Beach Winds by Greene Grace

Author:Greene, Grace [Greene, Grace]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Turquoise Morning Press
Published: 2013-11-10T00:00:00+00:00

“Secrets.” Frannie sighed and put her elbow on the table and rested her cheek against her hand. “Now that I think of it, by the time a woman gets to be my age she ought to have a few secrets.”

“I’d say so.” He grinned. “It’s not that hard to get into enough trouble to have some. I can give lots of advice on that.”

“I’ll let you know if I need some of that advice.”

Was she flirting? Sounded like it. “You seem more relaxed now. In the beginning, you were pretty nervous.”

She shrugged, but looked down at the pepper shaker as if it were fascinating. “You were a stranger. Isn’t every woman uneasy around strange men?”

He tried not to laugh and it came out sounding like a snort. “Actually, no.”

“Well, I am.”

“Do you mind if I ask what you do for a living?”

“Do? As in a job?”

“Yes. You must have a very flexible employer if you can hang around here for several weeks without them complaining. Or maybe you took leave?”

“I tried a couple of jobs, but they didn’t work out. Mostly, I do volunteer work. A little here, a little there.”

“Isn’t it boring, staying at someone else’s house? With not much to do, I mean.”

She shook her head. “It’s too far to keep driving back and forth. Besides—”

“Besides what?”

“I’m enjoying the break from Laurel.”

Brian found himself pushing the salt shaker back and forth between his hands. He set it aside.

“Am I getting too personal?”

“Like I said, I don’t have any secrets. Other people, but not me.”

“So you live at home?” He stopped short of adding still.

Sigh. “I moved back home for a while and stayed. It’s only my…Laurel and me. She was lonely after father died. She asked me to live at home while I was going to college, so I did, but when I graduated, I insisted on striking out on my own and she was supportive, but, well, there were problems and I went back. I didn’t intend to stay with her, but you know how that is.”

“How what is?”

“Best laid plans.”

“I do know how that is.” He did know and he knew how painful reality could be. He smiled but thought it probably looked forced, so he dropped the attempt. He sat back abruptly as he realized the waitress had returned with his food.

“Oh, wow. This looks good.” Fran picked up one half of the sandwich and blew on it lightly. “And hot.”

“Now, what about you? Let’s talk about you for a change. I’m willing to bet that your life has been a lot more interesting than mine.” She bit into her sandwich like she was punctuating her sentence.

“Me? Okay, fair is fair. I was married. We had a daughter. We divorced. She wanted the divorce, but in the end she did me a big favor.”

“She has custody?”

“Technically, we share custody.”

“But she lives with her mom.”

“My apartment is small. I’m not really set up for long term stays.” He chewed on his burger, seeing those lines between her eyes again.

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