A Starlight Summer by Michelle Major

Author:Michelle Major
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2022-03-01T00:18:19+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Josh waited outside Main Street Perk the following Tuesday morning. He took a moment to admire the charming storefronts that lined each side of the street. Starlight was beautiful in the summer, so bright and shiny and alive with promise.

“The planter boxes are amazing,” a soft voice said next to him. He turned to see a pretty woman who looked to be around his age smiling at him.

“I wish the ones on my front porch looked half as good,” he agreed and then silently berated himself. Was it cool or überdorky for a man to admit he cared about flower boxes?

“You’re Josh?”

He nodded.

“I’m Crystal, Mara’s friend.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Crystal.” He’d almost said no when his sister-in-law had suggested he meet one of the vendors from the farmers market for a date.

The longer he went down this path, the less enthusiastic he felt about spending time with any woman other than Ella. He’d eventually agreed after she’d blown him off at the farmers market.

It wasn’t as if he didn’t know the score of their relationship. But his heart refused to believe she didn’t feel the same way he did. Maybe he was confusing great sex for something more. Something it didn’t mean, at least not to her.

“I’m glad this worked,” he said.

Her smile was open and without any of the skepticism he often saw in Ella’s eyes.

He was a sucker for a challenge, but he blamed that on his childhood and all the time he’d spent trying to think of a way to get his dad’s attention or respect.

Despite failing over and over, he’d never given up and didn’t necessarily like what that said about him. “I have to tell you, I’m not usually a fan of candles, but Mara gave me one of yours. My house has never smelled better.”

Crystal looked pleased by the compliment. She was a pretty woman, petite and blonde with a fresh face and her long hair pulled back into a heavy braid. So what if his stomach didn’t do backflips when he looked at her? The backflips might come eventually.

They stepped inside and ordered coffee and muffins. Nanci, the shop’s owner, gave him a not-so-subtle thumbs-up as they headed toward a table near the far wall. Each black café table had a mason jar of fresh flowers in the middle, and the walls were painted a sunny yellow. Josh tried to let the cheery interior bolster his flagging mood. He had no reason to be grumpy and did his best to hide it from Crystal.

She was kind, funny and easy to talk to. She’d grown up in a small town in western Idaho that she’d left at the urging of her now ex-boyfriend.

Josh didn’t share the details of his history the way he had with Ella, but it wasn’t difficult to talk to her about his life in Starlight with Anna.

Crystal had three sisters, a brother, plus a bevy of nieces and nephews, so she seemed happy to hear about his daughter.

It

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