Page 21 of Finding Love

“Yes.” Her smile grew. “He mentioned you were here.” She nodded to the three books he’d picked out already. “It’s hard to leave here without something.” She sighed. “I never realized how much I loved books until I ran in here.”

“I rekindled my love for them last year when I hit the road,” he said, leaning on the bookshelf.

“I heard you went sailing with Brook yesterday,” Eva said as her eyebrows rose slightly.

“I did.” He held back a chuckle. “Here I was thinking the whole thing about news spreading fast in a small town was just a cliché.”

“Oh no.” Eva shook her head. “Pride is known far and wide for how fast news can spread.” She laughed. “I guess that’s why I couldn’t hide who I was for long here.” She bit her lip and then said, “You know, if you stay here long, everyone’s bound to find out everything there is to know about your past.”

He nodded. “I’m not necessarily keeping it from anyone. Just… wanting a few days,” he admitted.

“So, does that mean you’re sticking around?”

“For at least a week.” He remembered how excited Brook had looked when he’d said he’d stay.

“That’s good.” Eva touched his arm. “As much as I feared being found, a lot of good came from it. I finally found a place worth sticking around. It sucked, don’t get me wrong, to have to face my past, but still…” She sighed and glanced towards the front windows of the bookstore. “Not a day goes by that I’m not thankful I rushed in here and jumped behind that counter,” she said with a chuckle.

“You actually jumped?”

“She did,” Rafe said from behind him. The man walked over and wrapped an arm around Eva. “And landed right at my feet. Then she tried to climb out the bathroom window,” he said with a chuckle.

Eva smiled. “Yeah, I doubt I could even fit now. What with the new baby coming.” She ran her hand over her small belly.

“Congratulations, again,” he said.

“You’re just as beautiful as the day you tried.” Rafe kissed her.

After leaving the bookstore, he and Willy walked around town. He stopped into the pet store, Carrie’s Sanctuary, and bought some dog food and treats for Willy. Okay, so he spent about half an hour playing with some of the dogs she had in there. He had met Carrie yesterday and chatted with her about all the other animals she had up at her larger facility just outside of town.

Once they left there, they walked by a real estate office and noticed a few flyers in the windows. The image of the large place overlooking the water that Brook mentioned she’d dreamed of owning caught his eye.

The picture showed a severely neglected home. The price reflected that. If he were in the market, that would have been a good thing. After all, it didn’t take much to flip a place like that. The view alone was worth every penny.

“See something you like?” An older woman stepped out the front door and ran her eyes over him.

“Maybe.” He motioned to the flyer. “How motivated are the sellers?”

Her smile grew. “Why don’t the two of you step into my office?” She waved him and Willy inside.

He sat and listened to the woman’s selling points and when she offered to drive him and Willy out to look at the property, something had him agreeing. Maybe it was curiosity? Maybe it was because of what Brook said about her dream of one day living there?

She’d talked about enjoying the view from the deck that overhung the grassy yard or building a firepit right near the top of the long staircase, which would have to be rebuilt.

The more he thought about her dreams, the more he realized he could imagine all of it.

While Ellen Rodgers drove him and Willy out of town and towards the place, he tried to imagine what it would be like to live there. From what he’d seen, he honestly believed that he’d enjoy it very much.

The entire downtown of Pride was only a couple square miles. He’d easily walked from one end of town to the other. Still, they had everything a small town needed. Tons of little shops, including the bakery, florist, grocery, bookstore, and barbershop, plus a handful of boutiques and other specialty shops. There was even a medical clinic and law offices along with the standard post office, banks, schools, town hall, and both police and fire departments.

Brook had even talked about the old-time theater that still showed movies on weekends. He’d met Robin and Kara, so he knew the large wedding venue brought in a lot of out-of-towners. Not to mention the massive coast guard training facility, which apparently sat outside of town. He had yet to drive by it.

He and Willy had entered town from the south end and, as Ellen drove north, he tried to take in as much as he could.

“Up that road is the coast guard facility.” Ellen pointed as she turned left off the main road. “This road takes us along the coast. That way will get you back to the highway and straight to Portland.”

The narrow road wound around the hills and finally turned into a dirt road. She stopped at the base of the driveway and got out to unlock the chain holding the gates together.

When she got back in, she said, “The power has been off, but the gate is automatic.”