Page 29 of Love Notes

“That’s great!I was going to go back for the concert, but once I got here and took my shoes off it all seemed like too much effort.”He tilted his head.“Unless you want to go?”

“I think I’m pretty peopled out.”

“Same.”He threw me a grateful look.“Also, guess what?”

“What?”

“I discovered that I really love maple syrup candy.”

I laughed.“It’s still early though.Want to take a walk by the lake?”

“My spine is a pretzel,” he said.“A walk sounds great.”

“It might be better for your back if you sit at the kitchen table to work.”

“Oh, it definitely would be,” he agreed.“But your couch is too comfortable.Oh, I bought a bottle of wine today when I was in town.Maybe after our walk we can sit by the lake and drink it?”

“I don’t think I have any wine glasses,” I said.

Adam grinned and headed for the kitchen.“Big Wine doesn’t want to tell you this, but you can just use regular glasses.”He dug around in the cabinet above the sink.“Or even plastic cups.”

Our stroll along the lakeshore was nice, even though the wine bottle that Adam had shoved into the surprisingly expansive pocket of his shorts kept jabbing me in the thigh whenever he leaned into me.I wasn’t complaining.It was a gorgeous afternoon; the surface of Harmony Lake was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the brilliant blue sky above it.It was the sort of day that would usually have drawn out boats and jet skis, but with everyone in Caldwell Crossing at the Founders Day celebrations, it was quiet on the lake.

Adam asked a lot of questions about the different types of plants and trees growing around the lake, listening intently to my answers.And then, when we were back at my jetty, he said, “Can you swim in the lake?”

“Sure.It’s safe.”

He pulled the wine out of one pocket, the stacked cups out of the other, and took his shoes off.His shirt followed it, and then he strode to the end of the jetty.“Is this water going to freeze my balls off?”

Without waiting for an answer, he climbed down the little ladder, hung off it for a moment, then let go.

“Shit!”he yelled.“Yes!”But he was laughing.

I was laughing too and pulling off my own shoes and shirt.I jumped in.The water wasn’tthatcold, but it definitely brought me out in goose bumps.I pushed farther out into the lake, letting the sunlight warm my shoulders as I slowly adjusted to the temperature.

Adam swam toward me, flicking me with water.“It’s so cold!”

“This was your idea!”

“Well, maybe I haveterribleideas!Did you think of that?”Grinning, he pulled me closer and pressed his lips against mine.

The kiss warmed me more than the sunlight could, and I smiled as he released me.“That one was pretty good.”

“Yeah, it was, wasn’t it?”He floated for a moment and then said, “It’s not too bad, once you get used to it.”

We swam for a little while longer, then got out of the water.We collected our shirts and shoes from the jetty and walked barefoot back to the cottage.The afternoon sunlight stretched our shadows along the ground.I grabbed two towels from inside the cabin, and we went and sat on one of the logs by the fire pit and opened the wine.

The cat joined us, perching on the opposite log and glaring at us narrow-eyed.She looked hostile and suspicious, so nothing new there.She seemed happy enough to be near us though.

“This is gorgeous,” Adam said, gazing out over the lake.“How do you even get any work done with a view like this?Don’t you just want to sit here all day and take it in?”

It wasn’t the view I was taking in.I was looking at him instead, with his damp hair plastered to his skull, and a leaf stuck in it.He’d somehow got a smudge of dirt on his cheek.Hewas gorgeous.I thought of the note he’d given me, how thoughtful and loving it was—hewas—and how it wasn’t fair to either of us for my embarrassment to sour what was such a sweet gesture.The only fluttering in my gut should have come from anticipation, from that feeling of falling even deeper for the guy, and not from shame.Adam deserved better than that.

I reached out and wiped the smudge of dirt away with my thumb.

“Yeah,” I said softly.“I could look at the view forever.”

IN THE MIDDLEof the night, leaving Adam snoring gently in bed, I went out to the workshop, grabbed a rough cube of basswood, and started to carve.I usually made roses because that was what people wanted, and they sold well.They could be tricky, but once you did a few it got easier.I wasn’t making a rose tonight.On our walk by the lake, Adam had spotted a white water lily growing right by the shore, and had marveled at how beautiful it was.

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