“Well… good night then.” She stood there awkwardly. “I should go in.”
“Yes. Good night. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”
She headed inside and flipped on the light. She glanced out the window to see him heading off down the sidewalk, the strap of his chair slung across one of his broad shoulders.
It had been a nice evening. And Dale’s company on the walk home had been unexpected and… enjoyable.
He was just being friendly, she reminded herself.
* * *
Dale headed down the sidewalk, the balmy night air his only company. He’d had a good time at the park this evening. It had been nice sitting with Beverly and Maxine.
Okay, really nice sitting next to Maxine. She was the first woman in a long time to catch his eye. She was friendly, funny, and hardworking. And he loved that she was fixing up the bookcase to help Beverly.
He wondered what it would be like to have a friend you’d known since childhood and were still friends with. His parents had moved him around so many times when he was a kid. He’d lived in six cities by the time he got to high school, then they’d moved again his senior year. Not much of a chance to make lifelong friends with a childhood like that.
But at least he’d had summers with his aunt. She’d welcomed him every summer for a month-long stay. He helped out at the shop and she taught him how to restore furniture. They’d go for walks on the beach, collecting shells, and get ice cream cones from the ice cream shop. At least he had one constant in his childhood. His aunt. Which is why when she took a fall, he came to help her out. That and the fact the timing was precisely right for him. He’d needed a change. Needed to get away from San Francisco.
He headed up the drive to his aunt’s cottage. He still thought of it as hers, but it was his now. A cute little bungalow on the beach. It had a small guest cottage out back where he’d lived until Aunt Ginger passed away. He’d resisted moving into the main house for months after she was gone. But she’d insisted before she died that he have the house and live there. So he finally did as she wished. He missed her every day. Her smile. The way she sang as she worked in the kitchen. He had friends here, of course. But it just wasn’t the same. Some nights, loneliness just seemed to cling to the air in the cottage.
He set his chair on the porch and headed inside, flipping on the light. The warm glow illuminated the main room. He hadn’t really changed a thing when he moved in. A couch with large magnolia blooms on it sat against one wall. Wasn’t his style, but he couldn’t bear to part with it. He looked over at the bookshelves lining one wall. He’d go through them and see if there were some books he could donate to Beverly’s lending library. Aunt Ginger had been an avid romance reader. She’d be pleased if others were enjoying her books.
He wandered through the house and stepped out onto the deck, away from the loneliness of the cottage. The moon played hide and seek behind the clouds. It popped out and tossed silver beams of light across the waves. A bird called in the distance. The salty air ruffled his hair. He wasn’t sure why he all of a sudden felt out of sorts. But he did. And he wasn’t sure how to fix it.
CHAPTER7
Dale picked Maxine up promptly at nine forty-five on Monday. She climbed into his van and they drove to the ferry landing, joining the short line of vehicles headed for the mainland. The boat approached the landing and let off the arriving cars and people. Soon their line rolled onto the ferry and Dale parked his vehicle.
“You want to head up top? Catch the view on the way over?” he asked as he shut off the motor.
“Yes, let’s do that.” They headed up the stairs and out onto the top level of the ferry. She watched as the captain cast off, and soon they were chugging their way across the bay. The ferry cut through the water, throwing billowing wake behind them. She laughed as the wind tossed her curls this way and that. She knew better than this. To not bring something to tie her hair back.
“A bit windy up here today.” Dale looked at her fighting back her curls.
“It is. But I still much prefer coming up top rather than sitting in the car or in the downstairs waiting area. There’s just something about being out on the bay. The view. Seeing the island fade and the mainland grow larger.”
Dale pointed off to the side. “And soon, the ferry won’t be needed. They say the bridge is planned to be finished sometime next year, though they’ve had quite a few delays.”
“It will be so different after the bridge is in, won’t it?”
“It will. Good for business, probably. But I fear it will change the town. I’ve really gotten into the history of it since I moved here. My aunt knew so much about it and told me a lot of stories. Then I found a few books on the history of the town. And it just grew from there.”
“Beverly said you have a section of your store set up as a kind of historical section.”
“I do. It’s as close as the town will ever get to an actual history museum, I guess.” His smile radiated his enthusiasm for learning the history of Magnolia Key. “I want to see if we can preserve the history, and yet, I know the town needs to change with the times. I just don’t want everything we love about it to be upended with the bridge.”
“I’d love to see your historical collection. Wouldn’t mind learning more about the island myself. I mean, I grew up here, but I wasn’t interested in old stories back then.” She laughed. “I was more interested in boys. Or hanging out with my friends at the beach.”
“Did you have a special boyfriend back then?”
“Not really. Dated a few boys, but nothing serious. Then I went away to college, and that’s where I met my husband.”
Dale looked surprised.
“I mean my ex-husband.” It was still hard for her to remember to refer to him as that. “We’re divorced. A few years now.”
“I’m sorry.”
