Page 22 of Coastal Reflections

Audrey shrugged, a playful smirk on her face. “Perhaps you’ve started to change his mind about that.”

Elaine pressed her fingertips against her lips. “I’m afraid to hope,” she confessed, her voice almost a whisper.

Michelle wrapped her arms around her grandmother, squeezing her tightly. “I know it’s scary, but hoping for love is always worth it. You don’t want to be closed off to the possibility of something wonderful just because you were too afraid to let yourself consider it fully.”

“I agree,” Audrey said, scooting closer to the two of them on the porch swing. “Love might seem like an overwhelming prospect when it first comes knocking, but I think you should be brave enough to let it in. I mean, think about when I met Evan! That timing didn’t seem good at all—I never would have thought that I was ready to open my heart right after everything that happened with Clark, but with the right person, I was able to push past those fears. And it turned out that the timing was good, in the end, since being with Evan has been so healing and comforting.”

“I’m so glad you got a new start with Evan, Mom,” Michelle said, squeezing her mother’s hand. “You deserve a better future than the one that got handed to you.”

“Well, I guess sometimes the past tries to rear its ugly head,” Audrey said with a bitter smile, “but thank you, sweetheart. I’m so glad too—and so grateful that Evan is standing beside me. I don’t know what I’d do without him. I’m so glad I was brave enough to take a step of faith toward love. No matter what comes, it’s so worth giving love a chance. I think that’s true for you too, Mom.”

Elaine nodded, smiling lovingly at Audrey. “Thank you for the encouragement. As much as I’m scared, I think you’re absolutely right. And I do want to step out in faith on this. I’m definitely willing to scratch the surface of whatever is going on between me and Shep and see what he’s up for.”

“I bet he’s up for a full-fledged romance.” Michelle popped a bite of waffle into her mouth gleefully.

“I don’t know.” Elaine’s blush intensified. “I think he’s interested in me romantically, but he hasn’t come right out and said anything along those lines.”

“Doesn’t mean he isn’t thinking it,” Audrey pointed out. “Everyone handles romance differently. It can be scary to come right out and confess in a straightforward way that you have a crush on someone. I’m sure that’s especially hard for Shep, considering how much he likes to keep to himself. I think maybe he is bravely confessing his feelings to Mom, in his own way, and now it’s her turn to be brave enough to reach back out in whatever way she feels comfortable doing.”

“Hear, hear,” Michelle said cheerfully.

Elaine murmured something indiscernible that sounded grateful and sipped at her glass of orange juice.

Huh, Michelle thought as she chewed on another bite of strawberries and cinnamon waffle. Mom made a good point. Different people make their romantic intentions known in different ways. I wonder—is Theo doing the same thing? Making his romantic intentions toward me known in his own roundabout way?

Her heart skipped a beat at the thought, and she hurriedly took a long sip of coffee to hide her face, wondering if she was blushing as much as Elaine had been.

She could hardly believe it, but she felt her heart being tugged toward Theo in a way she couldn’t ignore. Maybe she should follow in her grandmother’s footsteps and be willing to take a chance to see what the elusive man in her life was up for.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Audrey smiled as she looked at a display of garden gnomes that were placed on a shelf in Shoreline Market. The little statues were whimsical and charming, and they all had some kind of autumn theme—either they were holding a cup of cider, or a carved pumpkin, or they were tossing leaves in the air or dressing up as little ghosts for Halloween.

“These are so dang cute,” Michelle exclaimed. “I know we already have enough gnomes, but buying a couple more wouldn’t hurt, right?”

“Listen, you know I’m a sucker for seasonal decorations.” Audrey laughed. “Sounds great to me. How about that little guy tossing leaves in the air?”

“Um, yes! He’s got a cute little twinkle in his eyes.”

Michelle and Audrey added that gnome as well as the one holding a carved pumpkin to their cart. Audrey looked down at her list, checking to make sure they’d already gotten everything they needed for The Birchwood House. They’d stocked up on hand lotions and shampoo, as well as the toothbrushes and mini tubes of toothpaste that they gave out to their guests.

“I think we’re all good,” she said, starting to push the cart around a corner. “We can just browse for a little bit longer⁠—”

Audrey froze, the blood draining from her face. In front of her, perusing a rack of earrings, was Clark. Standing next to him was his young girlfriend, Molly.

A pit formed in Audrey’s stomach as she watched Clark hold a pair of earrings up to Molly’s left ear. He was smiling at her, acting sweet and attentive in a way Audrey hadn’t seen in years. He hadn’t treated her like that since they were first dating, decades ago.

Michelle noticed Audrey’s reaction before she noticed Clark. “Mom,” she said, touching Audrey’s arm in concern. “What happened? You’re as white as a sheet.”

Audrey shook her head and gestured to Clark and Molly. Michelle sucked in her breath in a way that sounded like a hiss.

“I can’t believe he’s still here, turning this little escapade of his into a—a vacation!” Michelle looked fierce. “The least he could have done was come back to talk with you sooner. Or just call in the first place. Or email—never mind, scratch that. The only decent thing would have been to have never said anything except, ‘Wow, I’m so incredibly sorry for everything I did’ to begin with.”

Audrey cracked a half-hearted smile, feeling comforted by Michelle’s feisty indignation.

“I really don’t want to talk to him,” she confessed. “Not right now, especially.” She didn’t want to confess it to Michelle, but she was worried that if she had to talk to Clark, she might start to cry. The last thing she wanted was to cry about her ex-husband out in public.

“You shouldn’t have to talk to him,” Michelle said, shaking her head. “Let’s turn the cart around and head the other way before he realizes we’re here.”