Page 44 of Bayside Heat
“Yes. A bunch of stuff was installed at the music shop today. He’s just catching me up, and he’s also asking questions about the people we interviewed. It sounds like they’re taking another look at the candidates I brought in,” Serena said as she replied to his text. She wanted to ask him what last night had meant, and she worried that maybe she’d been too honest with her feelings in the card. Drake, there was a time when I thought we might end up together. And then I let that thought go. But never fully. Even now, knowing how you feel about me and why you want to keep distance between us, I still can’t let it go. You’ll always be the first boy I fell in love with. I wonder, though, if you’ll also be the last.
It had felt like the right thing to say at the time. She drew in a deep breath and said, “Can I ask you guys something about dating?”
“Hold on. Let me get away from little ears.” Mira got up, carrying her phone.
“I know you mean me, Mom,” Hagen said as she passed him.
Mira bent and kissed his head. “Say hi to Auntie Serena.”
He looked up from the puzzle he was working on with Matt, and his normally serious blue eyes widened. “Hi! Do you like Boston? Did you go to the library yet? Are you eating ice cream? What flavor? I had ice cream after lunch.” Hagen loved libraries, museums, and basically any place where he could learn new facts. Matt and Mira were always taking him on educational outings.
“That’s a lot of questions, buddy,” Matt said to Hagen, then he turned his face toward the screen. “Hey, girls. How’s it going?”
“Hi, Hagen. Hi, Matt.” Serena waved. “I haven’t gotten to the library yet, Hagen, but I will report back when I do. And I am eating ice cream. It’s called—”
“Watch it!” Mira said.
“Yummylicious,” Chloe chimed in.
Matt shook his head with a stifled chuckle.
“On that note, I’m taking this call outside.” Mira held the phone closer as she went outside and whispered, “Eight-year-olds are like little spies. They collect intel and bring it out at the worst possible time. Just this morning he asked Matt if he remembered to stop by the girls’ shop and get new toys.”
Serena and Chloe howled with laughter. Desiree and Violet had first come to the Cape under the guise of their mother needing help due to her failing health. They’d been tricked into running their mother’s art gallery, Devi’s Discoveries, which was on the grounds of the inn. They’d later discovered an adult toy shop in the back of the gallery, which their mother had failed to mention owning. They ran that now, too.
Mira sat down on a deck chair. “Poor Matt had to run out and buy Hagen toys so he didn’t parrot it right back to everyone else.”
“I’m sorry,” Serena said, still laughing. “But that’s hilarious.”
Mira narrowed her eyes. “You just wait until you have children.”
“Not happening anytime soon for me,” Chloe said.
“Me either, but is it safe to ask you my question now?” Serena asked.
Chloe leaned forward, her hazel eyes wide with curiosity. “Ask me anything. I’m like a dating guru.”
“You are pickier than anyone I’ve ever met,” Serena reminded her. “That’s totally not true. You’re like a dating warning sign.”
Mira laughed. “Okay, okay, you two. Keep it PG, please. Drake is still my brother.”
“I know. Don’t worry. This isn’t about sex. I didn’t tell you guys this, but Drake and I almost kissed Wednesday night.”
“What?” Chloe snapped. “You withheld that from us?”
“Thank you,” Mira said.
“You’re welcome. There’s more. Thursday, a full day before Drake and I even kissed, he told me how he felt about me and all the reasons why we couldn’t be together. And his reasons made sense. I mean, sort of. The way he said it, I almost felt thankful that we had never hooked up. We talked about that almost kiss the summer of the duet, and he said we were in two different places, with him going off to college and me just starting high school. And he was right.”
