Page 16 of Sea Glass Serenade

She continued to help him while he worked, and she convinced herself that she needed to bring up her feelings for him another time, sometime when he wasn’t distracted by work.

Besides, she thought with a pang,what if he tells me he’s not interested, and then we have another hour or so together in this kitchen while he works? That would be too awkward.

Alexis and Samantha soon returned triumphantly with everyone’s drinks, and Jacob took a short break to drink some of his coffee.

“That’s great,” he said, half-closing his eyes as he savored the taste. “Ocean Breeze Café, right?”

“That’s right.” Alexis smiled. “Best coffee in town. Well, Samantha and I are going to drink our beverages out on the porch. We’ll catch you both later.”

As she was leaving the kitchen, she gave Hazel another look, and Jacob noticed.

“What was that about?” he asked amiably, seeming to be unaware of what the look meant.

“Oh, she’s probably just wondering why I let you put a hole in our wall,” Hazel said breezily.

“Well, make sure she knows I’m going to make it look as good as new in no time.” He grinned and went back to his work.

Hazel felt jittery as she watched him. She kept telling herself that she should get out her laptop and check her emails while she waited for him to finish his job, but she felt sure that she wouldn’t be able to concentrate. Even though she’d convinced herself that today wasn’t the right day to tell him how she felt,she still felt as though a restless, excited energy was buzzing under her skin.

“Well, that does it.” Jacob sighed with satisfaction as he climbed down the ladder. “Should be good as new. I’ll let this first step in the drywall repair dry, and I’ll come back to finish the job soon. Tomorrow work for you?”

“Sure.” Her heart thumped in her chest. “Tomorrow sounds great.”

“I’ve got a bunch of jobs tomorrow, so I’ll have to just duck in quickly and get it done and then be on my way.” His eyes roamed over her face as he spoke.

“Sounds good.” She smiled at him. “Maybe tomorrow I’ll have a cookie for you.”

He laughed. “Hey, I already got some free coffee. I’m a happy guy.”

“Well, I’m a happy customer. You’re like some kind of wizard, coming here and fixing my problems like, ‘Poof!’”

“Like ‘poof!”, huh?” He grinned at her. “I think it was more like ‘clink, clank, grunt, whoosh, squeak.’”

She doubled over with laughter at his joke, as silly as it was, and he started laughing with her too. For a moment, the two of them just stood in the kitchen laughing breathlessly together.

“Well, I’d better get going,” he said finally, glancing at his watch. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah. See you tomorrow.” Despite their words, neither of them moved for a second, and she cleared her throat before she asked, “Do you want to just leave your ladder here?”

“Uh—no, I’d better take it with me. You never know when you’re going to need a ladder.”

“I’ll have to remember that,” she said, grinning at him. “I should try carrying one in my purse.”

He laughed more than was reasonable for her terrible joke as he picked up the ladder and started back toward the door.

“See you tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll be in touch about when.”

“Sounds good. See you then.”

Was it her imagination, or was he lingering, as if he wasn’t quite ready to leave? Her heart thumped with happiness as she watched him pause for a moment in the doorway, grin at her, and then turn and walk down the sidewalk.

“Thank you again!” she called.

“You’re welcome!” he called back over his shoulder.

She inhaled as she watched him get into his truck and drive away. She felt certain that he had the most attractive smile in the whole world.

“Look at you, you’re as smitten as a schoolgirl.”

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