Page 398 of Seasons of Love
Mal: Lol. Well, when you put it that way, I’m very UP for that.
Griff: I bet. See you later, baby. Love you.
Mal: Can’t wait. Love you too.
I scrolled through some photos we took a few days ago on the beach.
La Catarina was such a beautiful place. I still pinched myself every time I looked outside and saw the ocean in the distance, or whenever I remembered that I could walk everywhere and it took as long to get to my favorite bakery as it did to get to my newly found favorite spot.
My phone rang, and I saw my friend’s name displayed on the screen.
“Maya, my beautiful, warm ray of sunshine. I was just about to call you,” I said.
“Liar.”
I laughed. “No, I truly was. How are you doing?”
She sighed on the other side of the line, and I could just imagine her running her hand through her long, straight black hair.
“Finished a book this morning. I’ve got the downsies now,” she said.
“Girl, you’re living my life. That was the reason I was calling you too.”
She laughed. “You were calling me because you’re down? Gee, thanks.”
“Pot. Kettle,” I said.
“Oh, Griff, we should do this over a bucket of coffee and one of those decadent cakes from Il Fornaio.”
I hummed my thoughts on that particular experience as I refilled my coffee cup and walked to the couch. Decadent didn’t even begin to explain how good those cakes were.
“When are you coming to visit?” I asked. “There’s a bakery here that you’d love. Now that I think of it, it’s not only the bakery you’d love.”
“Hmm? I’m intrigued,” she said. “Tell you what, you come to the Romance Lovers Con, and I’ll go back with you.”
“When is that? Gosh, I’ve been so absorbed by the move and this book that everything else has slipped my mind.”
Not to mention the whole thing with Jake.
“Mid-August. I’ll email you the information. Now tell me about this baker you’re saving for me.”
I tucked my feet under my legs and got comfortable. My chats with Maya could go on for a while, and since we’d both just finished projects, we could take the time to catch up.
“Her name is Elena, and you’d love her. You can come here, fall in love, have pretty babies, and live happily ever after.”
“Jesus, Griff, you’re worse than my mother.”
I gasped.
We stayed on the phone until Maya had to go. It was still early enough, and the phone call left me energized and restless, but in a good way.
I got dressed and decided a walk on the beach was the next thing on my list. I wasn’t planning on doing any work, but I never left home without my notepad, so I put it in my bag with my phone and left.
On my way to the beach, I walked past El Pancito. Elena was busy, so I bought a pretzel to go.
The cliff beach was quiet as usual, which was such a striking difference from the main beach on the other side that was full of colorful beach umbrellas and sun loungers.
To get down to the beach, you had to use the rickety wooden stairs that didn’t go all the way down to the sand but stopped on a flat rock. Once you were on that rock, you could easily navigate the rest of the way down using the other rocks. But if you were carrying all the usual beach paraphernalia, it would be challenging, if not downright dangerous.
