Clallam Bay (A Fresh Start #2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

regressed back to the beginning stages of deliberation. Could I do that? Did I want to do that? Did he? Of course he did. He was a guy and this was sex we were talking about.
    Parking the car, I waved once I got out. “I see you found the plate.”
    “Was it supposed to be hidden?”
    Shaking my head, I climbed the steps. I stood back as far as I could, leaning against the porch rail. “You really think I’d hide anything from you?”
    The look he gave me told me he knew I would and did.
    “So, was it as good as the chicken?”
    “Better, actually.”
    “Really?”
    “No, not really. But it was just as good. I bet all of it is.” He looked me up and down once then smiled. “Your cooking, I mean.”
    Setting the plate down on the swing, he leaned forward, clasping his hands together and resting his forearms on his legs. He looked out over the bay as he rocked back and forth. “Anyway, I just came by to drop that off. Tell you thank you for my last meal.”
    “Last meal?”
    He nodded. “Last good one, at least. I’m headed back out tonight. Gonna be gone for a while.”
    “Oh.”
    “Yeah.”
    Our silence danced with the wind while he rocked back and forth on my creaky porch swing. I followed his gaze out over the bay, looking back at him when the creaking stopped and he stood. “Well, I better get going. Gotta get some sleep before I head out.”
    As he walked past, I grabbed him by the wrist, letting go when he looked down at my hand. “Just be careful out there, okay? I bought a lot of extra food and I’d rather not watch it all go to waste.”
    With a sad sort of smile, he nodded, taking off down the steps and disappearing into his house.
    It was later that night when the wind picked up, pelting little raindrops against my window, that his screen door squeaked. With the moon high in the sky, I watched as he threw a bag in the cab of his truck then climbed in after it just short of a colossal downpour. I prayed the brunt of it stayed on land this time and he’d come home safe because we were friends. And what else were friends for?

Chapter Five
    “Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, or haven’t you heard?” Sitting on the edge of my desk, Alyssa picked up my ship in a bottle, pretending it was rocking on imaginary waves. “The boats are coming in today.”
    “Oh, yeah?” Looking back down at the papers I was grading, I rested my chin in my palm. Of course I knew the boats were coming in today. I knew the estimated time of arrival the day after Coll left. There was a monthly schedule posted in the Harbor Master’s office. But no way was I owning up to knowing that. Or to how I found out about it.
    “Uh, yeah. Why aren’t you more excited?”
    I looked past her to check on the kids. I found them all still feverishly coloring and envied them more in that moment than I ever had before. All they had to worry about was staying inside the lines while I had grown-up problems to deal with. Grown-up problems that were giving me stress ulcers only soothed by sugar and salt. Bills and boys were a drain on energy. All they did was make you broke and cause damage to your waistline. I really needed to start running again.
    Setting the ship back down on my desk, Alyssa started playing with the paper clips. I eyed her hands as she idly linked them together.
    “Isn’t your friend from home flying in tomorrow?”
    “Yeah.”
    “I can’t wait to meet her. If she’s anything like you described, we’ll get along just fine.”
    I nodded because I was sure they would get along just fine. Both were incredibly fun and funny and had really, really, big, loud mouths.
    “We can go shopping. Maybe spend a day on the beach. Should be a lot of fun.”
    “Yeah, definitely.”
    I marked out yet another misspelling of the word shirt and gummed my lips. This was going to make for some interesting conversation at the upcoming parent/teacher conferences.
    Alyssa huffed then threw down the chain of