They finished clearing and cleaning the dishes. Then her dad did something she’d greatly missed while she’d been away. He turned on the radio to an oldies station, the music wafted throughout the house. Happily, she sat down with him in the living room as he perused the daily paper and she pretended to do the crossword puzzle.
“So, Cam Dumont picked me up today.” She surprised herself with the comment, unsure what made Cam spring into her mind. But now that she was thinking about him, there wasn’t any harm in remembering the way his worn jeans had fit him so perfectly. Or how the masculine, dark stubble on his face had produced butterflies in her stomach. How would it feel against her cheeks?
“Cam’s a good guy.”
“Yeah, he seemed...great.” She eyed her dad who wasn’t taking her bait for more info.
“What are your plans for tomorrow?”
Elle sat back considering. She had no idea. With no job and no friends, she didn’t have many options.
As if reading her mind, her dad said, “Why don’t you go check out The Brewside? It’s a coffee shop that opened about two years ago,” he explained. “It’s right in the town square.”
“I could do that. Maybe I could bring my sketch pad, too.”
Before she’d moved over to the administrative side of the art world, she’d dreamed of becoming an artist in her own right. Then she’d become so immersed in her career, not to mention all the other amazing opportunities afforded her living in Italy, that her favorite hobby had been pushed to the back burner.
Energized by the idea of taking time for her own art, she grinned.
“You look more and more beautiful every time I see you.” The compliment, not to mention the change in conversation, took her by surprise, but the soft tone of her dad’s voice almost undid her.
“Oh, Daddy. You saw me three months ago. I haven’t changed since then.”
He picked up a silver-framed picture from the end table. Without seeing it, Elle knew it was a shot of her at fifteen, after she’d climbed a tree. She was wearing cutoff jeans and an unfortunate maroon sweatshirt, her hair in pigtails displaying her makeup-free face, which had been going through an adolescent breakout phase. She’d been so clueless.
Her dad turned the photo around. “You’ve changed a lot since this. The time goes so fast,” he said, more to himself than to her.
“I think it’s time for you to go to bed. A weepy daddy is a tired daddy.”
“You might be right about that. It’s been a long day, but a good one. Welcome home, princess.” He kissed her forehead and made his way toward his bedroom.
Feeling antsy, Elle put down the crossword puzzle, grabbed an afghan from the couch and made her way out onto the deck. The water was calm tonight, and as usual for this time of year, the temperature was dropping rapidly. She wrapped the blanket around herself as the sounds of the water lapping soothed her.
Looking up, she gazed at the sky, full of glittery stars. It was strange to think that last night she’d seen the same stars from across the ocean. Now she was back in her hometown, not quite sure how that fact made her feel.
For the second time that night, Cam entered her mind. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that either.
Why in the world was she thinking about a man she hadn’t seen in a decade and spent a whopping thirty minutes with? It didn’t make sense. And yet, she couldn’t seem to stop.
She shook her head. Most likely, she was overly tired from a long day of travel and an emotional reunion with her father. That had to be the only reason she couldn’t stop thinking about Cam’s enticing smile, his mysterious eyes, his amazing body.
Obviously, being with her dad was her number one priority. Just eating dinner with him and seeing with her own two eyes that he was okay made her feel better. But her dad and this tiny house were only a small part of Bayside. Tomorrow she had to face the rest of the town.
Elle knew she’d come a long way since that picture her father had looked at earlier. Undoubtedly, she’d changed. Now she just had to figure out to how convince everyone else.
* * *
After seeing her dad off to work the next morning, Elle set off to check out The Brewside, sketch pad in tow.
As she walked along the path next to the bay, the cool morning air hit her face. It felt great after a restless night’s sleep. She’d finally fallen to sleep in the wee hours only to wake up around four thirty. Stupid jet lag.
And perhaps Cam Dumont kept her tossing and turning, too.
But she was not going to dwell on that little detail. Even if she was wondering where he lived. And where he’d set up his business. And what he did for fun.
She stopped in her tracks. “Stop thinking about Cameron Dumont,” she whispered. With a nod, she continued on her way.
She found The Brewside Café easily enough. Nestled between a shoe store that had been in the square forever and a newer, expensive-looking clothing shop, it was painted the same crisp white, accented with blue shutters, as the other establishments. Pots of flowers flanked the entrance. She pushed open the door to the sound of bells chiming and was hit with the welcoming aroma of rich coffee beans.
Inhaling, Elle stood there for a moment, soaking in the caffeine goodness. Once she had her fill, she stepped inside and took in the quaint decor. The raised ceiling was supported by exposed beams, and the dark wood floors gave the place a rustic feel. The tables were made up of wooden barrels with either glass plates or old doors on top. Copper pots and old kitchen utensils adorned the walls, as did a variety of vinyl records and framed black-and-white photographs. A display case with pastries dominated one wall and a large bar with coffee machines and an antique brass cash register stretched along the back.
After studying the menu, Elle stepped forward and ordered an espresso and a wheat bagel. As one of the workers began filling her order, a tall man with a beard and friendly blue eyes stopped wiping the counter and studied her.
“Hi, I’m Tony. I own this place,” he finally said.
Elle shook his hand. “Oh, nice to meet you. I’m—”
“Ellie Owens. I know.”
“How do you know?” She couldn’t place him and was pretty sure they hadn’t gone to high school together.
“Offering a legal, addictive stimulant every morning makes me the best friend of pretty much everyone in town. I have a knack for remembering faces and I’ve never seen yours before.” He picked up a copy of the local paper and handed it to her. “Plus, you’ve been outed.”
“Excuse me?”
“By the Bayside Blogger. You made both the online and print versions of the paper.”
She stared at the front page of the newspaper. “Who’s the Bayside Blogger?”
“Only the most popular columnist in the whole Bayside Bugle.” A woman wearing a flurry of bright colors planted herself by Elle’s side. “Riley Hudson,” she announced. “We graduated in the same class.”
Right. Riley Hudson of the Hudson family that had lived in Bayside for so many generations many people thought they’d probably discovered it. If Elle remembered correctly, Riley had been the most outgoing person in their class, popular, pretty and always dressed like she’d just stepped out of a fashion magazine. Basically, she’d been Elle’s polar opposite in high school. Given how she looked now, her fashion sense hadn’t changed. She was wearing a chartreuse A-line dress, a cute little fuchsia scarf and matching sunglasses perched atop a head of thick, wavy red hair.
“Hi, Riley. Nice to see you again.”
“You, too. Welcome back.”