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“Good, good.” He started to pace back and forth in front of me.
“Richard. Please stop. You’re making me dizzy,” I said as I watched him. “Whatever is the matter?”
He stopped pacing and said the one word I didn’t want to hear. “Marriage.”
When I heard it, I shot up off the bench and stood in front of him. “Please do not ask me to marry you! We don’t even know each other,” I begged.
“It’s what our parents want.” He moved away from me and sank to the bench before he looked out at the sea, obviously deep in thought.
“Richard, do you love me?” I stood to the side of him, awaiting his reply.
He looked at me. “No.”
I sighed in relief. “I don’t love you either, and when I marry, it will be for love, and not because of our parents. That’s what you should want as well. How do you expect to be happy if you’re not in love with your wife?”
He took my hand and pulled me down beside him onto the bench. “Oh, Rose, thank you for being so frank with me. I agree with you. I’m not interested in settling down in marriage just yet. In fact, perhaps it’s time I start leading my own life, rather than being dictated to all the time. I would dearly value your friendship, though.”
I smiled up at him. “Yes, that would be great.”
Chapter 4
W
alking to the beach the following morning, Lucas had insisted on going via Thomas’s cottage to see if he wanted to go with them. Mack tried to talk him out of it, but Thomas was his new friend and had to be invited.
Lucas ran off ahead of Mack once Thomas’s cottage came into view. She just hoped Lucas didn’t badger him. Once Lucas got a bee in his bonnet, it was difficult to bring him around to something else.
Mack climbed the four steps up to Thomas’s porch where they were waiting for her. “Morning, Thomas. Sorry to barge in, but I’m afraid Lucas has something to ask you.”
He put his head back and laughed. “Oh, I know that.” His eyes twinkled. “Lucas asked me if I wanted to come to the beach with him to watch you,” he coughed, “skinny dip.”
Mack had just taken a sip of her water, which ended up down her top. “He never?” She looked at Thomas, and then at Lucas, who looked rather angelic. “Did he?”
Thomas nodded his head.
She narrowed her eyes. “Lucas Cartwright!”
“Granny goes skinny dipping,” Lucas said in his defense.
Mack quickly glanced at Thomas, who looked ready to burst into laughter. She sighed. “Okay. Lucas, we’re leaving to go to the beach. Thomas, would you like to come with us?”
He looked from Mack’s blushing face to Lucas’s hopeful one. “I think I will.” Then he winked at Lucas and added, “Providing your auntie keeps her clothes on. Might give me a heart attack at my age.”
Lucas started to giggle. Mack continued to blush.
Once Thomas appeared in his lightweight jacket, Lucas took hold of both their hands and let them lead him to the beach. Once there, Mack guided them over to a shaded area. “Let’s sit here so we don’t fry like a lobster. I’ll still be able to watch you, Lucas, so don’t think you can get away with anything.”
Thomas chuckled as he watched Lucas run off to play in the small tidal pool close to where they were sitting.
“He sure is a handful,” Thomas commented, sitting beside Mack on the blanket.
Mack laughed. “He sure is. I think he listens to his granny too much.” She sat with her legs pulled up, and she rested her chin on her knees. “It’s lovely here, Thomas. I’ve never been to Cape Elizabeth before, which is unbelievable, considering I’ve lived all my life in Boston. It’s so quiet and peaceful here.”
After a few minutes, Thomas glanced at Mack then back to Lucas. “I’ve never lived anywhere else. When Janet, my wife, was alive, we traveled to Europe, Canada, and Australia over the years we were together, but since she passed away, I haven’t been anywhere. I don’t need to travel after seeing what I have, and having this in my backyard . . . why bother?”
“It’s paradise, Thomas.”
“That it is. Why don’t you have a boyfriend?”
