Leon carefully processed our orders and bagged our books – except for Lara’s enormous haul of magazines, which she was going to carry out in their box.
Tiff happily hefted her bag. In addition to the beach reads, she’d somehow ended up with a few literary-looking volumes about hotels by the beach and a hardcover book about hospitality management. This one was so big she had to carry it under her arm. Interesting. I wondered whether she’d just grabbed some nearby non-beach reads in her efforts to impress Leon.
‘Are you going to ask him out?’ murmured Lara over Tiff’s shoulder as Tiff fumbled in her purse for her wallet. Tiff never fumbled. She always knew exactly where everything was, and on the rare occasion she couldn’t immediately find something, she could always call it forth with magic.
‘Absolutely not,’ whispered Tiff. ‘I don’t do Summerween flings.’
‘And also …’ I added. I was intrigued by this particular line of reasoning, which was not what I’d expected from Tiff.
‘And also, I have Damien,’ Tiff whispered furiously.
Ah, there it was. As an afterthought. This was a side of Tiff I hadn’t seen before.
‘Damien? He doesn’t even go here,’ said Lara mischievously, quotingMean Girls.
Tiff shot Lara a look, then took the bag from Leon.
‘I’ve put my card in there for you,’ he said. ‘Just in case you need any other beach reads. I am quite sure that the shop has plenty more where those came from. And we do local author readings, too. On Friday nights. You should come. We have one coming up from the author of that book you have there, actually. My cousin.’
He pointed to the hospitality book under Tiff’s arm.
‘She definitely should,’ said Lara, giving Tiff a not-so-subtle nudge.
‘And good luck with your diary,’ Leon told me with a smile. ‘I hope it has everything about J.Lo that you’re hoping to find.’
We stepped back out onto the street, laden with our books and shopping and ready for whatever baked goods Lorraine felt like plying us with. As we did, we bumped into a familiar bright-eyed, curly-haired Tucker boy, who, judging from his salt-smattered skin and the towel slung over his shoulder, had just come from the beach. He broke into a grin as he recognized us beneath the armour of our shopping bags.
‘If it isn’t the three prettiest girls of Whisperwind Cove,’ he crooned, kissing Tiff and Lara on the cheek. He took my hand, gently putting his lips to it, then raising it, spinning me in a twirl. My skirt flared dramatically – thankfully I was wearing leggings underneath.
Ouch!The ring zapped me, as though I’d scuffed across carpet in rubber shoes and received a static jolt. I pushed my hand into my skirt pocket.
‘Did your ring just flash?’ Finn asked curiously.
‘J.Lo does it again,’ purred Lara, with a wink at me.
Finn cocked his head, trying to figure this out. ‘I feel like I’ve missed something critical.’
‘Once Molly’s done her homework, she can tell you all about it. She has diaries to read,’ added Lara.
‘Still not following,’ said Finn, entirely unbothered. ‘I’m starving after that swim. Who’s up for ice cream?’
Lara grabbed Tiff’s hand. ‘Why don’t you take Molly. Tiff, you wanted to check out the fish pond at the Camellia, didn’t you?’
Tiff frowned, but as Lara gave her arm a light twist, relented. ‘You know I can’t pass up a koi.’
As Lara dragged her off, Tiff shot me one of her incredibly verbose looks. After a lifetime together, I’d learned to read them well. Even if I did tend to ignore them for the most part. This one said something along the lines of,Molly, you’d better not make things weird between the Tucker brothers.
To which I responded with an eyebrow that said,Would I do that?
‘C’mon,’ said Finn. ‘Let’s go grab some ice cream.’
Chapter 13
MELTING MOMENTS
Lara had escorted Tiff away, leaving me standing awkwardly next to Finn as a seagull looked on, begging for us to toss it some scraps. As Finn grinned down at me, my stomach gave an odd flutter, as though a greenhouse of butterflies had been unleashed in there. Although honestly, given the magic flying all about Whisperwind Cove, they quite possibly had.
‘So, to The Scoop then?’ said Finn lightly. It wasn’t really a suggestion, though, for he was about ten steps ahead of me. I hurried to catch up, holding my skirt down against the teasing sea breeze.
