Page 46 of The Cottage on Plum Island
They were going to Boston and planned to stay there for three days. Or two days and three nights, as far as Jennifer was concerned. Liam and Caroline had visited him a few days ago to let him know that the day after the DNA tests, which was tomorrow, was Jennifer’s birthday. They asked if Harley would give Jennifer their surprise. Since she was a young girl, Jennifer had wanted to spend a day just doing tourist things in Boston.
Harley was surprised by that and that Boston was Jennifer’s favorite city. However, because she knew Andrew and his family were from there, Jennifer never stayed longer than a day or two when she traveled through Boston. But she’d always wanted to have a full tour around Boston. See the historical sights and architecture and get lost in her favorite city, then end the day dining at a restaurant on the waterfront overlooking the harbor.
Harley agreed to surprise Jennifer with her birthday gift from her aunt, brother, and best friend, who’d all bought her a ticket to something she’d always wanted to do in Boston. Now, all Harley had to figure out was how to keep Jennifer in Boston for another day and hope the front desk didn’t give their surprise away when they checked in.
“Oh, look,” Harley said, pointing to a spot on the opposite side of the road. “That’s where we first met.”
Jennifer glanced to the side and grinned. “That’s right. The day you put your emergency triangle in the middle of the road and then nearly made me have an accident when you jumped in front of my car.”
“The way I remember it,” Harley teased, “youdidhave an accident.”
“That was water!” Jennifer told him through gritted teeth. “The bottle cap popped off and fell on the floor.”
“So you thought that instead of pulling to the side to get the lid, it was safer to reach for it while driving?” Harley looked at her in amazement.
“I was keeping an eye on the road,” Jennifer defended her actions. “It’s not the busiest road, which is why I take it. How was I supposed to know that a crazy person had set up a triangle on a bend?”
“It’s a slight curve,” Harley pointed out as they rounded the curve in the road. “You can see around it as no mountains or hills are blocking your view.”
“I know,” Jennifer told him. “I drive this road alot.”
“And my triangle, that you splintered into pieces, by the way, wasnotin the middle of the road,“ Harley told her. “You swerved onto the curb and rode over it.”
“I didn’t swerve!” Jennifer glanced at him, her violet eyes sparking angrily.
She has the most gorgeous eyes,Harley thought before giving himself a mental shake.Good grief, man.
“No.” Harley sighed and shook his head so much for their six-day peace truce. “My triangle tried to dodge your tires by jumping into the middle of the road, but you hit it anyway.”
“Wow!” Jennifer shook her head. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“You squashed my triangle and then gunned for me!” Harley stated, turning in the seat to look at her profile. “Oh, and after nearly killing me, you left me on the side of the road—stranded with no phone.”
“I told you to always take a charger with you,” Jennifer grinned, flipping out the compartment at the base of the dash. “See, there’s my car charger.” She glanced at him. “Besides, I called a tow truck a few minutes after leaving you at the side of the road.”
“Yes, but you also tried to get the tow company to leave me there for another hour or two!” Harley looked at her in disbelief.
“Oh, they told you that, did they?” Jennifer pulled a face, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Well, at least for this trip, you’re in areliablevehicle with a charged cell phone. Not your outdated pickup truck.”
“It’s not outdated!” Harley said defensively. “It’s a classic.”
Jennifer nodded. “That’s what I said—outdated.”
“I think you missed your calling,” Harley told her, shifting position to stare out the front window again. “You’d have made a great attorney.”
“It does run in the family,” Jennifer agreed, grinning cheekily. “My mother was studying to be an attorney when she met my… Andrew, and Betty used to be a family attorney in Boston.”
“Oh!” Harley didn’t know that Betty used to be an attorney. “I did not know that about Betty or your mother.”
“That’s how Betty and Sam met,” Jennifer told him.
“I’ve often wondered how those two met.” Harley looked at Jennifer, intrigued. “I’ve never got around to asking, though. They’ve known each other for a long time. I assumed they’d met on Plum Island as my great-great-grandfather is from there.”
“I didn’t know that!” Jennifer glanced at him. “I thought Sam moved to Plum Island around forty years ago, a few years after Aunt Betty and my mother moved us back to Beach Plum Cottage after my grandfather died.”
“Betty and your mother’s father?” Harley asked her to clarify which grandparent.
“Yes, Carl Swan!” Jennifer said. “I don’t remember him as I was two when he died. Liam remembers him better than I do.”
