Page 61 of Spotted at Lighthouse Bay
“You said you wanted to do this,” Addy said, wagging a finger in Sheila’s face, “and I booked it! You can’t back out now.”
“Why don’t you take Patty?” Sheila suggested.
“I highly doubt Patty wants to climb in or out of a kayak,” Addy said.
“What are you guys talking about?” Rick asked, tearing his attention away from the coffee pot.
“Nothing,” Addy said.
“Addy is angry at me because I’m too busy to go on her bioluminescence kayak tour tonight.”
Addy sighed. “I booked it a month ago! They said your best chance of seeing the glow is under a dark moon—hence tonight—and I didn’t want to miss out.”
“I didn’t know it would be the day after Lottie got here,” Sheila said. “I’m sorry. I just can’t make it. Maybe Eliza will go.”
Rick was watching with too much interest. This should have been Addy’s first clue, but she was too intent on not seeing it to notice.
“It’s fine,” Addy waved a hand. “I’ll reschedule.”
Sheila narrowed her eyes. “You said there are no refunds, though.”
Addy glared at her. “I can reschedule.”
Sheila blinked, then looked around the room. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
No, no, no. That wasn’t a good look.
“What about…” Sheila said, smiling, “Rick? I bet he’s good at kayaking.”
He took a swig of coffee. “I bet I am.”
Addy glared at her. Sheila pretended not to notice.
“It’s really okay,” Addy said, rushing to wipe crumbs off the counter.
There was no way she was going on a romantic kayak tour with Rick after having all those confusing feelings about him. It wasn’t happening. She would put her foot down. She’d burn the tickets.
“It’s a date!” Sheila said with a grin. She clapped them both on the shoulder. “Have fun, you two!”
Addy shut her eyes.
“Should we get dinner first?” Rick asked, slipping into the spot next to her, mug of coffee in hand. “There’s that fish and chips place we pass all the time but never get to try.”
She let out a weak laugh. “Oh, yeah. I guess we could.”
It was hard to say what was worse. Addy flying into a full panic around her newly minted crush? Or said crush being so uninterested in her that he didn’t even consider the impropriety of a romantic late-night cruise?
“Or we can go somewhere else. Burgers?”
Romantic burgers. Of course.
Clearly, there was nothing there. Only her own whipped up feelings. If she could find a way to ignore the crush, it would certainly go away.
“Let’s try the fish and chips,” she said, turning to look him in the eye. “That’ll be nice.”
She looked back at the counter and collected a stray crumb, her heart pounding as she walked it to the sink.
Twenty-three
