Page 22 of Where Sea Meets Sky

“Perfect. I’m officially inviting you to the Owens family dinner night on Wednesday. It’ll be at my mom’s house.”

“Family dinner?” Faith’s heart started to beat faster. “Won’t it just be your immediate family there? I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

Alexis shook her head. “Nonsense. All of our partners will be there, and most of the time my mom invites her friend Terrence to come too. Between the two of us, I think there’s a romance brewing there, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

Faith still felt a little dazed, but excited about the invitation. “All right,” she stammered. “If you’re sure everyone else will be okay with it.”

“Oh, of course. We’ve been talking about inviting you for dinner. This’ll be perfect.”

Faith felt butterflies of nervousness and expectation flutter in her stomach. “Okay. Yes. Perfect.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Ryan strolled down the sidewalk of Rosewood Beach, feeling the fresh morning wind rush coolly against his body. He considered zipping up his leather jacket, since the early spring air was still too cold for comfort, but he was enjoying how invigorating the chilly wind felt. Overhead, the sky was a vibrant blue, but in the east, clouds were starting to gather, hinting at coming rain. He thought he could smell it in the wind as well, and he wondered if the storm would be bad enough that it might affect his upcoming flight.

It was his last morning in Rosewood Beach before going back to his job in Colorado. He’d gotten up early and packed up his suitcase, and he was currently on his way to Seaside Sweets Bakery to pick up a coffee and some breakfast before heading back to the airport.

He reached the bakery and stepped inside. It was pleasantly warm and smelled deliciously of sugary pastries and rich coffee. He stepped up to the end of the counter, where the to-go orders were waiting.

“That’s yours,” the smiling barista told him as she pointed to a coffee cup and a white paper bag. “Latte and a lemon croissant for Ryan McCormick.”

He smiled, feeling touched that she remembered who he was. He hadn’t been back in town all that long. “Thanks. Smells amazing.”

He took his purchases and left the shop. He started to walk back to where he’d parked his truck, feeling a strong reluctance to leave Rosewood Beach. He’d felt as though he was just getting back into the swing of learning how to rest and take care of himself—and now here he was, rushing off to work again.

He turned a corner and almost collided with someone who was coming from the opposite direction. “Oh, I’m sorry—hey!” His face lit up into a grin. “We have to stop almost colliding like this.”

It was Faith, wearing a pink sundress with a knit cardigan and looking flushed and energetic. Her hair was pulled back into a braid, but attractive wisps were blowing across her face in the strong wind. She brushed them back and grinned back at him.

“Hey! I guess both of us need to do a better job of watching where we’re going.”

“You’re up and about pretty early for someone who’s supposed to be taking things easy,” he remarked, teasing her.

She laughed. “I can say the same thing to you. Aren’t you also supposed to be resting on your vacation?”

He shook his head. “Unfortunately, my vacation is over. I’m just picking up some breakfast before heading out to the airport. I’ve got a plane to catch.”

An expression of disappointment flickered across Faith’s face, but then she teased him. “I guess people like us can’t stay away from our fast-paced lives for long. At least you tried.”

He laughed, but internally, he winced at her words. He wished it wasn’t true, and that he was able to stay in town and rest longer. Even more than that, he wished he’d gotten a chance to spend more time with her.

In the next instant, an idea came to him. He glanced at his watch and decided he had another half an hour before he needed to leave for the airport. “Tell you what,” he said. “Do you have a few minutes to savor my last minutes of relative calm with me? The town square is right over there. We can sit in the gazebo and drink coffee and chat.”

“Sure.” She smiled at him eagerly. “Sounds nice. I was just on my way to get some coffee at Seaside Sweets Bakery.”

“How about you go wait for me in the gazebo, and I’ll get you your coffee? What would you like?”

She flushed slightly, as if she was realizing how much their impromptu hangout was starting to resemble a date. He felt a kind of warm feeling in his chest as he realized it too.

“I’ll take an oat milk latte with cinnamon. Extra hot please.”

“Perfect. You got it. Extra hot oat milk latte with cinnamon coming right up.”

He hurried back to Seaside Sweets Bakery, and they had Faith’s latte ready in no time. He found himself wondering why she’d asked for it to be extra hot. Was it because she knew it would inevitably cool down as he walked from the bakery to the gazebo, and she wanted it to be hot when she got it? He smiled, guessing that that was probably why. She seemed like a highly intelligent woman, and he figured that she was often calculating details like that, almost effortlessly, as if she couldn’t help it. He looked up ahead and saw her sitting under the gazebo, swinging her legs slightly as she leaned forward. He wondered what she was looking at. Probably just the park. The park was beautiful, just starting to be tinted with the first green of spring.

“Here you are,” he said, stepping into the gazebo and sitting down next to her. “Extra hot oat milk latte with cinnamon.”

“Fantastic, thank you.” She smiled at him, almost shyly, and removed the stopper from the mouth of the coffee cup. She tooka careful sip and shut her eyes, pleased. “Ah, just right. It’s perfect.”

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