by Cathryn Fox
Kira laughs. “You must be watching Friends,” she says, and my gaze goes back and forth between the two of them, having no idea what they’re talking about.
“Yeah, we’re binge-watching it on Netflix,” Amber says.
Kira turns to me. “As you know, lobsters don’t actually mate for life. But on the TV series Friends, when Rachel and Ross get back together, Phoebe says, ‘See? He’s her lobster.’ It was adorable and insinuated that lobsters mate for life. It’s become a saying, of sorts.”
“Ah,” I say. “But did you know lobsters do have a monogamous bond, but it usually only lasts for a short while?”
Our attention shifts when a woman I’ve seen around town before but have never formally met comes rushing in. Amber and her friends take off for the other room.
“Look at you two,” she says as I glance at her Little Red Riding Hood outfit. “Adorable.”
Again with the adorable.
“Kira, it’s so nice to see you again.” She turns to me. “You must be Nate. Albert said you were coming. I’m Faith, and it’s nice to finally meet you.”
We shake hands, and I say, “Nice to meet you, too. Albert talks about you so much I feel like I know you already.”
“Easy there, boss,” Albert says, coming from the other room, a bottle of beer in his hand. “Don’t go getting me into any trouble, eh.”
“They better be nice things he’s saying,” Faith says as we remove our coats. Albert takes them and hangs them on the coat rack with the others.
Albert, dressed as the Big Bad Wolf, puts his hand around his wife’s waist and drags her close. Faith is quite a few years younger than him. I’d put her in her early forties, whereas Albert is closer to his sixties.
“If I take your picture, will you say cheese?” Albert asks.
I shake my head and grin. “Go ahead. I’ve heard them all.” Albert slaps me on the shoulder and laughs.
“Come on, let me introduce you to everyone,” Faith says to Kira, and I give her a reassuring nod.
Albert grabs a beer from the fridge, cracks it open, and hands it to me. “Have you met, Trevor? He’s a local boat builder. Owns the Dorey shop down on Bluenose Drive.”
I tip my beer to my mouth and follow him into the main room, where he introduces me to his friends, who are all dressed up for the occasion. There’s food laid out, and I glance at Kira as she nibbles on a sandwich. Great, now I’m picturing her nibbling on my cheese stick.
Not the time to be remembering that, dude.
Once everyone finds out Kira is Gram’s granddaughter, they all begin to share stories. I turn my attention to Trevor, since I love boats, and take in the cardboard box he’s wearing, shaped like a dory.
He tells me about the dories he’s made at his shop, and how he’s now building schooners and has classes twice a year.
“You’ll have to stop by. I’ll show you what I’m working on. You’re going to love the jigs and patterns that are over a hundred years old,” Trevor says.
“I would love that. Finding the time might be hard, though.”
Albert puts his hand on my shoulder. “Gotta enjoy the small things, son,” he says, and my gaze flies to his as my heart leaps. He’s never called me son before. Shit, my own father doesn’t even call me son. In a weird sort of way, I like Albert calling me that.
“You’re right,” I say. “Are the classes full?” I ask.
“I can always squeeze in one more,” he says, and I note the way Kira keeps casting glances my way. I mingle with a few more people and eventually make my way to where she’s sitting. I grab a sandwich from the tray, and overhear Faith ask about the studio. Kira shifts uncomfortably, her body language showcasing her discomfort. She’s an easy read, at least to me, and obviously doesn’t want to discuss Gram’s studio, whatever that might be.
“Drink refill?” I ask when I see that Kira’s punch is almost gone.
She gives me a smile full of appreciation and hands the mug over. “Thanks.”
I put the ladle into the punch and ask, “Anyone else?”
I fill a few more mugs and hand them back just as Amber and her friends come up from downstairs to grab more pop and chips. Then disappear as quickly as they appeared.
“Your daughter is adorable,” Kira says to Faith.
Faith smiles. “Thanks. She’s a good kid. We wanted more, but it wasn’t in the cards. So we let Amber fill the house with her friends.”
“That’s nice.”
“I bet you can’t wait to have children of your own.” She claps her hands together. “Oh how Margaret would have loved great grandkids.”
“No,” she says quickly. “Kids aren’t in my future.”
“Oh,” Faith says, as surprised as I am by her fast answer. She was so good with Amber, I thought for sure she would want kids of her own someday. Interesting.
“I’m an only child, too,” Kira says, glancing at the school picture of Amber on the wall, her look is wistful, and it seems like her thoughts are a million miles away. As they often are.
“Did you want siblings growing up?” Faith asks.
A long pause, and then she casts me a glance. “I did. But it looks like I have a lot of brothers and sisters now, at Gram’s B&B.” Beer bottle dangling from my fingertips, I note the smooth way she switched gears, lightening the conversation. I’m not sure why she thought she wasn’t good at small talk.
Faith laughs, and her gaze slides to me, as I take a pull from my bottle. “Is that how it is over there?” She arches a brow, skepticism all over her face when she says, “Everyone treating you like a sister?”
I nearly choke on my drink, and a bright pink flush crawls up Kira’s neck. “Ah…” she says.
“She fits right in,” I say, coming to her rescue. “The guys wouldn’t let her out of the house without a coat. They even started a coat fund, but Kira found one in the closet.”
“That’s not the only fund they’ve started,” Faith says.
“What are you talking about?” Kira asks.
“Over at the Anchor. They have a pickle jar and are collecting tips to save the place.”
“I saw that jar when I was having lunch with Ralph and Mindy.”
“They’re going to need a lot of tips,” I add.
Faith opens her mouth like she’s going to say more, but Albert pipes in. “You signed up for the pumpkin regatta tomorrow?” he asks me.
“What’s a pumpkin regatta?” Kira asks.
“Lordy, girl, you don’t know? Then you have to sign up.”
“Ah…” she says. “What does it involve?”
“We all head out to Fancy Lake Provincial Park, and Pumpkins from Howard Dill’s farm are carved out for us to race in them. Dill grows the biggest pumpkins in Nova Scotia. Some are over one-thousand pounds.”
“That’s insane,” Kira says.
“Years ago, Martha Stewart was supposed to race, but her plane got fogged in at the Maine airport.”
“Wow, and while that sounds…interesting, I don’t really like being in the water.”
“Good thing you have Nate here, then,” Albert says, as he tosses his arm over my shoulder, not an easy task with the big block of plastic cheese around my body. “He can’t get enough of the open sea. But this isn’t a very big lake, and it’s all supervised by the fire department. You can go as partners. Faith and I team up. Of course, you two don’t stand a chance at beating us. We’re the town’s champions three years running.”
“Well, that sounds like a challenge,” I say. “What do you say, Kira?”
She crinkles that cute little nose of hers, and her painted on whiskers wiggle. “Can I think about it?”
I nod, and she stifles a yawn. I glance at my watch. “Well if we do go tomorrow, we’re going to want to beat you guys, so we’d better get a good night’s sleep.”
<
br /> Kira gives me an appreciative smile and stands. “Thanks so much for having us. It was really nice to meet everyone, and I liked hearing all about Gram.”
Faith hugs her, and I shake hands with Albert.
We head outside.
“Thank you, Nate.”
Jesus, fuck, could she be any more adorable? “I can’t wait to get out of this,” I say, tugging on the cheese so I can fit behind the wheel. I start the vehicle, and Kira chuckles. I glare at her over the dashboard light. “Not funny.”
“A little funny?”
“No.”
The house is quiet when we arrive home. Even Bridgette has called it a night.
Inside the warm kitchen, I turn to Kira. “Need me to check your mousetrap?”
She gives me a knowing grin. “Yes, please.”
We remove our coats and head to her room. I shut and lock the door behind us as she flicks on the propane fireplace. I sit on her bed as she warms her hands.
“Now, what was that you agreed to earlier?” I ask.
“You mean about you removing this?” She runs her hands over her costume.
“Exactly. Now get over here.”
“Bossy-pants,” she says playfully as she falls into my arms.
Chapter Thirteen
Kira
“Are we really doing this?” I ask, watching the gigantic pumpkins, some elaborately decorated and painted, as people roll them into the water. This has to be the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.
Nate hands me a paddle. “Only if you want to.”
I shake my head. “A regatta like this would never fly out west.”
“But would it float?”
“Ha. Ha.” Leaning on the paddle, I take in the hundreds of spectators and the news crew interviewing people. Hot dogs and hamburgers sizzle on the barbecue, compliments of the local grocery store sponsoring the event.
“I don’t really like being on the water, much less in an unstable pumpkin.”
Nate turns to me, his eyes serious as his hands go to my shoulders. “If you’re afraid, you don’t have to. But just know pumpkins float, and I won’t let anything happen to you. I’m pretty good in a boat, and I think you’d have a lot of fun if you gave it a try. But no pressure.”
My heart misses a beat at his understanding. I scan the calm water, find the firefighter in boats—real ones—ready to jump in and help if anyone is about to drown. My fears are irrational, it’s not like I’m in the open sea during a storm, and maybe Nate is right. Maybe I would have fun. I guess I’ve been doing lots of things outside my comfort zone. What’s one more thing, and hey, how many people get to say they raced in a giant pumpkin, right?
“Okay,” I say. “I want to beat Sam.”
Nate laughs. “Why?”
“I’m competitive.”
“Same,” Nate says, but I sensed that about him long ago.
“And it’s time we took such an ungracious winner down, don’t you think?” I say. His reaction when he won the card game was wildly funny, but a whole lot of cocky.
“Hey Sam,” I call out, and he turns my way. I poke my thumb into my chest. “I’m about to show you that I have no equal. You’re going down,” I say and expect him to salute me with his middle finger. Instead he runs my way, tugs my hat off, and scrapes his knuckles over my hair.
“You’re the one going down, little girl,” he says, and I’m laughing hard when I pinch his side to get him to stop.
“Are you two kids done?” Izzy asks as she comes up to us.
Sam lets me go and puts my hat back on my head. “S’up, Izzy?” he says to her, and I look out over the crowd to see Cody talking to some pretty brunette beneath a tree.
I glance back at Izzy in time to see her roll her eyes at me. “I hope you do beat him. I’m pretty sure he cheats when we play cards.”
“Do not. I’m just awesome, and you, little Izzy, are jealous.”
“Kira, this is Heather. Heather, Kira.”
“Nice to meet you, Heather,” I say to the gorgeous woman and shake her hand. Heather is close to my height, around the same age, and has the prettiest dyed silver hair that brings out the blue in her eyes.
“Same. I love your hat,” she says. “And I don’t care who wins today, as long as it’s not this asshole.” She jerks her thumb toward Sam.
“Heather, come on, you know you love me,” Sam says, and she shakes her head. He tries to hug her, and she pushes him away.
“He’s the most annoying man in the world.”
Just then, a whistle blows. “Try not to get caught in my wake,” Sam says, and when Izzy makes a move to clock him, he bolts.
I take in his long legs as he runs. “He’s kind of crazy, but I can see why Gram liked him so much.” I glance at Nate, and his eyes are narrowed, his lips slightly downturned. “What?” I ask.
“You like him, huh?” He looks past me, and before I can answer, he says, “We better get going.”
I have no idea what was going through his head, but I follow him to our pumpkin. I wave to Faith and Albert, who are a few pumpkins down, and on the other side of us, Sam and Jason are goading each other. I grin. I love that Gram’s “family” are all here. I’m sure she’s cheering us all on from heaven.
“I’ll hold it while you slide in,” Nate says, as he balances the big gourd.
“That’s what she said,” Sam yells out, and he and Jason laugh hysterically. Nate might be shaking his head, but his lips are quirking.
“Ready?” he asks me.
Here goes nothing.
He holds the massive pumpkin, and I balance myself by gripping his shoulders. Once inside the huge gourd, I settle my rear on the bottom.
“Good?” he asks.
“As good as I can be for a girl about to ride a pumpkin across the lake.”
His playful grin is back when he says, “This is going to be fun.”
The pumpkin wobbles as he climbs in, and two guys give us a push to set us into motion. We all enter the water, and cheers erupt behind us. Nate slides his paddle into the water and gets us going. I follow suit, but all I manage to do is spin us in a circle.
“Help,” I yell to Nate.
He uses his paddle to stop the spinning. “On the count of three, we do it together.” He counts down, and on three, I paddle, but he’s so much bigger and stronger, we end up going in a circle again.
“Oh my God, we are so bad at this.” I start laughing. Nate laughs with me, and Sam goes by us and splashes me with water.
“Hey,” I yell at him, momentarily forgetting all about the dangers of the water.
“We’ll get this.” He nudges me with his elbow and gives a wink. “We’re good at syncing our movements,” Nate says, and heat crawls into my cheeks. He chuckles at that. “On the count of three,” he says again, and I put more force into my stroke.
“We’re doing it,” I say, the pumpkin rocking as we power forward.
“Coming Sam,” I yell. Up ahead Faith and Albert are killing it, close to halfway across the lake, but Sam is closing in on them. “Let’s get him,” I say to Nate.
Working as a team, we both row, and someone bangs us from behind.”
“Sorry.”
I glance over my shoulder and see Doug, the man who’s horse nearly killed me, working hard to get by us. He hits our pumpkin again and knocks us out of control. We start spinning, and by the time it stops, I’m dizzy and laughing so hard my stomach hurts.
Nate’s roar of laughter goes through me, and when he rights us again, I steal a glance at him. Attractive. Funny. Rock solid. I can’t deny that I really like being with him, in the bedroom and out.
Don’t fall for him, Kira.
“Ready,” he asks, and I quickly pull myself together, fearing I’m already in deeper than I ever meant to be. We’re different people
from different worlds who are just enjoying each other. Neither of us wants a relationship, he made that clear, and this hookup comes with an expiration date. After that quick lecture, I nod, and we start paddling. Ice-cold water splashes up, and I yelp as it chills my body.
“That is freezing,” I cry.
“I’ll warm you later,” Nate says with a grin. “Right now, we need to get Sam.”
We get moving again, and all around us, people are laughing and having fun, and I’m glad I pushed through my fears. Nate was right. I’m having a blast.
We paddle harder and faster, our movements now in sync, and we’re making headway across the lake. There are numerous pumpkins in front of us, but we’re gunning for Sam. Sam glances over his shoulder, and when he sees us closing the gap, he flicks more water at me.
“Cheater,” I say and flick water at him. “Let’s bump him,” I say.
“You are competitive,” Nate says. “And for a tiny thing, you’re pretty feisty, too.”
I laugh at that, and catch up to Sam. We bang him with our pumpkin, and we both go into a spin. Nate gets us right again, and Sam is hollering.
“We have cheaters,” he yells out, but no one pays him any attention. From Sam’s other side, Jason hits him, and Sam’s pumpkin nearly flips.
“Motherfucker,” he yells, and we’re all in hysterics when he sets his paddle on his lap, grips the sides of the pumpkin, and tries not to capsize.
“Now I feel bad,” I say to Nate. “Let’s help him.”
“Yeah, help me,” Sam says, pouting at us.
I look at Nate. “Bring us close again.”
We get close, and maneuver around him, once we’re in front, I give his pumpkin a push and send him in the opposite direction. Jason comes over and gives me a high five.
“Well done, sister!”
“You are dead to me,” Sam says, but he’s laughing and having a good time, and that’s the whole point of this, right?
“You’ve got a mean streak in you. I’ll have to remember that,” Nate says, making a face that feigns fear.
“Don’t get on my bad side,” I warn. The truth is, I don’t really have a mean streak, and I’ve been on the wrong end of bullying and would never purposely hurt someone. Up ahead, Albert and Faith reach the finish line, followed by a few more people.
