Page 24 of Love is a Harmony
“Yes, ma’am.”
They stopped at a cafe on the way—just as he’d promised Melanie. By the time they reached the beach, it was almost noon. Gravel crunched underneath the tires, and he parked. Stella hopped out without a word, and Noah followed her down to the pebbled beach. It wasn’t sandy like he was used to in California, but that didn’t matter when the ocean filled the spaces of his mind with its call.
He walked down to the edge of the water, stopping next to Stella. “Do you like the water?”
She nodded. “Papa…” Her lips slammed shut, and she turned away, whatever she’d tried to say forgotten on the wind.
Noah bent to dip his fingers into the icy water. November in France wasn’t exactly beach weather, but what few people knew about him was the ocean had always cleared his mind. It was why he’d bought a house right on the beach in Santa Monica, away from the crowded city, the people who always wanted something from him.
From his crouch, he looked up at Stella, wishing she’d finish what she’d started to say about Carson. Noah wanted to know everything about their life here, every detail no matter how small.
“Take a seat, love.” He rocked back onto his butt and patted the pebbles beside him.
She hesitated before sitting across from him, her fingertips skimming the top of the water as it rushed toward them, stopping inches away.
“You look like your papa. Has anyone ever told you that?”
She nodded, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear.
“You have his bright eyes, always ready for mischief. Your dad used to get in trouble a lot when we were kids.”
A small smile played on her lips.
“Do you like trouble?”
She nodded.
He leaned in, dropping his voice. “So do I.”
A laugh burst free of her, and one corner of his mouth hooked up into a smile. For a moment, as he sat talking to his niece, he could pretend he’d met her under different circumstances, that Carson introduced them. For a moment, the weight of the world didn’t have to sit on her tiny shoulders.
He was determined to help her carry it. His upbringing wasn’t normal. He’d never had parents he could look up to, a father who cared. Stella had. For six years of her life, she’d been loved in the purest form. One day, maybe she’d realize how lucky that made her.
“Am I going to live with you?”
Stella’s loaded question stole the breath from Noah. He’d expected to have this talk with her but not yet, not when she barely knew him.
She threw a rock into the water. “When grown-ups are quiet, it usually means there is something they don’t want to say.”
Noah scrubbed a hand over his face. “Are you sure you’re only six?”
She shrugged.
He’d been wrong about her in the few times they’d met. She wasn’t timid or fearful, only grieving. This girl with her questions and surprising laughter was ready to charge into her fatherless life bravely.
“Would you…” He sucked in a breath. “Would you like to live with me?”
Now, it was her turn to be quiet. After a long moment, she looked away. “I don’t want to stay here.”
He didn’t blame her. She was six, and already she knew how hard it would be to live next door to her father’s old house in the town he’d raised her in.
Noah reached out, brushing the hair out of her face to look into her wide eyes, so like Carson’s. “It’s you and me, kid.”
Tears welled in her eyes, and she jerked away from him, jumping to her feet. “Can I walk to the cliffs?”
Noah looked behind himself to where chalk cliffs loomed over the beach, jutting out into the dark sea. “Sure. Stay where I can see you.”
She hurried away, and Noah released a breath before getting to his feet. He walked to where Melanie had set up towels on the ground and wrapped herself in a blanket. “Whose idea was it to go to the beach in November?”
