Seaside Cafe 07 - Pleading the Fish by Bree Baker

Author:Bree Baker [Baker, Bree]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2022-03-02T00:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

I rode my bicycle to Northrop Manor at 10:45, having packed sandwiches and fruit for Aunt Clara and Oscar at 10:30, then timed my departure so I’d have just enough time to pedal over and arrive at the earliest acceptable minute for lunch. The thrill of finding the perfect dress still flowed through me, and I was both giddy and stupefied over the strength of the emotions tied to it. No one had ever mistaken me for a girlie girl or a human who cared two twigs about fashion, yet here I was, in love with a big, dramatic, breathtaking gown.

I laughed with disbelief and joy as the radiant summer sun heated my skin. Today felt like a day of positive and miraculous things. Maybe the answers I needed were in the file Susan made for me, and maybe the news was good.

Maybe my life was about to change.

White bakery bags bounced merrily in the basket over my pale blue fender as I cruised the weathered, sun-bleached planks of the boardwalk. I couldn’t wait to deliver the meals to Oscar and Aunt Clara. I could almost feel the file on my family’s history in my hands.

Whatever I learned about my possible curse, I’d find a way to get through it. Either I would uncover definitive proof that the Swan love curse was a lie, or I would find a way to overcome it. And not some flimsy problem-patch that worked on television shows and in the movies. I knew loving one another enough wasn’t the answer. My mother had died following the untimely loss of my father, because she’d loved him too much to live without him, even for the sake of their only child. So I had no delusions that our love was somehow better or stronger than theirs.

If I needed to work around the curse, then I’d have to find something clever and significant to do the trick. Because I was marrying Grady Hays. I’d felt it in my bones when I stared at my reflection in the gown. The sensation of déjà vu had been so powerful, I was sure I’d lived the moment before. It was as if my heart and head had already been down this path, and my body merely had to wait three months and perform the motions. The deal had already been sealed by fate.

There was a profound peace with that knowledge because I wouldn’t marry Grady if it would hurt him. Which meant there was a way. And I would find it.

I parked my bike near the front entrance of Northrop Manor and scanned the lot for Aunt Clara’s Prius. She’d claimed her usual spot beneath a mossy-limbed oak.

A white SUV sat along the edge of a grassy access road in the distance. I told myself it wasn’t the same vehicle I’d seen after my attack outside the realty office, then I gathered the bags from my basket and hurried through the door to greet Oscar.

“Miss Everly,” he said, hooking his thumbs behind his belt.

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