The Chesapeake Diaries Series 7-Book Bundle: Coming HOme, Home Again, Almost Home, Hometown Girl, Home for the Summer, The Long Way Home, At the River's Edge (100 page)

“Which flavor?” she deadpanned.

“I kinda liked the stuff I had that first night I was here.”

“Ah, yes. Chocolate monster mash.” She nodded. “The favorite of little boys everywhere.”

He laughed and she told him, “Stop down at Scoop sometime. I’ll see what I can do for you.”

She knew he was watching her as she walked away, could feel his eyes on her back and her legs and her backside. She wondered if he liked what he saw, and she wondered it he’d lost as much sleep these past few days thinking about kissing her again as she’d lost thinking about kissing him.

“Stef.”

She paused at the sound of her name, and turned to see Wade jogging down the path toward her. “Wait up.”

She took the cap off her water bottle and took a long drink.

“I’ll walk down to Kelly’s Point with you.” He met
up with her on the path where she waited. “So this is the back door between Scoop and the end of the race.”

Steffie laughed. “I’m surprised Grant didn’t figure it out. The path runs right behind the police station and comes out at the top of the hill. Everyone in town knows it’s there.”

“I didn’t.”

“That’s because the municipal building wasn’t there when you lived in St. Dennis. It’s only about six years old.”

“When I was growing up here, the police station was at the end of Charles Street on the way out to Cannonball Island.”

“I remember.”

The path narrowed, forcing them to walk a little closer. Their hips grazed as they made their way down the hill, their hands brushing against each other’s. Where the incline was steepest, she stumbled slightly, and he grabbed her hand to keep her from falling.

“You all right?” he asked.

“Yes. Sorry. I need to watch where I’m going.”

She had righted herself, but he hadn’t let go of her hand. That small gesture, the casual mingling of their fingers, felt like a promise yet to be fulfilled.

“Where’s the little guy?” she asked.

“He’s with Berry and Dallas. Cody was going to try to run with Clay and Logan. I doubt they made it to the finish line.”

“Bring Austin over for ice cream later.”

“Will do.”

They’d reached the end of the path, and when they rounded the municipal building, a line had already
formed for ice cream. It snaked from the tables set up near Scoop right along the edge of the parking lot.

“Holy crap,” she exclaimed.

“Looks like you’re going to be busy for a while.” He stopped at the end of the parking lot. “Do you need any help?”

“I think I’ll be all right, thanks. I brought in extra hands for today.”

“Guess I should let you go, then.”

“Guess so.”

“I’ll see you later.” He released her hand.

She nodded and made her way through the crowd to the tables, where her employees were already hard at work.

“Wow, do you believe this crowd?” Stef said as she approached the table.

“People have been lining up for the past ten minutes,” Tina told her. “This is going to be a long day.”

“Won’t be if we run out of ice cream,” Stef said from the corner of her mouth.

“I think next year we go with three tables,” Tina whispered, and headed back to the freezer for another container of chocolate.

“I think next year we go to Jamaica,” Stef muttered, and picked up her scoop. “I hope we have enough to finish out today.”

Forty minutes later, there were still people in line.

“How’s it going?” Jesse Enright appeared at her left elbow.

“My wrist is killing me, if you want to know the truth,” she told him.

“Here, let me spell you for a little while.” He stashed a water bottle and a T-shirt under the table,
and then reached for the scoop she was holding and took it from her hand. “I worked in a deli when I was in college. I sling a mean scoop. Give yourself a little break.”

“Maybe just for a few minutes.” She handed over the scoop gratefully and rubbed her wrist, and watched him dish out the next few cups of ice cream. Satisfied that he was up to the job, she excused herself for a moment and went inside for some ice for her wrist. She knew that a minute wasn’t near enough time to do much good, but the ice felt really great while she held it on there and she popped a few Advil before grabbing an extra scoop and going back outside. She stepped next to Jesse at the table and shared the duties with him for the next forty minutes.

After they’d served up the last of the ice cream, she said, “Thanks, Jesse. I never would have asked a friend to pitch in, but I’m really glad you did. Otherwise, there’d still be a line and I’d still be wondering when it would end.”

She looked beyond Jesse to scan the crowd, wondering if Wade was around, but didn’t see him. Cody and Logan had come for ice cream earlier—chocolate mint—but they’d been in Tina’s line and she hadn’t seen them since.

“I was happy to give you a hand.” Jesse stood with his hands on his hips. “Looks like you had a great turnout for the run.”

“It exceeded every one of our expectations. We never would have guessed that so many people would show up. Not just people from St. Dennis, but a lot of day-trippers came. I’ll bet my mom and dad were pleased to see how many were wearing these T-shirts
today.” She pulled at the front of her own red shirt. “I’m sure we raised a record amount of money for research, and that’s the bottom line.”

“You must be exhausted,” Jesse said as he gathered his things from under the table.

“I admit I’m a bit tired.”

Steffie heard her name called and turned to see her parents making their way toward the shop.

“Oh, damn,” she told them when they drew near. “I’m just about out of ice cream.”

“Not to worry,” her mother told her. “We’ll just sit inside while you make more.”

“Oh. Okay,” Stef replied almost feebly.

“Just kidding, sweetie.” Shirley Wyler kissed her daughter’s cheek. “What a wonderful day you and Grant put together. We’re so proud of you.”

“Very proud,” her father, George, greeted her with a bear hug.

“Don’t give us all the credit, please,” Stef protested. “We had a committee this year, and Grant did most of the organizational work. And remember that you two started this whole thing years ago.”

“Well, I’m betting you raised a much bigger bundle than we did back then. And love the shirts, by the way.” Shirley turned to Jesse. “So, it looks like you ran today, too.”

“I did,” he told her.

Shirley took her husband’s arm. “Dear, this is Jesse Enright. He handled Cousin Horace’s will for us.”

“George Wyler.” Stef’s dad extended his hand. “Good to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you.” Jesse shook the older man’s hand.

“I made dinner reservations tonight at Captain Walt’s for all of us, but Grant can’t make it. He just found out that he’ll be getting a van full of dogs from Georgia for the shelter and he and Dallas will be tied up most of the night with them.” Shirley turned to Jesse. “Our son runs an animal rescue shelter in addition to his veterinary clinic and apparently last-minute deliveries are quite common.”

“I don’t know if that’s accurate, Shirl,” George noted. “I think he said something about the place they’d intended to take the dogs had an outbreak of kennel cough and they didn’t want to expose them.”

“Whatever the reason, he just found out and he and Dallas have had to cancel dinner.” Shirley dismissed the matter with a wave of her hand. “I still find it hard to picture Dallas MacGregor working alongside Grant with all those dogs. I always picture her as that delicate flower in
Silver Mornings
.”

“Mom, Dallas made that movie about fifteen years ago,” Steffie reminded her.

“I know, but there was something in her performance that stayed with me,” her mother told her. “It’s one of my favorite films of all time.”

“I hope you told her,” Stef said. From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Wade standing on the boardwalk in conversation with Clay Madison. Dallas had just joined them with Austin in the stroller, though that appeared to be temporary, as he was busy climbing out.

“I did.” Shirley turned to Jesse. “So it seems we have two extra seats at our table tonight. Why don’t you join us if you don’t have other plans?”

“Great idea, Shirl. Hope to see you then, Enright.”
George looked over his shoulder and waved to someone. “Oh, there’s Hal Garrity. I want to say hello before he gets lost in the crowd. Excuse me for a moment …”

“So, we’ll see you tonight, Jesse?”

“Ahhh …” Caught off guard, Jesse appeared unsure as to how to answer. He glanced quickly at Steffie.

“What a good idea, Mom.” Stef sensed his discomfort and turned to Jesse. “If you’re free, of course.”

“I don’t have other plans,” he told them, “but if you’re sure I won’t be intruding …”

“Nonsense.” Shirley smiled. “We’d love to have you. The reservations are for seven. If that fits your schedule, we’ll see you then.”

“Seven is fine. Thank you.”

“Stef, we’ll see you then as well.” Shirley hugged her daughter. Her voice lowered, and she added, “And thanks again for putting so much time into this. I’m sure wherever she is, Natalie is very proud of her little sister.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Stef whispered.

“Well, then, I think I’ll go and try to catch up with Grace. I want to thank her for all the ink she’s given to this project and to her thoughtful, personal remembrance of Natalie.”

“I didn’t see that.” Steffie frowned. “Where did you see that?”

“She sent us a copy of the paper that came out on Wednesday. Didn’t you see it?” her mother asked.

“I haven’t seen much of anything over the last three or four days. I think I still have the paper, though.”

“Make sure you read it, Stef. Grace wrote about
how difficult it was to explain to her own child why she wouldn’t be seeing her friend anymore.”

“How who …?”

“Oh, Grace’s daughter. Of course you were just a baby then, but Lucy and Nat shared a birthday. They were in the same play group together and became fast friends from the first day. They really were best buddies. Grace would bring Lucy over on days when Nat was feeling up to company, and the two girls would play with their dolls.” Shirley swallowed a lump and looked away. “When Natalie was too sick or too weak to play, Lucy read to her. She was inconsolable when Natalie died. For years after, Grace said, Lucy didn’t want to celebrate her birthday because she couldn’t celebrate it with Nat.” She blinked several times as if to blink away the tears that welled in her eyes. “Anyway, Grace wrote a piece about the girls and their friendship and it was very touching. And now”—she looked around—“where did your father get to?”

“He’s over by the walk talking to Hal,” Steffie told her. And closer to the water, she noticed, Wade and Clay had been joined by Clay’s sister, Brooke, who was chatting with Dallas.

“No doubt giving Hal a full report on the condition of the Bay, environmentally speaking. I should go save Hal.” She turned to Steffie and Jesse. “I’ll see you both at dinner.”

“My dad’s working on an environmental study of the Chesapeake,” Steffie told Jesse as her mother rushed off. “He’s concentrating on the Susquehanna Watershed, what pollutants the river dumps into the Bay, and how best to combat them. He’s become quite militant.”

She looked back toward the water, where Dallas was just walking off with Austin in the stroller.

Jesse followed her gaze. “Isn’t that your friend from the other night? Wade?”

Steffie nodded. “The other guy is Clay Madison.”

“Who’s the woman with him?” Jesse’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Clay’s sister, Brooke Bowers.”

Jesse stared for a moment, then turned back to Stef and said, “Listen, I know your mother put you on the spot, asking me to join your family for dinner. It’s okay if you don’t want me to do that. I mean, I won’t be offended.”

“Don’t be silly. Of course I want you to join us.” She smiled. “But if I’m going to make it by seven, I need to get to work now.”

Wade, Clay, and Brooke began to make their way toward the marina.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you there.” Jesse started to walk away. “Unless you want me to pick you up?”

“No, but thanks.” She shook her head no. “I may run a little late. If you get there before I do, just ask my dad how his efforts to clean up the Bay are going. That should keep everyone busy until I arrive.”

“Will do.”

Steffie went into the shop through the back door. Surprised at the number of customers awaiting service, since the ice cream they’d given out earlier had been free, she grabbed an apron and went to work.

“So, how’s your new helper working out?” Vanessa came up behind her. Along with Grady, she’d stopped in to see if Stef needed any help cleaning up outside.

“What new helper?” Stef frowned.

“I noticed Jesse Enright helping you dish a while ago. Very cozy, you two.” Vanessa leaned in to whisper in Stef’s ear.

Stef smiled, handed over her customer’s order, and turned around. “He was here when the crowd built up and my wrist was giving out. He offered to help, and I was desperate, so I let him, since my wrist was killing me.”

“Did he ask you out?” Vanessa asked. “And what’s wrong with your wrist?”

“We’re having dinner tonight with my parents, but no, it wasn’t his idea. It was my mother’s. Grant and Dallas had to cancel, so there was space at the table,” she explained. “And my wrist just got a bit overworked today. It’ll be fine.”

“Hmm …”

“ ‘Hmmmmm’ what?” Steffie asked

“Oh, nothing.” Vanessa retied the strings of Stef’s apron in the back, where they were coming undone. “Just that, well, could be a coincidence, or, it could be because of—”

“Do not even pretend it has anything to do with your …” Stef lowered her voice, eyeing Grady who was on the other side of the counter talking to his sister, Mia, who’d just come in the front door. “Does he know that you’re practicing spells? Or pretending to?”

“No, and do not tell him. He’ll think I’m flaky.”

“Gosh, ya think?”

“And don’t be so smart-alecky about it. Had he asked you out before I …” Vanessa stole a glance at Grady. “Before … you know.”

“I hadn’t even met Jesse … 
before
. And,” Stef reminded
her, “he didn’t ask me out. This is not a date. I repeat. This is not a date. My
mother
asked him.”