Page 9 of Coastal Reflections

“Oh sure,” the barista said. “Go ahead. It’s for an event? If you want, we can put another one up here by the drink specials board. Yeah, you can just prop it up like that.” She laughed, and Michelle had a feeling that Theo was doing something comical even though she was forcing herself not to look at him.

Finally, the barista’s laughter became so hard to ignore that Michelle tore her eyes off the page of her book—which she hadn’t been reading anyway, since she’d been too busy listening to the conversation between Theo and the barista—and looked to see what Theo was doing. He was posing dramatically next to the poster, striking a new pose every few seconds. He was a superhero, then he was playing an invisible guitar, then he was crooning into an invisible microphone, and then he was lassoing with an invisible rope.

When she looked in his direction, Theo stopped posing and grinned, making it clear to Michelle that he’d only been doing the poses in the first place to get her attention. He seemed to think her second glance in his direction was enough of an invitation to go over to her table, so he thanked the barista and sauntered up to Michelle, holding a stack of posters.

“Interested?” he said, not bothering with hello. He held up one of the posters, which featured an impressive black and white sketch of a guitar along with edgy, dark red font announcing a concert at the Brick Oven the following evening. “My friends and I are giving a performance. You could come if you’re not too boring.”

Michelle wrinkled her nose at him. “Well, unfortunately for you, I am too boring. I’m going to be too busy with managing The Birchwood House.”

“On a Monday night?” he countered, leaning against the wall near her table and crossing his arms with an attitude that could only be described as saucy. There he was, leaning again.

“You’d be surprised,” she said primly. “Lots of people stay during the week, and besides, right after the weekend is when we have most of our cleaning and reorganizing to do.”

“Yeah, too bad you have to work there all by yourself and there’s no way someone could cover for you or you could just wait and do some of your work another time.” Theo’s tone was cheerful, but Michelle saw a serious glint in his eyes.

Does he really want me to go to this thing? she wondered. I have to admit, I do feel curious. I didn’t realize that he played in a band.

“I mean, I do have important things to do,” she said, not wanting to give in too quickly.

“Yeah? Like staying busy romanticizing your patrons’ lives?” Theo teased.

Michelle wrinkled her nose, feeling annoyed. “Don’t make fun of me,” she said tersely. “I really have a lot on my plate. My work isn’t a regular nine to five like what you have—there are always things that need to be done. Besides, I take my job seriously. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”

A regretful expression flicked across Theo’s face for a moment, but he simply shrugged and smiled at her, playing it cool. “Well, you’re missing out. You should have fun occasionally—I remember you were like this in high school too, always taking things too seriously and overachieving. I guess you’re still boring and not up for social interaction.”

He was clearly teasing, his tone light and affectionate, but Michelle felt a variety of emotions in reaction to his words. Although she felt another twinge of irritation, she also felt sorry about the way she’d snapped at him. Although his words had been disguised as a jab, she could see the disappointment in his eyes.

She was used to Theo teasing her and saying things he really shouldn’t in a way that made it all seem like good fun. Their good-natured rivalry was nothing new, and he’d said plenty of things to her before along the lines of what he’d just said. This felt different, however. She could tell that he truly wanted her to come to his show, and he simply didn’t know how to say that to her in a straightforward way.

She tried to push aside the way she was feeling a desire to not disappoint him, and go to his show even though she’d said she wouldn’t. She almost opened her mouth and told him that she would think about it, but then her pride thought better of it and her lips stayed clamped shut.

“Well, see you around,” Theo said, lingering as if he was reluctant to leave.

“Bye. Have fun at your concert.”

They waved to each other, a little awkwardly, and Theo walked to the front of the coffee shop to tape his poster in the window. Michelle watched him for a moment but looked away quickly when she saw him turn back in her direction. The next time she looked up, she could see Theo through the front windows, walking away down the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets.

She let out a long sigh and then took another sip of her latte. She returned to reading her book, and although she continued to enjoy it, she wasn’t able to focus on it the way she had been before. Her thoughts kept jumping up toward Theo, as if they were puppies that wanted to be near him.

The interaction that she and Theo had just shared was sticking in her mind more stubbornly than any other interaction they’d ever had. One time he’d insisted on driving her back to the mansion in his truck when she’d been carrying heavy bags, and that had been something she’d had trouble not thinking about. She’d also had trouble not thinking about the way he’d stared at her with a withdrawn expression after he’d seen her talking and laughing with a handsome young librarian named Marcus at the library. But the way he’d just looked when he’d been trying to get her to come to his show seemed to be haunting her imagination, and she felt something fluttering in her chest.

I want to make him happy, she realized with a pang. I don’t like the thought of disappointing him.

Michelle looked up from her book for three whole minutes, staring into space and wondering what she was going to do.

CHAPTER SIX

Audrey picked up her glass of Cabernet and took a slow sip. The warm lights of the parlor glowed around her, the flames of the kerosene lamps flickering inside their glass chimneys. Outside, moonlight bathed the front gardens of The Birchwood House in silver and lit up the yellow leaves of the birch tree, making them look like the feathers of some giant, exotic bird.

“What a beautiful evening,” she breathed, resting her head on Evan’s shoulder. “I feel so content. And this wine you brought is absolutely out of this world.”

“I’m glad you like it.” She could hear the smile in his voice, and he took her hand in his. “And you should feel content. You’ve done an excellent job with this place. You can see how happy all of your guests are—like those two.” He chuckled as he pointed out an elderly couple strolling through the garden, hand-in-hand. Strands of twinkling lights lit their path, and the night wind ruffled their hair. They looked happy and as at peace as Audrey felt. She was glad she and her mother and sister had been able to offer the couple a relaxing time away from home. A romantic time, where they could spend quality time together.

I would love to grow old together with someone like that, she mused as she watched them. She glanced up at Evan and saw that he was also watching the couple with a fond expression. Maybe I’ll grow old with Evan.

Her heart sang with happiness at the idea. She didn’t know what the future would hold, but she knew she never wanted to give up having Evan at her side. He had proved himself to be caring and reliable, two things she greatly needed after the heartbreak she’d experienced at the hands of Clark.

“Michelle told me you’ve officially reached a hundred guests this weekend,” he said, squeezing her hand. “That’s huge. Congratulations.”