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The knot that had been in her stomach without her even knowing it loosened a bit as she grinned at her father. Having his blessing meant the world to her.
* * *
Alissa gazed at the vase of flowers that Dane had surprised her with that morning. They were gorgeous, a mix of peonies and some of her other favorites, and made her whole office smell great. She inhaled and blew out a sigh as guilt crept into her consciousness again.
Maybe she had been too harsh on Dane with her doubts. He had been so attentive lately—the flowers, little notes, her favorite overcomplicated caramel latte from Tidal Wave Coffee. Maybe she was overreacting. He clearly still cared about her.
She turned her attention back to her article, which she had stayed late to wrap up. It was one of the final promotional articles on the luau, and in her opinion, it was one of her best. With a few more sentences she was done. She sent it off to Dane, who happened to walk into the office moments later.
“I just sent off my article to you,” she said.
“Good.” He walked across her office, gently massaging the back of her neck.
“A little to the left… perfect.” Alissa sighed as his fingers worked through a knot. “I swear, I don’t know why I’m so surprised that my neck hurts everyday when I sit at my desk curled up like a shrimp.”
Dane chuckled, leaning down and kissing her on the forehead. “I don’t know either, but I’m here to help.”
“Thank you.” She smiled up at him as he perched on her desk. “Why are you still here? Still working on the latest issue?”
“Yeah. And I just wanted to come in and see you before you left.” The warmth and affection in his eyes made Alissa’s insides melt. She reached for his hand and he took it, squeezing her softly.
“You did?”
“I did. I just wanted to tell you how much you mean to me.” He traced a line down the back of her hand with his thumb. “And how much I appreciate you opening me up to Blueberry Bay.”
Alissa held her breath for a moment, waiting for him to finish off the sweet sentiment with an invitation to the luau or at least something about it. But he didn’t. As touched as she was at the sentiment, she couldn’t help her stomach from sinking a little in disappointment. He might have said he had opened up to the town, but it didn’t seem like he was embracing one of its biggest traditions.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Luke had wanted to sleep in more on his day off, but he woke up around eight instead. He’d gotten so used to waking up early from working at the store that his body couldn’t let him rest more if he tried. It didn’t matter, though. He had plans for the day, plans that made his palms sweat just thinking of them, so he figured diving into the day would be a better idea than sitting back and worrying about it.
He stretched and yawned, getting out of bed and brushing his teeth. Sandy and Daniel’s house was quiet, the view of lush green trees out the window above the kitchen sink adding to the calm energy the entire town had. His stomach growled and he opened the fridge to find something to eat. The best thing about working for the store was that he never had to run to get something on his way home—the fridge was always stocked.
He pulled out some eggs, cheese, onion, and bell peppers for a quick omelet. Being nervous always made him more hungry, as paradoxical as it sounded to others. He needed a full stomach to go talk to Hannah at The Crab or he’d feel sick.
After finding the cutting board, Luke started chopping up the peppers, his mind racing. He knew the general idea of what he was going to say. He wanted to talk to her about pursuing her passions. But how? He didn’t want to come across as pushy. Even though they’d cleared the air and had shared one of the best kisses he’d ever had, he didn’t want to overstep again.
But he wanted to tell her to go for her dreams and study her music. He’d had countless moments where he’d been afraid to take a leap, whether it was applying to business school, putting together his business plan, or just having a difficult conversation with someone. And in those situations, other people had given him the little push he needed. Every single time, he’d found something satisfying and worth fighting for when he’d taken a leap of faith and pushed himself. He wanted to pass on what others had done for him and pay it forward.
“Okay,” he murmured to himself. “Passion. Following your passion.”
He cracked a few eggs into a bowl and whisked them as he tried to put the words together in a way that made sense. His emotions were getting in the way. He already cared about Hannah a lot and knew that she had the talent to make it with her music.
“Have you ever thought of pursuing your music outside of Blueberry Bay?” he said, trying the words on for size. “No, that’s not good. Maybe starting with the passion piece?”
He pushed his diced vegetables around in his pan, running a hand through his hair in mild frustration. The moment he had the thoughts in order, they seemed to slip from his head.
“I should have started with coffee,” he said to himself, turning the heat down and putting down his spatula to start a pot. “Need to get my thoughts in order.”
He started the process, staring at the pot as it slowly filled. Just the smell of it woke his brain up and it came to him.
“Hannah, do you ever think about what your life would be like if you really dove into your passion?” Luke thought the words over. No, they still weren’t right.
Some giggles behind him made him jump and turn around, his cheeks burning. Sandy was standing there in her pajamas, a smile on her face.
“What’s up?” Sandy asked.
“Just cooking breakfast.” Luke went back to the stove and poured the whisked eggs over the cooked vegetables.
