A Christmas to Remember Read Online Free PDF Page B

three times this morning.”
    Lillian stared at her cousin. Charlotte was probably trying todefend her, but she had asked Charlotte not to mention Oliver again. Charlotte had given her an earful of gossip about the town’s leading bachelor last night, and Lillian was sure she didn’t want anything more to do with him.
    “Oliver Warwick? Really?” Bess put down her magazine, looking as if she didn’t believe it.
    Lillian felt stung. As if an attractive man wouldn’t look twice at me. “I don’t know why everyone around here thinks he’s such a catch,” she said. “I found him quite full of himself…and annoying.”
    “He could annoy me anytime,” Penny cut in with a giggle.
    “To each her own, I guess,” Bess said languidly.
    “He is wild.” Charlotte glanced at Lillian. “My parents would never let me date a man who’s been divorced.”
    “My parents wouldn’t mind, not with all his money,” Bess said. “There are two sides to every story, girls. I heard his wife walked out on him. What else could he do?”
    “I heard she walked out after she caught him running around,” Penny countered.
    Charlotte had mentioned Oliver’s divorce last night, though she hadn’t given Lillian any details. It sounded as if no one knew the facts, and Lillian didn’t want to ask more questions and reveal her curiosity. Not to these girls.
    She kept her gaze fixed on her book, though she wasn’t reading a word, her ears tuned to every word.
    “Well, he got that girl from Ipswich in trouble. Louise…what’s her name. She worked at the bank, remember?” Penny shrugged a bare shoulder. “I heard Oliver’s father paid off the family, and she went to stay with relatives down south.”
    “Really? I thought she went up to Maine,” Charlotte said.
    “I don’t know where she went, but I heard she was trying to trap him. And she wasn’t even pregnant either.” Bess closed her magazine and stretched out on her blanket. “She’s just a gold-digger.”
    Once again, none of them seemed to know the facts of these shocking stories. Lillian found herself annoyed at them for the careless gossip, then she felt even more annoyed at herself for caring.
    Lillian forced her attention back to her book for a few minutes but was too restless to concentrate. “I think I’ll take a walk. Would anyone like to join me?”
    The other three looked at each other and practically groaned. “I’ve had enough exercise for one day, thank you.” Penny stretched out on her blanket. “I’m ready for a nap.”
    “Me, too,” Bess said, laying her magazine aside.
    Charlotte already had her eyes closed, so Lillian set out alone. She preferred her solitude anyway. She had just invited them to be polite.
    The stretch of shoreline ahead of her was just about deserted. The sky was clear and the sun strong, but a stiff wind whipped the waves to high, rough peaks. Lillian watched a few boats out on the water, dipping and bobbing. She walked at a purposeful pace, her steps tracing through the foam on the smooth wet sand.
    A walk on the beach was an excellent way to clear your mind, Lillian had always found. And she was in need of a clear mind. As hard as she tried and no matter what she told the others, she couldn’t stop thinking about Oliver Warwick. The way he had looked at her. The sound of his voice. The way he touched her arm, held her hand.
    The way he kissed her.
    She certainly didn’t want to see him again. She didn’t even like him. So why couldn’t she stop thinking about him?
    Lillian didn’t understand her feelings. She didn’t like it. She didn’t like it at all.
    Cape Light, Present-day
    T HE C LAM B OX WAS PRACTICALLY EMPTY , EXCEPT FOR A MAN EATING at the counter and a couple sitting in the booth at the back. Sara took her usual table near the front window and settled in, waiting for Luke.
    Charlie Bates, the diner’s owner, was busy at the grill and hadn’t noticed her come in. Which was fine with Sara. Though she and