“So,” he said in an attempt to bring the conversation back to reality, and the job they’d meant to do.“What did your cousin say?And if it wasn’t your cousin, who was it?”
She laughed, which was a good sign.“Yes.It was my cousin.Calling sneakily on her boyfriend’s cell phone.In exchange for her bad behavior, which I’m still not ready to talk about…”
“Fair,” he said.
“Someone, whether it was her or Samuel I don’t care, made us an appointment with the photographer.”
“An appointment?”
She nodded.“Yeah.The photographer wants to see us at, like, six.”
“Does he know what it’s about?”he asked.realizing that this was a question that needed to be asked.“Or are we dropping the bombshell about Ida and her shenanigans?”
Naomi laughed.“Samuel was the one who gave me the information.And he only got it because he got the email that Ida’s company had sent out to all vendors.My suspicion is that Samuel probably said something like ‘the woman who’s taking over for the wedding is coming to Hollowville with someone, and they want to talk to you.’”
Jason laughed.“Aaah.Yes.That would make sense.It’s not an appointment so to speak but more like a ‘meet him at the gallery at six and we can talk?’”
Naomi nodded.“Exactly.And I think Samuel texted me the photographer’s number so that we can contact him if we’re running late, and I think he’s got my number so he can get in touch if he’s either running late or he wants to see us earlier.”
“I like that,” Jason replied.“Good.He knows we’re coming, and he knows we want to talk.But I have an important question for you.”
“Which is?”
She looked up at him, her eyes wide and gorgeous.He wanted to kiss her again, but he wasn’t going to, not then or there at least.“What do you want to do until then?”he asked.“You said something about a bookstore?Are you hungry?Is there any particular place you want to go before we go to the gallery?”
“So many questions,” she said, her eyes twinkling once again.“But I honestly don’t know.The town is beautiful,” she said.“I mean every town in the valley looks amazing during this time of year, but this one?”
Just as he was about to nod, he was inspired.Briarwood had something that called itself a bit of a riverfront, but it wasn’t exactly the best.Even Rivertown had a gorgeous riverfront.
But Hollowville?Hollowville’s riverfront area was unmatched, almost legendary.
He ventured, “Do you want to stop into the bookstore, because you mentioned it before and I don’t want to pass it by, then go down by the river, walk around and then have a drink at a place down by there?”
Naomi’s eyes sparkled at the thought.He’d hit the jackpot.“And then get dinner at the famous dairy place before heading over to the gallery?”
She was speaking his language.“Let’s do it,” he said.
And as they headed toward the bookstore, he put his arm around her, pulling her close on a May afternoon, he realized he didn’t want to be anywhere else.
Chapter Eleven
One of themany things Naomi adored about Jason was how willing he was to just dive in.Whether he was doing it to spend time with her or doing it because he wanted to, or doing it for Ash, it didn’t matter.He was there.
Holding his hand as they walked into the bookstore, following the aisles and shelves, stopping at the car to drop off their purchases before heading back into town, stopping for a chocolate pretzel before heading down to the waterfront, and walking back up to the biggest, most amazing dinner at the Caf and Nosh.She’d heard about it for years, and when she turned to Jason she smiled.“What did you think of that?”
“I’m in awe,” he said as they headed down Broadway toward the gallery.“I’ve eaten at Levitans in Briarwood, obviously because wow.But like this?Knowing that this is Levitan’s wife’s place?Where things started?”
She nodded.“There wasn’t anything on that menu I didn’t want to try, and I cannot wait to try it all.”
He grinned at her.“I want to come back for their Cavalcade of Latkes,” he said, and she could see the light of interest glowing in his eyes.“Now that we know the place, I definitely see myself coming back, you know?”
She nodded.“I look forward to it,” she said.Making it obvious in her way that she’d go with him no matter what.“I’m also glad we no longer have to walk uphill.”
Jason laughed.“I don’t think I could have walked another step on Main Street.It’s practically vertical and I am, unfortunately, out of shape on long distances or verticals.”
“I was just glad that the seats were so comfortable,” she said.“I think the Caf and Nosh was the definition of our soft place to land tonight.”
He laughed and then got serious, pointing up at the sign.“We’re here.”
