AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We can swing by the real estate agency’s office—it’s on the way.” Alissa smiled. The thought of living around the corner from Pearl and Caitlin filled her with excitement. She and Caitlin hadn’t lived in the same neighborhood since they lived in the same house as teenagers.
They passed by a few more cute houses and reached the edge of town. Dane was sitting outside of the small smoothie shop that had recently opened, just where he said he’d be. Alissa grinned as he stood to greet them. He was wearing shorts and an untucked button down shirt, his sleeves rolled up. Seeing him in a casual outfit still made her fill with pride even though he wore them regularly now.
“Hey there,” he said, pulling Alissa in for a kiss.
“Hey.” Alissa pulled him in for a hug. “Ready for today?”
“I am. What’s our itinerary?” he asked, resting a hand on Alissa’s back.
“First we want to go by the real estate agency off Main Street so Caitlin can talk to an agent about this cute house,” Alissa said. “But after that, I was thinking we could go to Rhiannon’s Jewelry Shop, then we could go down the boardwalk to that cool gallery and that vintage candy place that just opened. And of course, we could go to The Crab for lunch.”
“The jewelry shop,” Dane said, a look Alissa couldn’t quite decipher crossing his face.
“Yeah. You don’t want to go?” Alissa tilted her head to the side, her brows furrowing. “She has people making glass beads and other glass pieces on Saturdays. I thought it would be cool to see.”
“Oh.” He ran his hand through his hair, the tension leaving his face almost right away. “Sure, yeah. I didn’t know about the glass blowing.”
“I wouldn’t bore you with jewelry shopping,” Alissa said with a laugh, though his shift in mood was odd. She didn’t know he was that bored by shopping. Then again, she never went shopping, so she had no way of knowing. “Today is about things we’ll all enjoy.”
“I’m excited to see it.” He threaded his fingers through hers. “Let’s go.”
They walked through town hand-in-hand, listening to Pearl and Caitlin excitedly chatting about the house they saw. After stopping in the real estate agency’s office to get more information on the house that Caitlin liked, they went on to Rhiannon’s Jewelry Shop.
The shop sat on a corner of town, catching plenty of foot traffic. Most of the jewelry was handmade by artists in the region, with the less expensive items near the perimeter and the fine jewels closer to the middle.
The shop was somewhat busy, with most people gathered toward the far end of the shop, where they’d cleared space for a woman to make beads.
“Whoa,” Pearl said, her eyes widening when the woman making beads turned on her small torch.
“Isn’t it cool?” Caitlin rested her hands on Pearl’s shoulders.
Alissa watched as the woman manipulated the glass, whittling it down into a round shape. She was so mesmerized that she didn’t notice Dane had slipped away.
“Where did Dane go?” Alissa asked.
“Not sure.” Caitlin looked around. “He’s back there.”
Alissa turned toward the middle of the store, where Dane was talking to the person working the register. She couldn’t make out what he was saying, but the conversation seemed pleasant. He nodded at the woman and started back toward the group around the glass maker.
“Everything all right?” Alissa asked.
“Yeah, why?” Dane tucked a hand into his pocket.
“You disappeared.” Alissa leaned against him. “I was worried you got bored.”
“Bored? Never. I’ve never actually seen someone make glass beads before,” he said, gently squeezing Alissa’s shoulder. “I was just asking her about the artist and whether they rotate depending on the weekend. They do.”
“That’s good. Maybe we could come back later.”
“Yeah.”
Dane turned his attention back toward the glass making. Alissa glanced up at him. He wasn’t being too weird, but something about the way he responded gave her pause. But she brushed it off. Maybe she was looking into it too much.
Once the glass blower finished a few beads, she took a break and everyone wandered around the shop to buy things or just browse.
“Look!” Pearl gasped, pulling a bracelet off a rack. “It’s so pretty.”
It was a circle of round, purple beads on a stretchy band.
