Family Trees by March Kerstin

Author:March, Kerstin [March, Kerstin]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2015-04-07T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

STORM

“Well, whad’ya know,” Nic said, settling into a quiet corner table with Shelby at Spill the Beans, Bayfield’s one and only coffee shop. “Will Chambers—back in town.” The petite young woman with a loud mouth and a love for gossip was wide-eyed and eager for details. “You have to tell me everything. Don’t leave out a single detail.” Nic slid her hand into her canvas bag and Shelby knew her friend was rummaging for the cigarettes she had given up in July. Coming up empty-handed, Nic grabbed her mug with two hands and took several eager slurps of coffee. Black. No sugar. Nic always said that sweeteners were for chumps.

“There’s not much to say, really,” Shelby explained while unabashedly stirring sugar into the froth of her cappuccino. “He arrived a few days ago. He came down to Applefest to say hello. And now he’s staying on a sailboat over at South Point Marina.”

Shelby loved Nic, but she wasn’t ready to tell her everything. Ryan planned to stay aboard the Spindrift through the week. After that, he would return to the cottage he had rented with his friends back in August. While Shelby worked on the farm, Ryan had mainly kept to himself, spending his time sailing the Dufour and experimenting with the aperture settings and lens filters on his camera while photographing the lake. Shelby doubted anyone other than her family, Boots at the grocery store, and the gal at the marina knew he was back. And Nic, of course. But that wasn’t a surprise—Nic always seemed to know what was happening in town.

“How long will he be here?”

“I’m not sure,” Shelby said, licking her spoon before setting it down on the saucer. “A while.”

“A while. What does that mean—a week? A month?” Nic was tapping her fingernails on the tabletop in an agitated rhythm. “This is major.”

Shelby smirked behind the brim of her coffee mug before taking a sip, enjoying her friend’s impatience.

“He’s back because of you, isn’t he?” Nic asked with a knowing nod. “Holy crap—Will Chambers!”

“He’s here to do some work.”

“Jesus. Do you think I just fell off the turnip truck? This is me you’re talking to,” Nic burst out in a voice loud enough to turn the heads of the three other patrons in the coffee shop.

Shelby looked over her shoulder and threw up her hand to quiet Nic.

“Oh. I get it, I get it.” Nic became overly theatrical, lowering her voice and leaning forward across the table as if she were in on a conspiracy. “You’re keeping this all on the down low, aren’t you? A clandestine romance?”

“Hardly,” Shelby muttered, now rubbing her thumb along the handle of her ceramic mug.

“Come on, I know you’re dying to tell me . . .” Nic said, with an unnaturally sweet smile mounting across her elfish freckled face.

Shelby took a drawn-out sip of her cappuccino.

“Hang on a second.” Nic’s eyes lit up. “You like this guy!”

“I hardly know him,” Shelby said, shaking her head slightly.

“That’s it! Oh

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