As soon as Noah let go, turning to run through the waves with Lucky once more, Marshall approached, holding up his hand for a high five. “Nice work.”
“Thanks.” She slapped his palm, and his fingers curled around hers for a moment longer than necessary.
A lump caught in her throat at the feel of her small hand in his larger one. When he dropped it, the tingle of his touch remained.
“I couldn’t have done it without my awesome coach.” Her lips tipped into a grin that grew serious far too quickly. “But really, thank you. You sure made a little boy’s day. He hasn’t had too many great ones lately and . . .” She sucked a breath between her teeth. Sudden exhaustion overtook her bones, and, frowning, Shannon sat down.
Marshall joined her, his strong forearms wrapped around his knees. “He’s a great kid. And he clearly is enamored with you.”
She ran her finger through the sand, at first drawing simple lines, then arcing out into a small picture. A house. A sun. “He doesn’t know any better.” Her attempt at a joke fell flat, as evidenced by Marshall’s silence. Clearing her throat, she continued with the design.
“If you don’t mind me asking, how do you know him?”
“I was his preschool teacher for two years. His grandma has had custody of him for a little longer than that, ever since his mom left to pursue an acting career in Los Angeles.”
And then, as if she’d known this man forever, Shannon told him about her relationship with Noah, about Mary’s mental decline, about how the final straw was her leaving Noah at the mall six weeks ago because she’d forgotten he was with her. “Social services removed him from the home, and Mary moved into a memory care facility. He’s been with his neighbor ever since, but she and her family are moving out of state soon.”
“So you’re going to adopt him?”
“That’s the plan. I was hoping I could get foster certification fast tracked since I already have fingerprint clearance and a background check due to my job. But there’s just so much left in the process—an interview, adoption and fostering classes, psychiatric evaluation, home inspection—and each step takes time.” Shannon added a woman to her sand picture. “So for a while, he’ll have to live with someone else.”
Marshall turned his face toward her, using his hand to block the sun that had slowly moved a bit farther westward. Whoa. It must be about two in the afternoon. How had three hours gone by so quickly? “Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s awesome. I’m just wondering why you’re the one adopting him.”
“If not me, then who?” She shrugged. “His social worker hasn’t been able to get ahold of his mom, and he doesn’t have any other family willing to take him. Walker Beach is an amazing community, but it’s small. I’m afraid he’d eventually be sent to a town with more foster home options. But he should be able to stay near his grandma, the only family he has.”
Shannon finished off her picture with a little boy holding hands with the woman. “Besides, I can’t help but love him. And really, all you need is love to make a thing work, right?” Love—and a good dose of humility.
“Hmmm.” A pause. “Hey, you’re an artist.”
She glanced up to find his eyes studying her silly picture. “Oh, that’s . . . no. It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing.” He leaned in just a touch. “And neither are you.”
If Shannon was made of ice, she’d be a puddle on the ground by now.
Sheesh. She needed to get control of her seesawing emotions. This was so silly. Marshall didn’t know her. She didn’t know him.
So how had his words stroked a hurting place in her heart that few even knew existed?
Shannon dusted off her hands and stood. “I had a really nice time with you, but I need to get Noah home.”
Marshall pushed himself off the ground, then checked his watch. “Wow, it’s later than I thought. I’d better get going as well.”
They both stood there for a moment, looking at each other, the moment holding, suspended in time.
What was happening? Surely she was imagining this connection between them.
Shannon pulled her gaze from his. “Noah! Lucky! Time to go.”
“Aw, man!” But despite his protest, the boy dragged his feet, hanging onto Lucky’s collar as he trudged toward her.
She turned back to Marshall. “Thank you for teaching me to catch. And for listening while I talked your ear off.”
There had been something so freeing about sharing with someone she’d never see again. Because in a town the size of this one, everyone knew everyone else’s business. And to them, Shannon Baker was merely the “shyest” member of the ginormous Baker clan, the daughter of the local pizza parlor owners, the younger sister of twins Tyler and Quinn.
The one always in her sister’s vibrant and terrifying shadow.
But Marshall No Name from Who Knew Where—he only saw what she’d shown him. Whether he recognized it or not, he’d given her a gift. The ability, for a brief moment in time, to be more than she could be otherwise.
“It was my pleasure.” He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it. Frowned. “Maybe I’ll see you around?”
He wasn’t going to ask for her number then. But what did she expect? She may have momentarily felt like Cinderella at the ball, but he was obviously someone else’s Prince Charming.
Besides, she didn’t have time for romance anyway. Her attention needed to stay focused on Noah’s adoption. And, more immediately, on the Baker family reunion, since she was kind of in charge of the whole thing since her cousin Ashley had handed it over to her last month.
Shannon forced a smile. “Maybe.”
“Would it be weird to ask for a hug?” And there was the adorably charming grin he’d flashed at her more than once today—the one that toasted her insides. “I mean, you did kind of tell me your life story.”
Biting her lip, she studied him. “And yet I know almost nothing about you.”
His features darkened for a moment, before it disappeared with a shrug. “Not much to tell. Although I will say . . . I felt more myself today than I have in a really long time. So thank you, Shannon.”
Then he stepped forward and, after pausing to give her time to escape if she wanted to—she didn’t—enveloped her in a hug. Now she could tell that his cologne smelled like cinnamon and some sort of flowers. Geraniums, maybe? Whatever it was, the combination was heady, as was the all-too-brief sensation of being in his arms.
Even if her proverbial midnight had finally arrived, this was what dreams were made of.
As Marshall stepped back, Shannon snagged Noah’s hand in hers, whispered good-bye, tucked this perfect day away in her heart, and put on her game face.
Because dinner with her family—including Quinn—was just hours away.
And that was enough to spoil almost any fairytale.
Books by Lindsay Harrel
Walker Beach Romance Series
All At Once (prequel novella)
All of You, Always
All Because of You
All I’ve Waited For
All You Need Is Love
* * *
Port Willis Series
The Secrets of Paper and Ink
Like a Winter Snow
Like a Christmas Dream
* * *
Standalones
The Joy of Falling
The Heart Between Us
One More Song to Sing
About the Author
Lindsay Harrel is a lifelong book nerd who lives in Arizona with her young family and two golden retrievers in serious need of training. When she’s not writing or chasing after her children, Lindsay enjoys making a fool of herself at Zumba, curling up with anything by Jane Austen, and savoring sour candy one piece at a time. Visit her at www.lindsayharrel.com.
Walker Beach Romance Series
Book 3: All I’ve Waited For
Published by Blue Aster Press
Copyright © 2021 by Lindsay Harrel
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form except small excerpts used in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover: Hillary Manton Lodge Design
Editing: Barbara Curtis
All I've Waited For Page 19
