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I saw it instantly—the spark in her eyes. “Bike riding could be fun.”
“We can cover more ground. See more of the area.”
She agreed, so I led the way to the shop. Come to find out, the shop wasn’t open yet. But I hadn’t given up hope.
“Hey, Luis,” I called over to a guy dismounting from a speed bike.
The lanky Latino in bicycle gear removed his helmet. “Adam, what’s up? How are you?”
“Good. I’m taking in the town with a…friend.” I shot a look to Jillian who seemed to roll with the label for now.
“Looking for a bike rental?” Luis asked.
“I know we’re early, we happened to be walking around when I thought of it.”
Luis nodded for us to follow him. “Come around back and I’ll hook you up. I just got back from my morning ride.”
Jillian elbowed me. “Ooh, you’re so popular.”
I rolled my eyes but secretly loved her jab. “He’s a newer friend. I met him and his bike buddies at a pub during a live music night. People our age up here are a rare find.”
“Is it mostly kids and older folks?”
“You got it. Families, retirees, people of all ages, but not exactly a top destination for college spring break or bachelor parties. It’s one of the reasons I was excited about our rental this week.”
“Because you wanted to hang out with Vincent and drink brewskis?”
“No, that’s you who wants to drink brewskis.”
We stopped at the door to see Luis staring at us. He looked between us grinning. “You two longtime friends?”
Jillian’s face clouded. “Something like that.”
In an instant, she closed me out. She had to remind herself she didn’t like me. I wondered, though, if maybe she was struggling with the disliking me part. A guy could dream.
Whatever she was dealing with internally, she must have set aside, because she acted friendly to Luis as we looked through the bike options.
I got out my wallet to pay and Luis waved it off. “Bike rentals are on the house. You’ve been sending your summer guests our way. We ask how they’ve heard of us in the agreement and I saw your name come up a few times. Thanks.”
Nice to know the guests were taking advantage of the local activities binder and referral cards we left in the rental. “Awesome. Glad to hear it.”
“How’s the project coming along downstate?” he asked.
I focused all my attention on Jackson, refusing to look at Jillian. “Great. Yeah, uh, right on time. Look, thanks so much for hooking us up today.”
Luis nodded as a send-off and headed to the storeroom.
We walked our bikes out back and to the side street. Jillian hopped on her bike and began a slow pedal. “Do not make fun of me if I wobble. I said five years but that was a stationary spin bike.”
She looked steady to me. My own bike riding skills were a little rusty. Luis had invited me to ride with his group, but they were intense. I needed to work up to a twenty-mile road ride.
“I’m following you!” Jillian called over. “I’ll get us lost or dead-ended to the lake.”
“Easy to do around here.” Lake Charlevoix bordered the town on one side and then Round Lake by the marina connected to a channel that fed into Lake Michigan. “We’ll stay this end of the bridge. Come on, let’s go this way.”
We rode through residential streets where window boxes overflowed with flowers and chairs on front porches were occupied, not simply decoration.
“Ooh, the mushroom houses!” Jillian slowed as we approached one of the famous homes Charlevoix was known for. “They’re magical. I used to imagine elves lived there. Well, human-sized elves. They had portals in their gardens to travel back and forth between here and their elven land.” She kept a steady look at me. “And yes, I know I was too old to actually believe in magical elves by the time I started coming up here.”
