Page 51 of The Cherry Blossom Boathouse

“Bet you are.” Abe’s chortle held no humor. “What is it with you and these city girls, anyways? They see a man who works with his hands and suddenly they want their bit of rough.” He leaned closer, lowering his voice like he was sharing some profound wisdom. “They always go back to their fancy city men, though. Soon as the vacation’s over. You remember what happened with that Claire woman.”

Luke’s hand tightened around the hammer in his toolbox, knuckles going white. He’d known Abe since he was a kid, respected the decades the man had put into Solace Springs. But sometimes the old man forgot where the line was.

Ella gave Luke a sympathetic look. “Wow, Abe. Cynical much?”

“Sophie’s different,” Luke said, the words out before he could stop them.

“They’re all different until they’re not,” Abe replied, not unkindly. “I’ve known a few city gals in my time, ’specially the ones that have stayed at the inn over the years. They wanna be treated different from lake gals. Want something more refined. More, you know,” he said, rubbing his thumb and forefingers together.

“Are you saying lake gals don’t like to be spoiled?” Ella said, crossing her arms as she faced Abe down.

“Just offering some friendly advice,” Abe said. “Don’t want to see you burned again, son.”

Luke snapped his toolbox shut. “Appreciate the concern, but I can handle my own business.” The old man nodded and walked back out. Luke exhaled slowly, letting the tension drain from his shoulders. Abe was stuck in his ways, living in a world that had moved on without him. It was hard to stay angry at someone who was fighting to stay relevant in a changing world.

Still, Luke found himself wondering if there was any truth to Abe’s warning. Would Sophie eventually tire of small-town life? Of him?

“Don’t listen to Abe,” Ella said. “Sure, some women want to be wined and dined at fancy places every weekend. But from what Grace told me about Sophie, she strikes me as someone who’d be just as happy with a picnic by the water or a walk through town. As long as you take her out for a dinner date every now and—”

Luke stopped short. “So you think she would like to be taken out for dinner?”

Ella blinked. “Oh, if you haven’t already, it’s fine!”

Luke ran a hand through his hair. “No, you’re right. I should take her to dinner. It’s the done thing, isn’t it? Proper dates. Hell, I’ve been acting like we’re still in high school.”

His mind was already working. The Lakeside Bistro. That was the place. White tablecloths, wine list, actual servers instead of ordering at a counter. Sophie was used to London restaurants, fancy places with names he probably couldn’t pronounce. She deserved better than tea and Mabel’s scones in the middle of Solace Lake.

Yeah. He’d take Sophie on a proper date. Like she was used to. Like she deserved. He would make it a surprise, too.

But first, he’d have to endure a town hall meeting.

Twenty-Three

Sophie

Sophie smoothed down her floral wrap dress as she approached the town hall entrance with Luke, who looked criminally handsome in dark jeans and a forest-green button-down. His ramrod-straight posture suggested he might be wearing a suit of armor beneath it, though, and he kept fidgeting with his collar like it was plotting his assassination.

Luke had suggested they attend the town hall meeting together, mentioning in his typically cryptic way that Sophie might want to “dress nice” for it, an odd recommendation for what Sophie assumed would be a casual civic gathering, but she was happy to oblige. Anything that involved spending more time in Luke Rhodes’ company was fine by her, even if it meant subjecting herself to the mysterious workings of small-town American democracy. Besides, she was curious about the community she was joining, and Luke’s invitation felt like another small step toward whatever was building between them.

The Solace Springs Community Center occupied a converted 1940s church hall in the main street, all honey-colored wood paneling and tall windows that someone had optimistically tried to modernize with mismatched curtains in various shades of faded floral. Folding chairs that had probably witnessed decades of town drama were arranged in slightly crooked rows facing a modest stage where a hand-painted banner reading “Welcome Spring!” hung at a jaunty angle. A serving table along one wall held the inevitable coffee urn that looked like it had been burbling away at town meetings forever, flanked by paper cups and a selection of homemade cookies.

The place was packed, too; at least a hundred people squeezed into the hall.

“You know,” Sophie said to Luke, “when you said ‘town meeting,’ I pictured something quaint. Maybe twelve people around a kitchen table arguing about whose turn it is to water the community flowers.”

Luke did a half chuckle. “You’re about to get a proper education in how Solace Springs politics works.”

They took their seats and Sophie found herself wedged between Luke and Margaret. He looked like a giant sitting in a child’s chair and his proximity to her was doing highly inappropriate things to her concentration.

Margaret’s sharp eyes surveyed the room like a general assessing her troops. Sophie followed her gaze, taking in the familiar faces she’d come to know over the past week. Mabel bustled around the front of the room like a caffeinated hummingbird while simultaneously directing Ella from the museum about proper folding chair deployment. The woman could run a small country if she set her mind to it.

Grace was at the coffee station, pink-tipped hair catching the overhead lights as she arranged cups and napkins. Her son Zach had taken up a position against the wall, perfecting the art of the teenage slouch.

Caleb swept toward the coffee urn in an aggressively floral shirt that could be seen from space, gesticulating about something that had his husband Mikkel wearing a patient expression of loving resignation.

Sophie nearly choked on her own breath as Luke shifted beside her, his thigh brushing against hers. Good God, the man was like a space heater.

She noticed a woman in her thirties with a hard bob watching him. Then she caught Sophie’s eye and gave her a tight but totally fake smile.