Page 51 of Windward Hearts

Jared couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face as soon as he saw her. He didn’t even try to hide it. There was no point.

Eleanor looked at Hope. Then at Jared. Then she smiled.

Woof. He had totally been made. But fortunately, Hope didn’t seem to realize what was written all over his face.

“I sure am,” Eleanor said to Hope. “You guys are really saving my bacon. I guess you know how hard you can get hit by kitchen disasters, though, right?”

“You have no idea,” Hope said with a laugh, and Jared felt his smile go even wider. She had such a nice laugh. He was absolutely, completely underwater when it came to this crush of his.

“You can head out whenever you want, Hope,” he told her when she glanced back in his direction. “You did great work today. Thanks for all your help, just like always.”

“You got it, boss,” she said with a jaunty little salute that was perfectly adorable, but which still caused a sinking feeling in his stomach. As if he needed any more proof that she only saw him in a friendly manner, or even just a professional one, rather than the romantic way that he would much prefer.

“Oh!” he said as she turned to go, calling out to stop her from leaving. “Before I forget, I did talk to Winnie. She said that she would love to have you sell your quilts at the bazaar.”

Hope’s smile was pure sunshine. “Oh my goodness, really?”

He shook his head at her, laughing. “Yeah, really. I told you!”

Eleanor was doing some more very observant looking. “You’re selling your quilts at Winnie’s event?” she asked.

Hope gave a helpless, happy shrug. “I guess so! Jared said he thought I should, and I guess Winnie agrees, so…”

“That’s amazing,” Eleanor congratulated.

“Yeah, but I’d better get home and get to stitching,” Hope said, although she didn’t sound terribly put out about it. “See you tomorrow, Jared! And, I’ll see you at book club, Eleanor!”

She shot them both a wave over her shoulder as she headed for the exit.

And then Jared was left alone with Eleanor.

“Wow,” she said.

He shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He had to close his eyes while he said it. He couldn’t even give a totally unbelievable lie otherwise.

“Oh, well, I’m talking about how you clearly went to bat for Hope,” she said. Darn, Eleanor was one tough customer. She was not letting him be cagey and evasive. This was why he should have installed a way for that window to close.

“It was no big deal.” He would have returned to chopping the onions, except he was even more distracted now. He stirred the sauce instead, even though it didn’t need it. He just needed something to do with his hands. “I just talked to Winnie. Winnie’s nice.”

“Winnie is nice,” Eleanor agreed. “And I’m glad that people know it, now that she’s let her shyness stop getting in her way. But I digress. My point is that, while Winnie is a lovely person, her boss, Lyle, is one tough cookie. I don’t think he would be so easy to sway when it comes to adding in another booth at this point in the planning process. And especially to someone who isn’t actually a Magnolia Shore resident, at least not permanently. Which means that you didn’t only convince Winnie, you convinced Winnie to go convince Lyle.” She pointed an accusing finger at him. “That is not the kind of favor you do for just anyone.”

“Goodness, woman!” he protested. “What are you, some kind of amateur sleuth? Why did you open a bookstore instead of a private eye’s office?”

“Funny,” she said. “Anyway, I think I’ve made my point.”

“You have not,” he protested weakly. “I was just being friendly. I’m a friendly guy.”

“You are,” she agreed. “That’s still not what this is.” She paused, and her expression grew a little less teasing. “You know, if you want to get to know her, you should try to find some incentive to get her to stick around here. Miriam is getting better, which is good, except for the fact that it means that Hope will probably head back to Boston.”

He tried to ignore the twist in his belly at the mere thought of not seeing Hope around anymore.

“Unless, of course,” Eleanor continued, “someone specific convinced her otherwise.” She tapped on the ledge of the pickup window, then picked up her tiramisu. “Just think about it, okay?”

He shook his head as she left, feeling more melancholy than he had in a while.

Of course he would be thrilled if Hope stayed around Magnolia Shore for longer than she’d originally planned. But there wasn’t any chance he could be the one to actually convince her to stay, right? No, it wasn’t possible. Was it?

He shook his head again. He was setting himself up for disappointment if he let himself keep thinking this way, no matter how appealing the thought might be.