Page 21 of Sea Glass Serenade

“Let’s do it!” She turned toward him excitedly. “Look over there, there’s a sign-up table. We should absolutely join the next race!”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Dean looked out at the bike sprint with a frown of concern. “I’m feeling pretty tired, Alexis.”

“Tired? Don’t you have the day off today? Come on!”

He smiled at her. “I do feel better than I did yesterday, but I don’t think I’m up for sprinting on a bike.”

“They say that exercise is good for fatigue. Try at least one with me? Then if you’re still too tired, I can keep racing without you.”

He grinned at her. “Okay. That sounds fair enough. I have missed participating in these things, and it’s for a great cause.”

“Perfect!” She quickly drank the last of her coffee. “Now let’s go over there and sign up for the next race.”

She and Dean wove their way through the crowd. The people around them were smiling and cheering, and there was an almost wild sense of excitement in the air.

She and Dean put their names down for the next race, and in a few minutes, they were climbing onto bikes with the other participants.

“Oh, I’m ready for this.” Alexis grinned at her brother, feeling a wave of adrenaline. “It’s been such a long time since I did anything really exciting like this.”

He pursed his lips, cocking his head. “You won’t feel so excited when I beat you.”

She shook her head as she strapped on her helmet. “Not a chance, Dean Owens. This is my sport. I was made to bike sprint.”

The horn sounded, and the bikers took off. Alexis felt the wind rush past her face, and the crowd around her passed in a blur. She pedaled as fast as she could toward the finish line, and in what felt like only a few seconds, she was zooming across it.

The crowd erupted in cheers, and Alexis heard her name read off the list as having come in second. Dean came in fourth, and as he approached her, she bowed.

“See?” She laughed. “I told you.”

“You were magnificent.” He was panting, but he looked exhilarated. “I’m going to sit this next one out, but you go get ’em, kiddo.”

“Okay.” She thumped him on the back. “I’ll race this one for you.”

For a moment, she thought she saw an almost pained expression on his face, but then it vanished into a supportive smile.

“I’ll be cheering louder than anyone,” he told her.

She made her way to the sign-up table to put her name down for the race following the one that had started only moments after she and Dean had raced. As she wove her way through the crowd to the starting line, she thought to herself how nostalgic the event felt to her. Even a few weeks ago, she might have felt a little silly competing in a bike sprint, especially because it was something she’d done as a child, but now she was feeling competitive and rejuvenated by connecting with her past memories.

The bike sprint is like a little bit of Rosewood’s essence, she thought, smiling as she climbed onto her bike.It’s such a wholesome, heartfelt event that the whole town is putting their spirits into. We might not all be athletes, but everyone’s having a great time.

The horn sounded and she took off again. This time, it was even easier for her to lean forward into her speed and pedal with all her might. The road whipped by underneath her, and the next thing she knew, she was rushing across the finish line.

“In first place,” called out the announcer over a microphone, “is Alexis Bennett!”

The crowd cheered and a huge grin appeared on her face. She remembered winning once or twice in high school, but in that moment, she felt even more triumphant than she had back then.

She started to look through the crowd for Dean, to find someone to share in her excitement with her. She stepped forward a few paces, her eyes scanning the crowd, and then she turned around.

What she saw made her jaw drop and her heart seemed to skip a beat.

Standing in the middle of the crowd, staring at her, was Grayson.

CHAPTER TEN

Grayson’s feet froze in place as his gaze locked with Alexis’s.

He had been walking slowly through the crowd at Rosewood Beach’s bike sprint, feeling almost as if he were in a daze. He’d been to the town before, but he’d never really paused to pay attention to it in the same way before. Every other time he’d been there, he’d felt impatient to leave again. His mind had been on the business that he’d stepped away from, and although he liked Alexis’s family, he’d felt a bit antsy and restless in the little town.

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