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Addie and Sutton both sniffled, and I saw Addie dab at the corners of her eyes.
Palmer reached for my hand. “I imagine she feels close to Rick when she’s at the house. With him being buried there and all.”
I nodded. “She pours everything into the bed and breakfast.”
“Maybe someday,” Sutton started, “someone will come and stay at the bed and breakfast and sparks will fly.”
“How wonderful would that be?” Addie added.
“It would be wonderful,” I said before I picked up my fork and dove into my breakfast.
I set my purse and keys down on the table next to the front door and called out Brax’s name.
When he didn’t answer, I headed out to the backyard.
I smiled the moment I saw him hanging up the wind chimes we’d bought last weekend when we’d driven up the coast. “I like it there.”
“Yeah?” he asked, stepping down from the ladder and making his way over to me. “Let’s hope the bears don’t tear it down.”
Glancing back at the wind chimes, I asked, “Do you think they will?”
“Probably not. My mom had some out once and this one bear used to come and hit it all the time. I think she liked the sound it made. She even brought her cubs to hear it for a few years. It was cute watching her hit it while they looked up at it.”
“That’s precious.” I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his neck as I reached up to give him a kiss.
“How was your day?” he asked.
Sighing, I dropped my head on his chest. “Mine started off with chatter about the latest article, of course.”
“Good one, by the way. But damn, why is Ms. S hating on poor little ol’ me?”
I grinned. “I think she secretly has a thing for you.”
With a sexy smirk, he replied, “You think? I wonder if she’s pretty.”
“I’ve heard rumors she’s a princess.”
Brax chuckled. “Nah, I’ve got the only princess in town.” He kissed my forehead, then tilted my chin up to look at me. “What else happened?”
“Kris stopped by the paper, and they told her I was at the Grill. She swung over to tell me my mother has been snooping around the island, trying to get intel.”
“On the wedding?” he asked.
“Yep. Palmer and I had to sneak away from Sutton and Addie to talk about it.”
“Is Palmer upset that your mother is onto you?”
I shook my head and drew my finger along Brax’s logo on his shirt. It was a fishing boat with a fish under it, and over the top of the boat it read Bradley Charters. “She wasn’t. She’s actually amused by the whole couplegate thing.” Sighing, I said, “I’m getting so tired of this, Brax.”
He wrapped his arms around me tighter. “Tired of what? Ms. Seaside?”
“Yes,” I answered. “Your sisters and I started talking about babies and futures, and after Kris left, I really started to think. I want to spend as much time with you as I can. I love working at the paper and at Sutton’s shop. Ms. Seaside doesn’t take up a whole lot of time, but it’s the sneaking around and the lying that I hate. I spun a lie so quickly today about why Kris needed to talk to me that it bothered me for hours.”
“Do you want to start phasing her out?” he asked as he twirled a piece of my hair around his fingers.
I didn’t answer for a few moments while I really thought about it. “I think I do. I’m ready for her to quietly slip away. I can’t do this anymore, and I can’t tell Addie, Palmer, and Sutton that Ms. Seaside is me. I’m scared to death they’ll hate me forever.”
He drew back and cupped my face in his hands. “They won’t hate you. They might be upset at first, but they would never hate you.”
I felt the tears sting at the back of my eyes. “I just want the column to slowly fade away.”
Brax kissed me gently on the lips. “Then that’s what we’ll do. I should probably keep the Friday article, though.”
“I agree. Once summer hits, it’ll be easy to explain why you cut back if you don’t want to do it each week. Unless you really want to.”
He tilted his head as he thought about it. “I really like doing it. It’s kind of cool having people tell me they’re learning some things about fishing. But as far as how often I’ll do it, we’ll play it by ear.”
“Then I say keep doing it for however long you want. As for me, I’m thinking I might like to learn a thing or two about fishing charters.”
A brilliant smile lit up Brax’s face. “I know just the guy to teach you.”
Harlee
* * *
THE SEASIDE CHRONICLES
April 7, 2023
FRIDAY’S CATCH
Hey, Anglers,
I’m counting down the days until May 15 when the season opens again! If you haven’t booked your trip yet, you can on our website—the link is listed below. If you’ve never been deep-sea fishing, then you don’t know what you’re missing out on. I’m certainly ready for some freshly caught cod these days, how about you?
