something.
Apprehension?
“What’s this about?”He repeated his question. He could tell the boy was nervous, but he needed to get to the point or they’d stand in the doorway all day.
