Page 36 of A Room By the Sea

Shep’s mouth popped open, and he was about to protest that it might hurt the shop window if they ended up having tape stuck to the glass until the end of time, but he immediately closed his mouth again.

Elaine didn’t say anything, but he caught her looking at him with a disappointed expression. His heart sank. He should have realized she would feel bad about his refusal to put the poster in the window, but hurting her feelings had never been his intention.

I’ve got to get better at being aware of other people’s feelings, he thought. That’s always been the kind of thing I can’t seem to anticipate properly. But I’m sure it’s like any other skill—the more I work on improving it, the more easily it will come to me.

He glanced at Elaine, wondering if she felt let down by his behavior. Had she expected more from him? Most people didn’t seem to, at least not people who knew him, but he and Elaine had opened up to one another somewhat the other day. Perhaps she was feeling as though there was now a special bond between them, and she’d expected him to treat her differently.

Did he feel that way too?

He cleared his throat. “It does make sense to put this poster up in our front window. It’s true Townsend’s has never done anything like that before, but it’s also true that we’ve never been business partners with anyone before. I’ll put it up immediately in the front window as soon as we get back.”

Clear stickers. There were things like that, weren’t there? He was sure of it. That’s what he would use. Clear, gel stickers that would easily peel off the window when it was time to remove the poster.

Elaine offered him a small smile. “Thank you, Shep. And you too, Iris. Townsend’s is so popular, I’m sure it will help spread the word about the grand opening better than any of the other places that put up a poster.”

“And our front window looks out across the main street,” Iris agreed cheerfully. “Even people who aren’t coming inside the bakery will see it.”

Elaine smiled, looking happy, and then she said warm goodbyes to Iris and Shep. He watched Elaine walk away for a moment, noticing the way she held her folder of posters to her chest as if they were something precious instead of just stacks of paper and ink.

He was beginning to contemplate the idea of treating everyday things with more appreciation the way Elaine seemed to when he noticed that Iris was looking at him. He turned to her and grunted as a way of asking her what was on her mind.

“You should let your guard down a bit with Elaine,” Iris said, her brows lifting knowingly. “A good thing won’t stay open forever, especially if it’s always met with resistance.”

“What do you mean?” Shep asked, startled. Was Iris actually implying what he thought she was implying? What kind of a good thing?

She didn’t mean a romance, surely?

“I just mean,” Iris said slowly, as if she was choosing her words carefully, “that right now she doesn’t have any walls up toward you. But if she keeps feeling like you’re pushing her away, I think she’s going to start putting walls up, whether she really wants to or not. I think that’s just how people work sometimes.”

Shep blinked, unsure of what to say. Iris could have knocked him over with a feather. Elaine seemed like such an immovable force, such a strong character. The thought of her putting up walls toward him made him feel sad.

Iris is right, he thought. I need to make sure I don’t make her feel the need to put up walls against me. I should think more about the way I’ve been responding to her and be sure to treat her more kindly.

“Come on,” Iris said, smiling at him as if she could read his thoughts somehow. She patted him on the back. “Let’s go get some pans.”

He found himself smiling at her. Iris was undoubtedly one of the best things in his life. For someone to be as patient as she was in the face of his never-ending gruffness was a feat indeed. She was a true friend, and he felt grateful that she’d been outspoken enough to offer him advice.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

A gust of wind blew against Michelle’s face and pushed at the folder of posters she was carrying. Elaine had put out posters announcing The Birchwood House’s grand opening at many of the businesses around Coral Sands the morning before, but there were still a few places she hadn’t had time to get to. Michelle had volunteered to go to them, and she was now hurrying along the sidewalk, glancing up at the sky nervously.

That’s a thunderstorm, I can smell it in this wind, she thought. I’ll have to hurry up here unless I want me and these posters to get soaking wet.

She only had a couple of places left to get to, and one of them she’d been procrastinating going to all afternoon. It was the auto repair shop, and Michelle had a sneaking suspicion that her grandmother had left that business for her on purpose.

Maybe Theo won’t even be inside, Michelle thought, pausing in front of the shop. It’s possible, right?

She realized that she hadn’t seen him since that day in the library when he’d seemed to appear out of thin air amongst the bookshelves. That seemed odd, since for a while there he’d been turning up regularly in all sorts of places around town. Although his appearances were always unexpected, she’d discovered that she’d come to expect to see him—although she never knew where or when. Not seeing him at all for several days was almost disappointing.

Argh, what are you thinking? she scolded herself, feeling her cheeks flush.

As if it could somehow stop thoughts of Theo from going through her head, she hurried up to the auto shop and opened the front door. She was greeted by the intense smells of rubber and grease, but not by any human being. There was no one seated behind the desk.

Michelle rose up and down on her toes a few times, wondering if one of the mechanics in the shop would see her through the indoor window and come to greet her. Her heart was beating faster than usual, but she told herself that had nothing to do with the thought that Theo might be the person to come greet her.

Another minute passed, and no one came to talk to her. She considered impishly just putting up one of the posters on the bulletin board that hung in the lobby, but then she decided against it. Finally, she peered through the indoor window into the garage.

“I don’t see anybody,” she muttered. “Are they all gone already? That can’t be right.”