Page 33 of Searching for Love

Lucas reached over to squeeze her hand. “One of my favorite jobs was my first job working at that Chinese place,” he said, his eyes reflecting the same sense of humor. “Why did you never go back to work there?”

She shrugged. “Ruby couldn’t afford it. I tried to donate my time when I found out she was having financial difficulties. But she’s too full of pride.” She sighed. “Besides, I had to pay my rent.”

As Lucas pulled into the parking lot, Avery’s gaze drifted over the familiar facade of the building. Memories flooded back as she remembered her days working at the sandwich shop. The building had changed so much in the short time that Lucas had owned it.

The anticipation of setting up the new iron tables and chairs on the patio added an extra layer of excitement.

They parked the truck and quickly unloaded the sofa and hauled it into her new office.

“It’s perfect,” she said, dusting off her hands.

“She was made for the spot,” Lucas agreed. “Now, how about we conquer the tables and chairs?”

They unloaded all of the chairs first so they could get to the tables. Then they hauled everything over to the patio area.

“The bigger table should go here,” she said, nudging the heavy thing into place. “The smaller ones, which will seat just two people, should go along each wall.” She pointed.

“Agreed.” He nodded and they quickly moved each table into place.

“See, now this area flows. No chairs can block the aisleways. We can have planters along here.” She motioned. “With summer flowers to give the patio a little more privacy.”

He stood back and let her rattle on for a while about her vision for the space. Next, they arranged the chairs at each table. The black iron gleamed in the sunlight.

“This is perfect,” she said with a sigh.

“You enjoy this, don’t you?” he asked, standing next to her.

“Of course.” She glanced up at him, then spun around quickly as she glanced around the town. What they were doing to this place was changing the town, making it so much better for all who lived there.

As she looked up and down the street, she could see that each business took pride in bettering everything around them as well.

Then she laughed and motioned down the street. “You wouldn’t believe the shenanigans I got up to in high school.” She chuckled, moving one of the chairs a little. “Like the time Hannah dared me to climb up on the roof of the old movie theater.” She motioned to the building, whose lights had just flickered on.

Lucas laughed, his eyes alight with amusement. “I bet that was quite the sight.”

“My dad had to come get me down from the roof with the fire truck’s ladder.” She laughed. “I was grounded for a month after that one. Still, the view from up there was spectacular.

Without a word, he took her hand and led her inside the building. After heading up the staircase that led up to his apartment, he turned to a different doorway and opened it. Inside was another set of stairs.

“They just finished up here last week,” he told her as he opened the last door at the top of the stairs. “I came up here the other night to watch the sunset.” He stood back and nudged the door open the entire way.

Gasping, she stepped out onto the freshly renovated and tarred flat roof of the building. There was a slight dip towards the back of the building so that rain could drain to the half dozen scuppers and into downspouts.

Her eyes didn’t even scan the recent patches that had been done. Instead, they zeroed in on the view in front of them.

This building sat on the corner of a five-point crossroads. Directly in front of it was Main Street. To the far right, Second Street started at Main and led further back into town, heading away from the Pacific Ocean towards the police department and the fire station. Then Main Street turned into the road that led off towards Jordan’s Shipping, All in Bloom, Sunset Events, and the Hidden Cove neighborhood. Beyond that sat the lighthouse and state park area.

Front Street was the only straight street in the five-point connection. It ran from Pride’s docks straight past this building and traveled by the grade school, the high school, and the Coast Guard training facilities before meeting with the highway that headed either towards Portland or, in the opposite direction, Edgeview.

This unique position of the crossroads allowed for the top of this building to have an unhindered view of the Pacific Ocean beyond the tops of the other buildings in Pride and the treetops and rocky shoreline.

The sunset was causing perfect bright pink streaks to cross the cloudless dark blue sky. The sun was no bigger than half the size of a quarter in the distance as the entire sky changed with each second that passed.

“It’s so beautiful here,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around herself.

“Better than the theater’s roof?” he asked, stopping beside her and leaning on the high wall at the edge of the building.

“Without a doubt.” She glanced at him. “Thank you for sharing this with me.”

“Thank you for helping me bring my restaurant, my vision, to life,” he said, his voice laced with gratitude. “For taking a chance on me and this place,” he added with a slight shrug.

Avery easily stepped closer and wrapped her arms around him. “I’m glad I could be a part of it,” she said, meaning every word deep down into her core. “I can’t imagine not being here right now.” She lifted onto her toes to press a soft kiss to his lips.

“I take back what I said earlier,” he said as he pulled back.

“Hm?” She glanced up into his eyes.

“This time right here. With you.” He wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t think anything could ever be as perfect as this moment.”