Page 67 of The Lighthouse at the Cove
“Oh,” Kaiah said, a goofy smile plastered on her face.
Her friend smirked at her. “What’s the grin for?”
“Nothing in particular.”
Becca turned toward the taillights of the fire truck. Then she looked back at Kaiah. “You and my brother are so cute together.”
Heat filled Kaiah’s cheeks, betraying her embarrassment yet again. Why, ohwhy, was she constantly blushing?
Becca’s phone began to ring. “Oh! It’s Candice Counts from the chamber of commerce.” She answered the phone, “Candice, hi. What’s up?” A smile spread across her lips while she listened. “That’s great news.” She beamed at Kaiah. “Yes, I’m sure it is because of Kaiah’s articles. She’s standing right here. I’ll be sure to tell her. Thanks for calling me.” She hung up and put away her phone. “Candice said that all of the hotels and inns are filling up because of the festival. You’re bringing in the visitors! You’re a genius!”
They shared a high five.
“I’m so glad it’s working out,” Kaiah said.
“I’ve been keeping tabs on your second article. Seems like it was shared even more than the first,” Becca said. “The festival isgoing to be a hit.” Her posture sagged. “My big worry is the lighthouse, but Reid said he was working on that today.”
“It’ll work out.”
“Yeah, maybe. But if we don’t have those Christmas lights, I don’t know what we’re going to do.” Becca looped her arm around Kaiah’s shoulders while they walked toward her car. “Let’s go get the kids.”
On Tuesday morning Kaiah wrapped her hand around Reid’s and steered him down Main Street. “I can’t wait for you to see these cupcakes. You’re going to love them.”
Reid was curious about the cupcakes, but he was much more excited to spend the day with Kaiah. He didn’t care what kinds of small tasks they needed to do for festival prep. Just being with her put him in a good mood, like yesterday. He wasn’t expecting to see her when he was putting up decorations, but there she was, looking cute and casual, and his breath caught in his throat. He was bummed that their time together had been cut short by the call he’d received, but just getting to see her for a few minutes had been a treat. A whole day with her felt like a Christmas present.
“Becca and I stopped by the bakery yesterday to see the cupcakes,” Kaiah continued, “and I knew I had to show you in person how cute they were.” They reached the Beachside Bakery, and she yanked open the door. “You’re going to flip!”
He loved the joy vibrating in her voice. As they walked in, the bell rang above the door, and Reid breathed in the delicious scent of pastries.
“Kaiah,” one of the Watson twins called—Reid could never tell who was talking if he couldn’t see her name tag—“you’re back.”
“I am! I just had to bring Reid to see those cupcakes.” She towed him to the counter. “Do you have any you can share?”
Jenni held up her pointer finger. “I’ll be back in a sec.” She disappeared into the back and then returned with a tray of cupcakes decorated with lighthouses, shells, life preservers, and starfish. “What do you think?”
Reid picked up a cupcake that looked like it had a real lighthouse lying on top of it. “Are these plastic?”
“Nope!” Jessica laughed as she joined her twin sister behind the counter. “I promise they’re edible.”
“How did you make them?” he asked.
They shared a knowing look and then said in unison, “Magic.”
Kaiah laughed. “Trust me, they’re much more professional than the ones we made for the PTO bake sale.” She unlocked her phone and shared a photo of the infamous icing-fight cookies they had donated to the school.
The twins examined them and nodded slowly.
“Not bad,” Jenni said.
“Okay, you’re just being nice,” Reid declared, and the group shared a laughed.
Jessica folded her hands and leaned on the counter. “I’m sure the kids enjoyed them.”
“We hope so,” Kaiah said with a chuckle.
Jenni pointed to a pile of flyers by the register. “We’ve given a flyer to each customer and have one hanging in the window. We heard quite a few families have already signed up for the mini-marathon.”
“That’s fantastic,” Reid said before turning to Kaiah. “I spread the word at work yesterday. The fire department is going to support the Run and Walk too. Most of the guys have signed up, and Coach Emmerson has teams registering at the schools. And he’s an early bird on those awards too. He already has them ready to hand out.”
