Page 39 of Coastal Reflections

Oh my goodness, Elaine, shush, she thought, feeling worried that she’d been impolite. It sounded like she was rubbing it in that she and her friends were going to have a fun time without him.

“That does sound like a wonderful time,” Shep said, nodding slowly. “The trees are particularly beautiful this year, and Main Street always looks lovely with the lights. I wish I’d been able to accept your offer when you came to the bakery the other day.”

Elaine blinked at him, feeling surprised. “You… you do?”

“I do.”

“You—you were busy?”

The corners of Shep’s mouth curved upward slightly. “Yes, as I told you, I had a conflict. An actual, legitimate conflict. I wasn’t making that up.”

“Oh.” Elaine felt herself flushing. Underneath her embarrassment, her core glowed with the realization that Shep hadn’t rejected her offer after all.

“Yes.” Shep coughed again.

For a moment, they stood there looking at each other. Shep shuffled his feet and Elaine clasped and then unclasped her hands.

“Would—would you still like to go with me?” Elaine asked. She paused for a brief moment, and then blurted out, “If you don’t want to, you need to just tell me. Please. Last time when you said no, I thought you were saying no, like really saying no, I mean to me, and the idea of us spending time—I mean in a special way—and I—well, it made me very sad, and while of course you can say whatever you want, because of course you’re going to feel however you’re going to feel—I just don’t want to feel bad if it’s not actually a reason to feel bad, and—” She paused, biting her lip and wishing she had been more coherent. “I hope that makes sense.”

Shep chuckled quietly. “I understand what you’re saying, I think,” he said slowly, taking a step toward her. He smiled at her so affectionately her heart did a somersault. “I wasn’t rejecting your offer in any kind of a negative way. I very much wanted to say yes. As I said before, my conflict was a legitimate one.”

“Oh.” Elaine swallowed. “Really? I just—well, I didn’t understand how—I mean, tasks can be rearranged, and—what could you possibly have had going on that would prevent you from taking the time for a little stroll?”

Goodness, she thought. This poor man. It’s a wonder he’s understanding anything you’re saying, what with these jumbled sentences you’re getting out.

Shep hesitated for a moment, and she felt worried that she’d offended him. A second later, however, he smiled.

“Why don’t you come outside with me for a moment?” he asked her. “There’s something inside my bakery truck that I think you should see.”

“Oh. Well, all right.” Elaine felt intrigued, as well as a little confused. What could Shep possibly have to show her that related to why he was busy the other night?

She followed Shep outside into the crisp morning air. The Townsend’s Bakery truck was parked in front of the mansion, and Shep led Elaine to the back of it. He opened it up and pulled forward a big cardboard box filled with packing peanuts.

“These are for you,” Shep said, and reached inside the cardboard box. From it, he pulled out two gorgeous wooden boxes. They were stained a cheerful reddish color and had lids that swung back on darling little gold hinges. The best part of all was what had been carved across the lids of the boxes. In a beautiful, swirling font were the words, “The Birchwood House: Baked with Love.”

Elaine gasped. “These are gorgeous, Shep,” she stammered. “You—these are for the hotel? You’re giving us these?”

Shep nodded slowly. “I had them made specially for you. I ordered them from a woodworking shop a couple of towns away and the night you asked me to go on the walk was when I had to go pick them up. The owner of the shop was headed out of town for a couple of weeks and that was the only time he was available to give them to me.”

“Oh,” Elaine murmured, tears rushing into her eyes. How wonderful that instead of rejecting her, Shep had been driving out of town to get her a present! Instead of avoiding her, he’d been doing something incredibly thoughtful. Something that seemed to imply he cared just as much about her as she did about him. “Thank you, Shep.”

“I wanted to give them to you as a gift,” Shep said. “Since the hotel is doing so well. Sort of a ‘congratulations’ present. I thought about flowers at first, but then I decided I wanted to give you something more lasting. I’d seen something like this once before, and I thought it would be a welcoming way to display the pastries for the guests.”

Elaine’s eyes filled with tears. “They’re perfect,” she said, and she threw her arms around Shep, giving him an enormous hug.

He squeezed her back tightly, and for a few seconds, neither of them said anything. Finally, Elaine pulled away from the hug, sniffling slightly.

“If I rescheduled the walk for Saturday,” she said, wiping away a tear that had started to drip down her cheek, “would you come on it with me?”

“I will,” he said, taking her hands in his. “I would love to.” He paused for a moment, looking down into her eyes. “And Elaine, if I ever make you feel badly about something in the future, please tell me. I’m not used to spending a lot of time with people, and the whole communication thing isn’t my strong suit.”

Elaine squeezed his hands and chuckled. “No?”

Shep shook his head. “I’m stuck in my ways. I’m used to just doing everything by myself nearly all the time. I’ll need patience from you, that’s for sure.”

“I’m more than willing to do that,” Elaine said, smiling at him. “If you ever do anything that makes me feel bad again, I’ll make sure to check in with you so I know what you’re really thinking. And of course I’m happy to be patient with you. I’m sure you’ll have to be plenty patient with me.”

Shep shook his head, his expression grave. “I’m sure I won’t.”