Olive beamed, immediately handing her a spare shovel. “We’re building a fairy castle. I’m Olive. What’s your name?”
“Lily,” the other girl said, settling down next to Olive. In the magical way of children, the two girls were soon chattering away as if they had known each other for years.
Lily had the idea of building a moat and lining it with seashells and driftwood, so they worked together gathering up supplies, their laughter mingling with the sounds of the waves.
Emma caught Bryce’s eye, sharing a warm smile at the unexpected friendship blooming before them.
“Thanks for getting her started,” she said.
“Happy to help. It’s been a long time since I built a sandcastle.”
She thought he might offer a farewell and resume throwing a ball for Pearl. Instead, he eased down on the blanket beside her, long legs stretched out before him.
He wore khaki shorts and a light blue T-shirt with a surfboard on it. She could see his muscles outlined by the thin material of his shirt and immediately pulled out her water bottle to take a long swig.
What was it about Bryce that left her feeling lightheaded and off-balance every time they were together?
Maybe the fact that he had kissed her until she couldn’t think straight. And she really wanted him to do it again.
He lifted his face to the sky and she had a sudden wish that she could see the hazel of his eyes behind his sunglasses.
“After a week of rain, a day like this feels like a gift.”
“Agreed.”
He smelled delicious, of sand and sun andlife. Emmawanted to sink into him but she was only too aware of her daughter and her new friend playing six feet away.
“What else are you up to today?” she asked. “Are you visiting your mom?”
At his shrug, the bare skin of his lower arm brushed against hers and she had to suppress a shiver, fighting with all she had not to move away a few inches.
“I’m driving up later tonight to have dinner with her at the care center. I try to do that most Sunday evenings. I’m not sure if she’s even aware I’m there but I still go.”
He was such a good son. Her admiration for this man seemed to grow every time she talked to him. Most guys she knew would have been quick to run away from an emotionally fraught situation like dealing with a parent with dementia.
It would have been easy to put his mother in a care center and forget about her. Yet Bryce had stepped up and was doing his best to be a dutiful son, making regular visits and dropping everything to be at her side after her fall a few weeks earlier.
If her mother were in a similar situation right now, would Emma be as dutiful and loving as he was? She wanted to think so, but she wasn’t sure.
She was finding it very hard to resist him.
“Are you able to have any other life besides work and taking care of your mom?” she asked. She certainly didn’t feel like she did. Her life right now consisted of caring for Olive and devoting all her remaining energies to the bookshop.
“Sure I do,” he said. “You already know I read a lot. Well, I listen to audiobooks, anyway. I usually take Pearl for a run in the morning before I head to work, then we try to squeeze in a quick hike or walk in the evening. Sometimes I go to the gym, though not as often as I should.”
Why did he bother going to the gym at all when he hadsuch a physically demanding job? The man never seemed to stop moving.
She had a sudden memory of watching him haul in lumber for the renovation. He had hardly even seemed to notice the weight.
Her stomach felt shaky, as if she were teetering on a slippery log trying to cross a chasm. She couldn’t seem to stop thinking about how wonderful she had felt to have his arms around her, his strength surrounding her.
“What about your love life?” she dared ask.
She had asked him the other day why he hadn’t settled down and she only realized after their kiss that he had deftly changed the subject without giving her any information at all.
“What about it?” he asked, his tone wary.
“How do you manage anything like dating, in the middle of caring for your mom?”
