Page 77 of Summer Reading

“The engine’s already running,” I said.

“It’s so quiet.” He looked surprised. “I never noticed that before.”

“Hmm.” I pressed my lips together to keep from saying anything.

I wondered if I should send Dad and Stephanie a pic of this. Nah, they’d just worry, and that seemed cruel to do to them when they were on an epic trip.

We’d just gotten a message this morning with a picture of them in front of the ruins of the Acropolis. They looked happy and Dad, mercifully, had been wearing shorts and not those embarrassing jeans. He still had the chin hair, though. I wondered if Stephanie had managed to ditch the awful pants off a plane, boat, or train somewhere. I would have.

“All right, I parked facing out so all you have to dois put it in drive and ease your way out of the parking spot,” I said.

Tyler checked both ways four times. The lot was clear with only staff cars in the far corner, as tonight was one of the library’s closed evenings. He stepped on the gas and we shot out of the spot. He slammed on the brakes and I felt the bite of my seat belt across my chest—that was going to leave a mark—as it kept me from slamming into the dash. I dropped back against my seat and blinked. Okay, maybeMario Kartwas not the best driving instructor.

He looked at me in horror. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” I said. “You?”

“Yeah, I’m okay,” he said. But he was wide-eyed, pasty, and sweating.

“It’s okay. Try it again,” I said. “We’re just going to go around the parking lot. We won’t head out onto the open road because you’re not old enough for your permit and the Martha’s Vineyard police and I have a history, so we’ll be keeping respectful boundaries.”

“Good idea,” he said. “We should work up to main roads.”

No argument here.

This time he stepped on the gas and we eased into the lot. He overturned the wheel and then had to correct, which he also overdid. We made one very painful loop. And then another. Then I had him makethe same loop but going in the opposite direction. By the time he stopped and put the car in park, we were both ready for me to take over.

“That was an excellent start,” I said. “We’ll just keep at it until you get comfortable.”

He shut the engine off and turned to face me. “Thanks, Sam. That was like a million times better than when Mom attempted to teach me the basics.”

“You’re welcome,” I said. I climbed out of the car and saw Ben across the parking lot. He was getting onto his motorcycle. He didn’t see us and I suddenly felt ridiculously shy. Did I shout his name and wave? Pretend I didn’t see him? Ugh.

This was stupid. I was here picking up my brother. Ben knew I did this every day. It wasn’t as if I was stalking him or that he would even think of me stalking him. Still, I felt weird.

Our conversation from yesterday lingered in my mind. Ben was determined to help me write my cookbook. But what if it went badly and I disappointed him? Would finding his father make up for that?

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I had to slow my roll. Why did I care if I disappointed him? When I’d told him this was just for the short term, Ben had called this a summer situation, and just because that term lacked definition and made the hive of bees in my head busy, busy, busy didn’t mean I needed to sweat us not making it for thelong term. We were just for the here and now. No need to make things complicated.

As if he could feel my gaze on him, Ben glanced over his shoulder in the direction of our car. His mouth curved up immediately at the sight of me, and my shoulders dropped in relief. I soaked in the image of him as he strode across the parking lot wearing a lightweight black leather jacket over jeans and a T-shirt. Mercy.

“I was hoping I’d see you today,” he said.

“Yeah?” My voice came out embarrassingly high and squeaky. I immediately feigned a cough.Chill, Gale.

“I was wondering if you’re free on Saturday to do some more amateur sleuthing.”

“I should be available, but I’ll know better tomorrow,” I said. I thought about my appointment with Em and hoped I’d be available to go with Ben. If Em got bad news, I didn’t plan to let her out of my sight. At least, not until she had a plan of action. Thankfully, I had my happy hour for tomorrow evening all prepped and ready to go. I was getting a solid rhythm with this new chef gig.

“Great.” He glanced at the car. Tyler was watching something on his phone, so Ben kissed me quick and then came back for more.

The mutual attraction flared to life, and the next thing I knew he backed me up against the car, cuppedmy face, and was kissing me with a single-minded intensity that made my entire world narrow to one focus point. Him.

I forgot where we were. I forgot my name. All I knew was that I could have spent the rest of my life kissing this man and it would never be enough.

The sound of a horn broke through, and Ben and I separated. I glanced at the car, and Tyler was leaning out of the passenger window and grinning at us.

“Now that I have your attention... ahem.” He cleared his throat. “Will you be joining us for dinner, Ben?”

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