Falling For Mr. Fake It by Helen Walton

Author:Helen Walton [Helen Walton]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Helen Walton
Published: 2023-11-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

The morning breeze blew in off the sea, foam building along the shore and rustling my hair, leaving its tangy kiss along my neck. The soft touch reminded me of the way Shawn nuzzled my neck yesterday. Bosco snapped at the foam with his jaws trying to catch the bubbles, then shook his head in regret at the salty water. I laughed at his antics. Trust Bosco to brighten my mood. The waves built and crashed to give him more foam to snap at. A pair of surfers waved to me. I waved back, recognizing the curly hair of Madeline and Nate’s brown locks. They rode the waves again and again. The joy was clear in their actions. A day on the water would be good for me, too. I wandered back to my house with Bosco bounding along happily in front of me. Bosco ground to a halt at my back door.

“Antonio?”

“Good morning, Hannah.” He rose from sitting on the back stairs to my house.

“What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to say goodbye properly this time.”

I recalled our last goodbye of whispered heated words in a storage room hiding from his soon-to-be bride. The pain usually accompanying those memories didn’t wrench my heart.

“When does your plane leave?”

“Tomorrow was the earliest flight I could arrange.” His shoulders slumped.

So, unlike the confident Antonio, I knew. The one I’d loved, too. A flare of pain stabbed my stomach. We hadn’t even really spent any time alone, and he’d come all this way to see me. I should at least try to be his friend after all this time, holding onto a love for him that seemed less and less important since I’d spent time with Shawn.

But Shawn might have an actual girlfriend.

Antonio and I could at least part amicably this time.

“I’m heading out on my boat.” I waved my hand at the sea. “Would you like to come? As a friend?”

“Friend, si.” He dropped his head and lifted his hope-filled gaze. “I’d like that, Hannah.”

“I’ll grab the keys for my boat and be right back.” I scampered up the stairs, inside the house, and fetched the keys hanging by the back door. “It’s a bit of a walk to the marina.”

“I don’t mind walking with you.”

I nodded and tugged Bosco’s leash. “Heel.”

Not that I expected Bosco to listen to me, but I strived to implement Shawn’s training techniques.

“Does your dog go everywhere with you?” He eyed Bosco apprehensively.

I hadn’t realized he was so anti-dog when we were teenagers, but then we’d been too wrapped up in each other to care about anything else.

“Most of the time.”

I couldn’t imagine a life without a dog in it. Dogs were capable of the unconditional love humans seemed to struggle with. At least I had a dog’s love in my life.

We strolled along the promenade amongst the tourists. The crash of the waves slapped on the wet sand in a soothing rhythm. The tourists wandered the town, faces full of smiles and sounds of happy laughter at being at the beach.

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