Page 54 of Whispers at Seaside
The girls in the water began chanting, “Jump! Jump! Jump!”
Mira had made one giant leap of faith in her life—when she’d had Hagen. She looked out over the bobbing heads of her smiling friends, feeling like she’d become part of another, bigger family.
Trust the Lacroux way! Take a leap of faith!
She’d never regretted her first leap of faith, and as she and Serena jumped off the pier and sliced through the chipple-inducing water, she thought of Matt and knew she wouldn’t regret this one, either.
Chapter Twenty-One
MIRA WAS SURE she’d been fueled by lust and adrenaline for the past two weeks. It was Saturday afternoon, and they’d come to Pete and Jenna’s house to build Hagen’s raft. She and Jenna were hanging out on the beach with Bea while the guys worked in the yard. It felt good to have some downtime after working day and night since they’d made the decision to push forward with the co-op, and she could hardly believe they’d pulled off the first step and were leaving tomorrow to meet with prospective partners.
Embarking on our next adventure.
The girls had come through with every little detail, giving her more support than she ever imagined possible. And just as Matt had promised, he’d driven Hagen to camp every morning for two weeks, giving her time to do the things she needed to in order to garner interest and prepare. She’d ended up making fifty-four calls instead of twelve, but it had paid off. She’d scheduled five meetings with six potential partners. Luckily, the two in Boston agreed to meet with her at the same time. Matt had made arrangements with his family to fill in for her at the store while they were gone, and Neil had surprised them both by agreeing to it all. She didn’t know for sure, but she had a feeling that might have been because she and Matt were taking on this endeavor together. She knew how much Neil hoped Matt would decide to stay on the Cape and run the hardware store. But she knew Matt had no interest in taking it over. His eyes sparked with excitement when he talked about how much he enjoyed the process of writing. She couldn’t see him giving that up, regardless of how great a team they made—in the bedroom and out.
“They’ve been at this all morning,” Jenna said. “Do you think Hagen will last?”
The raft was a much bigger endeavor than Mira had imagined. Matt had wanted Hagen to experience the entire project from start to finish, and had taken Hagen, along with Neil and Pete, to purchase the supplies earlier that morning. Her little man was eating up every second of being included inguy stuff.
“Definitely. He’s as excited about the raft as he is about our trip. Thank you again, by the way. I couldn’t have done it without all of you. I still can’t believe all of Matt’s siblings are going to help mind the store while we’re gone. That’s a huge relief.”
“Everyone’s excited about your trip and what it’ll mean for Neil’s store. He put his life into Lacroux Hardware, and until you came along, it looked like it might not last after he retired,” Jenna said.
“I can’t imagine his store not being there. He has such fond memories of his wife visiting him there, and all his kids as they were growing up. The store, and Neil, are also a huge part of the community. Guys come in who knew Neil when they were Hagen’s age. I hope we can pull the co-op together. This trip will make it or break it.”
“I bet you have it all planned. If it were me, I’d have an itinerary a mile long, with everything mapped out, from the moment our plane touched down until we set our heads on the pillow at night. Including a list of outfits and accessories for each outing.” Jenna sighed. “That would be so fun.”
“I’ve planned every detail of the meetings, but I’m so nervous about them I think I’ll be lucky to get through them without passing out. If I had to plan a whole itinerary, I might lose my mind. Luckily, Hagen and Matt like to plan. We decided to drive, since it’s only a couple hours between cities. I asked them not to overschedule our days because pressure will make me even more nervous, so they planned the library visits, chose the hotels, and made lists of what they wanted to see in each city. They were so cute looking at all the websites together and making lists, then whittling them down to a reasonable number of things to see. I swear those two are so alike it’s mindboggling. We’re starting in Boston, then working our way down to Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York, and seeing three of the four libraries Hagen and I had on our list. I just hope I can pull this off. I’ve never done anything like this before.”
Mira shielded her eyes from the blazing sun, watching the men working in the yard. Matt was shirtless, his muscles glistening with perspiration, flexing under the weight of the wood he carried over his shoulder. He patted Hagen’s shoulder, and her son looked up from where he sat beside Neil, doing something on the ground. How could she ever have thought she could be careful with their hearts around the man who had owned them for so long?
“You’ll do great,” Jenna said.
Joey trotted toward them and plunked down beside Bea on a blanket. Bea giggled and the pup licked her cheek.
“And as for Matt?” Jenna added. “You’re exactly what he needed. You and Hagen both are. Pete’s been looking forward to today since Matt first mentioned it. It’s been years since they’ve worked on a project together. I meanyears. Up until this summer, Matt always spent summers teaching and working on his never-ending list of research papers. I swear that man’s got more published papers than half the professors in his field combined.”
“I’m glad he took this time off. I feel like we’ve been trying not to think about dating since Grayson and Parker’s engagement party.”
“I know. Weallknow.” Jenna raised her brows. “He’d talked about taking time off before, but he never did it. And then you two met, andwham! He’s here for the summer, and you two went to Nantucket, and you’re leaving tomorrow for your big trip. It’s all so exciting, and you have to know we’re all pulling for you guys.”
Mira couldn’t stop smiling. “You make us sound like a horse race.”
“It’s aloverace,” Jenna said conspiratorially. “Heck, Pete had you two nailed as a couple that very first day. But Matt’s the most careful of his siblings. Pete says he’s like their mother in that way. Matt plans and thinks andoverthinkslike I match accessories to outfits.” She wiggled her toes, showing Mira her pink nail polish, which matched her pink bathing suit and flip-flops. “Everything has to feel right before he’ll make a move.”
Thinking about the last time they made love, Mira smiled. Matt had this way of taking complete control but making every movement feel passionate and oh so good. He sure didn’t have any trouble making a move, and everything felt more than right. It feltperfect.
“Matt and Hagen have become really close. That’s got to make you feel good.”
“You have no idea,” Mira said. She and Serena had talked for an hour last night about how much had changed in just a few weeks. “I was afraid to let a man into Hagen’s life, and Matt snuck under my radar ineveryway. One day we were friends and the next we were making out on my couch after Hagen was asleep. I’veneverdone that before.Ever.”
“That’s how you know it’s real, when you do things you never thought you would.”
“That’s what Serena says, too.” Mira smiled, thinking about their Nair, condom, and lube conversation. “I’m still worried about what will happen after his sabbatical is over.”
“You could always go back to Princeton with him, couldn’t you?” Jenna fidgeted with her bathing suit top, trying to keep her boobs from popping out as she bent to wipe more sand from Bea’s face.
“We haven’t talked about it. We agreed that we’d wait it out and see where we were when the time came, so I try not to think about it too much. I mean, realistically speaking, leaving the Cape would be hard. My brothers are a big part of Hagen’s life, and I could never leave Neil high and dry. Especially if the co-op comes through. But the idea of a long-distance relationship would be hard, too. Especially now that Hagen’s gotten so close to Matt. He’s even confiding in him, which I admit, I’m slightly jealous of.”
