AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"You don't have to get married. You're only in town for a couple of months. Talk to him about what happened and see how he feels. Maybe he’s up for it. I bet he is."
Frustration bubbled up inside me. "Look, Lily, he's not interested! It's a terrible idea. Honestly. Not everything in life follows the plot arc of a freaking romance novel."
She raised her palms. "Sorry. I know I get overexcited. I won't push it. It just sounded so . . . sexy. Kisses like that don’t happen very often. Sometimes they never happen in real life."
I sighed. “You don’t need to be sorry. It's my fault. I hyped up the gossip and then expected you not to be hyped."
"Well, that is true. But you're right. Life isn't a romance novel." Her chin slumped into her palm. "I wish it was. It'd be a hell of a lot more simple."
I looked out at the ocean. Waves endlessly rolling. Flecks of white amid the expansive blue. Buoys, boats, dreams, and hopes.
"When you look out to sea, life seems so small, doesn't it?"
"Mmhmm. It’s tiny. We have to grab each and every opportunity with both hands and . . .”
“Kiss it?” I asked, raising an eyebrow in amusement. Lily had a knack for turning just about everything into a reason for romance.
Lily blew me a kiss. “You read my mind.”
A pair of figures walked across the beach. It took me a moment to recognize Patrick and his partner, Susie.
"Looks like the entire McCoy clan is out in full force today," Lily remarked, spearing a syrup-soaked piece of pancake.
Patrick spotted us and waved, steering Susie in our direction.
"Elara!" Patrick said warmly. "I hope Ida is giving you a discount."
As though on cue, Ida's head poked out of the diner. "No discounts!"
We all laughed.
"You guys out for a morning walk?" I asked.
"Absolutely," Susie said. She was petite and fresh-faced, with kind gray eyes and a smile so genuine it was impossible not to trust her. "Got to stay spry. Otherwise the kiddos in my classes will run circles around me."
"Classes?"
"Jujitsu," Patrick explained. "Susie's a black belt."
"Second degree," Susie corrected. "I teach at the community center, trying to get the sport some traction around here. Give hockey a run for its money."
"Sounds intense."
"You should give it a try," Susie suggested.
"I don't know. Kneading dough is about as violent as I get."
"It's not about violence. It's about discipline."
I laughed. "I'm probably even less disciplined than I am violent."
Why did I always do that? Talk myself down? I was disciplined. I'd busted my ass in culinary school and worked even harder at The Tortoise. Now, I planned to work the hardest I'd ever worked to get on the Pierre Trouffant course. But for some reason, I didn't want anyone to know the real me. It was like I was determined to stay a silly girl. An underdog.
"Well, if you change your mind, come along and have a free lesson any time you want."
"I appreciate it."
"Say," Patrick said, "have you seen Cole around?"
