Page 14 of Twilight Tides
My lips twitched at the naive insinuation that since some American girls on social media had read a book, that meantallAmerican girls had read it. I was quite flattered to be considered “a girl.” At least I could thank my mom for one thing and that was her youthful looks.
“I haven’t, but I’ll be sure to add it to my book club’s agenda.” I could feel Murray’s eyes on me but was reluctant to meet his gaze again because every time I did, he seemed to steal my breath.
“You have a book club?” His daughter sounded intrigued by the idea.
I nodded as I moved forward with the decreasing line. “Well, kind of. It’s supposed to be a book club.”
“What does that mean?” Murray asked.
I reluctantly looked at him and there went that crazy fluttering again. “It’s basically me, Nee, Taran, and Cammie meeting in here, barely discussing the book we’re all supposed to have read and instead just talking nonsense. Everyone’s been so busy lately, though, we haven’t done it in a while.”
Murray’s lips twitched as Kelly said she thought that sounded fun.
I remembered being fourteen and wanting to grow up and hang out with older women. I grinned at her, feeling nostalgic.
“You’re very pretty,” Kelly opined, like she’d just noticed.
I laughed, flattered. “Thank you. So are you.”
“Really?” Her brown eyes lit up like this was welcome news to her. A car horn suddenly sounded, and her head jerked toward Main Street. “Dad, that’s Lucas and his mum. The books?”
“You go, I’ll get the books. They’ll be there when you get home.” Murray gestured for her to leave.
“Thanks, Dad.” She went up on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his bearded cheek, then waved at me. “Bye, London.”
“Bye,” I called as she hurried out of the bookstore.
I had nowhere else to look but at Murray.
“She and her friends Lucas and Anna have been close since they were toddlers. They still meet up whenever Kelly comes back to the island.”
“That’s nice.”
Feeling weird about yesterday on top of my usual awkwardness with Murray, I grew silent as the line dwindled and closed in on the counter. My troubles returned to me but not enough to distract me from the fact that Murray seemed … sad.
Not just sad.
Tension emanated from him. I waited for him to be served his coffee so I could walk out with him.
If he was surprised by my company, he didn’t mention it.
The unique harbor aroma hit us as we stepped outside, and a spring breeze blew through my hair as I followed him across the street. Murray stopped at the harbor barrier. Behind us was the row of different-colored buildings housing all the stores and hotels. There was no parking on the harbor front, only over at the ferry terminal, so it was free of cars here and safe for pedestrians. The scent of seawater, fish, and the sound of gulls flying above were a familiar stirring of my senses.
For a tiny village, Main Street overflowed with businesses. The buildings were each painted a different color and inside them was everything from the volunteer lifeboat service and ferry crossing office to vacation apartments, two hotels, a hostel, a beauty salon, a convenience store, a coffee/bookshop, a bakery, two gift shops, a museum, a hardware store, a chocolate shop, a whisky distillery, pharmacy, Italian restaurant, and a fish-and-chips shop. And that was just on Main Street. In the village beyond were more stores, a fishmonger, a butcher, a doctor’s surgery, a fire and police station, and a small supermarket. Farther out on Glenvulin were a couple more cafés and restaurants, a cheese farm, Quinn and Cammie’s parents’ farm and their farm shop with fresh produce, as well as a few more hotels and B and Bs.
But Main Street was the hub, and on a spring day like today it was busier than it had been over the winter months. Still, withMurray … we might as well be the only two people in the world, I was that hyperaware of him.
As Murray and I leaned against the harbor barrier, I felt an overwhelming sense of melancholy at the thought of having to leave this place.
So, instead of my problems, I distracted myself with the prospect of someone else’s.
“You okay?” I asked, daring to nudge his elbow with mine.
Murray hugged his daughter’s books to his chest as he rested against the barrier and sipped at his coffee with his free hand. He didn’t look at me as he inquired, “What makes you ask?”
“You look like you’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.”
He peeked down at me, bemused. “Recognize the feeling?”
