Anne was happy to oblige. She got up in the dark and made a simple, hearty breakfast: sweet coconut oatmeal and a big platter of local fruit.
By dawn, her work for the day was done. She left breakfast bowls in the fridge for the kids and drove into town, grateful to finally have her own car. Shipping it over from the mainland hadtaken a couple of weeks, and it was a long wait. Checking with Dawn each time she needed to run an errand made her feel like a kid again in the worst way.
Main Street was quiet this early in the day, but there were already a few cars parked outside the hardware store. She found a free spot in the gravel lot and walked inside, feeling a mix of love and pain as she tread on her dad’s home turf. The men inside were all friends of his.
She missed him terribly, but she also felt cozy and safe walking into a store full of Uncles who had known her all her life. She had missed that easy sense of security during her decades on the mainland. No matter how many years she spent in San Diego, she had never regained that feeling of home.
“Hey there, Annie,” said the man behind the counter. “What can I get you?”
“Hey Jim. I need a wood planer, I guess? Or a door trimmer? I’ve got a door that sticks every time it rains.”
“I can fix that,” said a warm, low voice. Noah appeared from one of the aisles and fixed her with that look that never failed to get under her skin; there was an intense focus in his dark eyes that belied his easy smile.
“So can I,” she said stubbornly.
“I’m sure you can, but there’s no point buying a door trimmer when I’ve got one in my truck. No offense, Jim.”
“None taken.” The Uncle was looking between Anne and Noah like his favorite show had just come on the TV.
Noah winked at him and turned back to Anne. “Let me fix it for you.”
She huffed a sigh, shrugged in agreement, and walked back outside.
“Did you eat breakfast yet?” he asked, following her.
She looked at his empty hands. “Weren’t you in there for a reason?”
“I’m not in a rush.” He moved in front of her and walked backwards through the parking lot, keeping his eyes on hers. Then he paused, forcing her to either stop or swerve around him.
She stopped.
“How’s that baby mongoose doing?” he asked.
“Still alive.” Anne bit her lip and tried not to smile. She hated how easily he could charm her – one simple question and her irritation melted away.
“That’s good. Your kid seemed pretty attached already.”
“Pete’s got a soft heart.”
“Kind of like his mama.”
“I’m tough as nails,” Anne blustered. Somewhere in that short conversation, she’d already lost the battle against that smile. She was grinning at him.
“Sure,” he agreed easily. “But beneath that toughness there’s a heart as big as the island. I still remember the kittens you’d bring home every other week. Goopy-eyed, pathetic little things.”
“Their crying drove Oakley crazy,” she remembered. The tiny kittens had needed round-the-clock care, and her sisters had always helped, albeit reluctantly. “But I never brought home a mongoose pup.”
“You would have,” Noah said. “If you’d found one.”
She grinned again. “Probably.”
“I was going to get breakfast while I’m in town. Come with me?”
“I already ate.”
“Ate what? Half a papaya?”
She narrowed her eyes, and he laughed.
