Page 58 of Whispers at Seaside
“Especially when you touch me,” he said with a spark of dark pleasure in his eyes. “I want more of you. More of these days with Hagen. More nights like this.”
She’d waited so long to be here with him, to fully open her heart, to allow herself to let go of the protective walls she’d created around her life with Hagen. A tear slipped down her cheek, and he kissed it away.
“I love you, too,” she managed, seconds before his mouth descended on hers. “But when you leave…?”We’ll go with you.
“I’m not going to leave, baby. I’m building a life here. I’ve been away long enough. I want to see you and Hagen and my family. I want to be on the Cape. There’s nothing left for me in Princeton. I’ve achieved everything I can there.”
Her mind spun. He loved her and wanted to stay on the Cape. This was huge news. Bigger than huge.Ginormous.“But you could still get the job as dean, if not now, a few years from now.”
He shook his head and kissed her softly. “That’s an impossibility, and one I don’t want to think about anymore.”
As their mouths came together again, she felt all the pieces of her life shifting into place. The unanswered question of Matt’s future no longer loomed over them like a thunderous cloud waiting for the air to shift. The air had shifted, and he was staying at the Cape.
And he loved them.
He loved them both.
She gazed up at him, needing to hear it again. “You’re staying?”
“Yes, baby. I’m staying. Now let me kiss you and stop that beautiful brain of yours from spinning.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
MIRA SAT IN an office in the back of Mr. Sag’s Hardware Store in Boston Monday morning with her heart pounding so hard she was sure the men sitting across from her could hear it. Ken Sagner, the owner of Mr. Sag’s, had a much larger office than Neil’s, with a window view of the street behind the store and modern, comfortable furniture. While Neil had all sorts of family pictures posted on the wall with thumbtacks, their edges curling and yellowed, Ken’s pictures were all nicely framed and featured him and an older man with the same dark brown hair and sharp blue eyes. His father, she assumed.
Mira fingered the edge of the file containing the documents she and the girls had prepared, hoping they were enough to get the job done. What if these men knew even more than she did about this subject? What if she’d miscalculated something?
She’d practiced her spiel so many times she could recite it in her sleep, yet here she sat, so nervous she was sure when she opened her mouth she’d babble incoherently.
She recalled what Matt had said before she’d left the two-bedroom suite at the hotel that morning.These guys are probably just like my father, hoping this is the answer to their small-business prayers. You have the knowledge it takes to help them. Keep that in mind, and let your personality and your brilliance shine through, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll get them to focus on business instead of how hot you look in that sexy little skirt. Good luck, sunshine. I love you. Now go blow them away.
He’d told her he loved her a hundred times since the first time, and still every time he said it, emotions bowled her over. Although they hadn’t verbalized a need to keep their confessions from Hagen, she’d noticed that Matt, like her, had been careful not to say he loved her in front of him. She knew that when the time was right, the words would come, but as a mother, she wondered if she should talk to Hagen about her feelings first, or if that was unnecessary. A parenting manual would be a good thing to have right about now.
She sat up a little straighter and looked across the table at Ken and Martin Long, the owner of South Side Hardware. Forget the parenting manual; she needed a sales manual. Ken and Martin werenotlike Neil Lacroux. Ken was the son of Arnold Sagner, who had built the business Ken was trying to save. Martin was older, probably closer to fifty based on the gray sprouting around his temples. Martin looked skeptical, which she understood, even if she didn’t like it. They were more like Mira and Matt than Neil. Her mind drifted to Matt. He hadn’t tried to step in and take over this project, or take credit for any part of it, though he was helping her every step of the way. He was with her boat-loving son right this very second at the Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum, where they had tickets for the interactive exhibits and historical reenactment. He hadn’t seemed the least bit worried about being with Hagen twenty-four-seven for the next several days, and Hagen had been elated about it. Matt’s whole family had pulled together to make this happen. There was a lot riding on her to pull this off.
Mira opened her folder, clearing her throat to push the surge of emotions down. She’d given birth and raised an amazing little boy. She could handle Mr. Sharp Blue Eyes and Mr. Skeptical, even if they knew more than she did.
When there’s a will…
“Thanks for meeting with me,” she said confidently. “I think you’re going to like what I have in mind.”
LATER THAT AFTERNOON, after meeting Matt and Hagen at the hotel, changing her clothes, having lunch at a café, and listening to Hagen recount every moment of their day, Mira was still reeling from the meeting. She didn’t want to go into too much detail in front of Hagen, so she briefly filled Matt in. She told him how nervous she’d been at the start of the meeting, and how, once she began presenting the information she’d worked so long and hard to prepare, her confidence had returned.
“It was as empowering as it was frightening,” she admitted.
“The idea of a co-op is not an easy sell by any means,” Matt said. “I’m so proud of you for taking it on.”
“I hope at least one of those two men comes through.”
When they arrived at the Boston Public Library, Hagen stood wide-eyed and jaw gaping on the front steps of the stately building. Mira’s reaction wasn’t much different, temporarily distracting her from her racing thoughts. The magnificent arched windows, triple-arched entrance flanked by wrought-iron lanterns, and granite carvings made for a visual feast of grandeur. The interior was no less impressive, with marble as far as the eye could see, murals that looked like they were painted by the gods, and vaulted ceilings with domes in the side bays. They’d seen it all online, but experiencing the stunning architecture in person was a thousand times better. Of course, once inside the actual library rooms, Hagen wanted to run his fingers along the spines of every book.
As they took it all in, Matt gave the six-year-old version of a history lesson on the twin lion sculptures by the main staircase, the murals, and a number of other facts that Hagen ate up and undoubtedly memorized to recount later in great detail.
Several hours later, Mira was still thinking about the meeting.
They walked beside a wall of elegant dark wooden shelves. When Hagen was distracted inspecting a row of books in the next aisle, Mira took advantage of his absence to talk with Matt about the meeting. “I’m pretty sure Ken was at least curious. Hopefully he will want in after he reviews all the data without me shoving it down his throat, but Martin was clearly on the fence. He’s worried about going into business with people he doesn’t know, of course. We all are, but it’s the only way to make something like this work without selling out. I hope he comes around, but I’m not sure he will.”
Matt kissed her cheek and whispered, “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
