Page 2 of Kissing in the Rain
Jillian had spentthe morning in Mocha Books, a little coffee shop and bookstore that overlooked the intercoastal waterway downtown. She hadn’t had a lot of time for reading over the last couple of years, but it had been a favorite pastime of hers when she was growing up. She loved getting lost in a story. It was the perfect way to escape her life for just a littlewhile.
When she walked up to the cashier prior to leaving at two forty-five, the older woman who owned the place smiled back at her. She had a tight perm and thick-lensedspectacles.
“I haven’t seen you in town before,” the womansaid.
“No.” Jillian placed a stack of books down on the counter. “Not for a while, at least. I lived here for a couple of years as ateenager.”
“Where are you staying?” the woman asked, making easy conversation as she rang up the items Jillian had placed on thecounter.
“Lorelai Sawyer’splace.”
“Yes, I know her. She’s a good girl. She comes in and gets books for her little one, Kimberly, all the time. Her brother is a nice one too.” The older woman lifted an eyebrow and glanced down at Jillian’s bare ring finger. “Andsingle.”
Jillian flushed. Nothing wrong with the old woman’s eyes. “I’m not looking rightnow.”
“Well, heed my advice. If you wait too long, you’ll find yourself an old maid like my daughter. She can’t even pay a man to dateher.”
“Oh. Um.” Jillian laughed nervously, hoping that was a joke. “Actually, I just went through a divorce. It finalized early thisweek.”
The woman frowned. “I’m so sorry to hear that,dear.”
“It’s for the best.” She would prefer old maid-dom over listening to her ex’s constant complaining any day. And when he wasn’t complaining, he was ignoring her. Better to live happily ever after on herown.
As Jillian reached out to collect her change, she noticed a sign posted on the wall behind the counter. “This place is forsale?”
“Oh yes. I’m afraid so. It’s time for me to retire and see the world. My dear husband passed away last year. We didn’t venture too far outside of Blushing Bay all these years, but now I’m ready to go toFrance.”
Jillian’s eyes widened. “That’s very faraway.”
“After that, I’m going to Italy, and I’m going to stuff myself full ofpasta.”
“Well, I think that’s a great retirementplan.”
“Really? Because my financial planner didn’t thinkso.”
Jillian laughed as she lifted her bag off the counter. “Good luck. And thank you again for the books and the wonderful coffee. Now I’m going to spend the rest of my afternoonoutdoors.”
“Be careful,” the woman said, offering more unsolicited advice. “It’s going to storm thisafternoon.”
Jillianturned back. “The forecast doesn’t call for storms.” She’d checked already. It was sunny skies all the way untilnightfall.
The older woman held up a finger. “No, but my bones do. I can predict a storm better than any meteorologist out there. And it’s going to be adoozy.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Jillian waved as she exited the store. Then she looked up at the cloudless sky. The old woman was wrong. It was going to be an amazing afternoon out on theocean.
2
The pickup lineat Kimberly’s school was always the most interesting time of Gabe’s day. He was single, and all theavailable women at the elementary school seemed to know it. As soon as he pulled hisJeep into theschool’s pickup line, it was as if there was aspotlight shining down on him. Apparently, women loved men who loved kids. It was true,he loved his niece, but not because it had the potential ofgetting him laid. And it definitely did. He’d had more than a few single moms dip in his window to say hello and show somecleavage while walking their child down thesidewalk.
He’d be a liar if he said he didn’t like the attention—sometimes—but he wasn’t interested in dating people in Kimberly’s life right now. If he dated, he wanted it to be someone Kimberly had no association with.He didn’t want people coming in and out of her life.She knew these teachers and parents. Therefore, they were all off-limits.
“Hey there, handsome.” Susan Litmore stopped by his window. “Picking up Kimberly?” she asked, as if there were any other child he might be here toget.
“Yep. How are you,Susan?”
“Oh, great. Brian here is making all A’s in school.” She smiled over at her young son, who was maybe eight or nine yearsold.
“That's great, Brian. Keep up the good work.” Gabe pointed a finger at the child, who responded with a gap-toothedgrin.
