Page 49 of The Lighthouse at the Cove
He cleared his throat to tamp down the expanding lump and pulled his daughter in for a hug. “Of course I do, sweetheart,” he said, his voice sounding rough. “Your book is perfect. Thank you for showing it to us.”
“I love it too,” Kaiah said before hugging Piper. “We’ll see you later.”
They waved to the class, then headed for the door.
Chapter 12
“That was so fun,” Kaiah said while Reid steered the SUV out of the elementary school parking lot. “And the kids loved you. If this whole firefighting thing doesn’t work out, you could totally be a teacher.”
His grin sent a shiver dancing up her spine. “You think so, huh?”
“Yep.” She glanced down at her phone and checked her email. “I got a message from Libby. My article is live on the magazine’s website.” She found another email from Clint at the local paper. “Oh! And Clint said he’s going to include it in tomorrow’s edition of the paper. I’m hoping it gets picked up by the wire and goes national.”
“I have a sneaking suspicion it will.” He rested his elbow on the door and steered with his right hand. “I had another idea for an event. My mom loves to garden, and she has prize-winning roses. What if we hosted garden tours as part of the festival?”
“Oh, I love that!” Kaiah declared.
“Since we have names for all of our other events, we could call it something like Coral Cove Brightening Blooms and give out a prize for the best garden and different kinds of flowers.”
“Yes.” She snapped her fingers. “And we could sell tickets for the tours as a fundraiser.”
He grinned. “Yup. Great minds think alike. I’ll mention it to my mom, and she can get her garden club involved. I know they’ll want to volunteer.”
Her phone dinged with a message.
Becca: Hi! Do you like to bake?
Kaiah: Hey yourself! Do break-and-bake count?
Becca: LOL! The PTO is hosting a bake sale to raise awareness for the festival. We’re calling it the “Light the Way Home Bake Sale,” and we’ll run it in the cafeterias at each Coral Cove school. With every purchase, we’ll include a flyer asking for festival volunteers.
Kaiah: Wow, that’s awesome! I’m guessing you’re desperate for bakers if you’re asking me.
Becca: That obvious, huh? You nailed it. The bake sale starts tomorrow, and we need nautical-themed baked goods, like, yesterday. Any chance I can convince you to bake some cookies and drop them off at one of the schools?
Kaiah glanced at Reid, who was humming along with the nineties country song on the radio and tapping the steering wheel along with the music. A vision of an apron stretching taut across his chest and his biceps flexing as he stirred cookie dough filled her mind—and made her mouth dry.
Oh yes, shedefinitelywanted to bake with him.
She texted:Sure thing! I’ll get Reid and Piper to help me this afternoon. Send me details about where to drop them off tomorrow morning.
Becca: Great! Brenda Jones and I are working on the website too. I’ll call you later so we can talk about what events we want to feature.
Kaiah: Perfect.
She glanced at the clock on the dashboard. “What time do you have to pick up Piper from school?”
“Two thirty.”
“That means we have time to go to the grocery store.”
He lifted his dark eyebrows. “And why are we going to the grocery store?”
“Do you like to bake?”
He studied her for a moment. “Why are you answering a question with a question?”
“Why are you?”
