Page 37 of Keeping it Local

“What’s with her and all the Christmas ornaments?” I said to Ryan as Felicia was choosing which ones to personalize with names before checking out.

“It’s just her thing.” Ryan shrugged. “It’s not just her. Remember, Mom used to get us a personalized one at Bronner’s every year as a kid? Not sure where all mine went.”

“I haven’t even put up a tree in years.”

“No tree? Come on. You can do better than that.” He pushed the stroller back outside, letting Kinsley sleep through the ornament-buying excitement.

“Maybe I’ll put one up this year. Who knows?”

Tourists crowded the sidewalks with little paper shopping bags from the boutiques lining the street. We walked a few doors down, and just when we were going to take a seat on the bench, I saw a familiar face. She had her earbuds in, probably on a quick break from the shop. Her eyes quickly found mine, and they crinkled as they lit up. I stayed put for a moment, and Ryan looked at me, following my gaze to her.

He snickered to himself as she made her way toward us.

“Happy Fourth,” Beth said, taking her earbuds out and smiling. She looked at me, then down at Ryan and Kinsley. “Hi, I’m Beth.” She stuck out her hand.

“Morning, I’m Ryan. Johnny’s brother.” Ryan shook her hand. “And this is Kinsley.”

“Good to meet you. Yeah, kind of figured you were the brother. You enjoying Port St. Clair so far?”

“Johnny’s been showing us a good time. It’s changed a lot since we were kids.”

“Guess that makes sense.” Beth looked over to me, and there was an awkward pause in the air.

I watched as Ryan looked from Beth to me, then back to Beth with that smirk.

“We’re actually heading to the beach tomorrow. Would love for you to join us. It’ll be low key with Kinsley, obviously.” He pointed down to his snoozing daughter.

As soon as he said that, he looked at me, and my eyes went large. I enjoyed spending time with Beth, but her hanging out with Ryan and his family? That felt serious, and we were going for casual—even if the more time I spent with her, the more the lines blurred.

Beth looked to me for guidance, raising her shoulders as if to ask me if it were all right. What was I supposed to say? There was a silent conversation happening between us, but I felt like I was missing half the words.

Before I gave her a go-ahead, she responded. “That’d be great. What time are you thinking?”

I stood there, glued to the ground as my brother filled her in on the plans for the next day. She said a quick goodbye, mentioning she had to get back to the shop and scurried off. Once she was out of earshot, I rolled my eyes at Ryan.

“What the hell was that about?”

“Just helping you out.” He chuckled. “I wanted to meet her.”

“You just met her.”

“You know what I mean.” He stood up and started pushing Kinsley, and I followed. “I know it’s been rough these last few years. I can’t begin to understand what you’ve been through, but everything that you said to me shows that you like this woman. If you need a push, so be it.”

“I’m not ready,” I mumbled, my heart leaping into my throat. Even though it had been three years since Anne, it also felt like it was just yesterday.

“All I did was invite her to the beach, nothing more.” He continued walking down the sidewalk with Kinsley. “Come on, let’s get some ice cream. I can smell the waffle cones from here.”

Chapter 16

Beth

“Michael, I told you, I’m here for the summer. I’m not coming home early,” I seethed at him through the phone. I was packing for the beach, and my nerves were already shot. I didn’t need another distraction.

He had called out of the blue asking me to consider coming home early, and I was so over him trying to take control of my life.

“Beth, it’s not me,” he said, surprisingly calm. “Your dad fell yesterday in the barn. Your mom took him in last night, and he didn’t break anything, but it sounds like he sprained his ankle. He’s been dropping the ball more than usual. I figured you’d want to know so that you could come home and take over.”

“If it was this bad, why isn’t my mom calling me then?” I asked, stopping myself and second-guessing my decision to be in Port St. Clair at all.