AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m Michael O’Neil, the owner of the coffee shop,” he said, his lips curving slightly, almost as if he found her impatience amusing.
“Gwen Dunaway,” she said briskly, offering a polite but unenthusiastic smile.
“Are you new in town?” he asked, smiling as he worked on the Frappuccino. “I don’t remember seeing you around before.”
“I am new in town.” Privately she wondered if there were so few people in the town that he knew everyone. That didn’t bode well for her. “I just arrived a few days ago. I’m a doctor, I just opened up a private practice not far from here.”
“Oh, that’s great! Glad to hear it. We could use another doctor here in Blueberry Bay.” He grinned at her. “Welcome to our community. Have you gotten a chance to see much of Blueberry Bay yet? It’s a great town.”
“I’m sure it is.” She smiled, inwardly willing him to move a little faster so she could get back to her clinic sooner.
“You should check out the Beyond the Sea dinner cruise as soon as it opens for the summer season. It’s run by my fiancée, Caitlin Lewis. It’s really spectacular—a gorgeous ship and incredible food. You’ll love it—people say it’s one of the wonders of Blueberry Bay.” He grinned, clearly proud beyond measure of this Caitlin Lewis who was his fiancée. For a moment Gwen wondered what it would be like to be in a relationship like that—with someone who thought the world of her. Her stomach fluttered a little as she wondered if she would ever have someone like that in her life.
She smiled politely. “It sounds very nice,” she said. Privately, however, she was dismissing his invitation. She felt confident she wouldn’t be checking out the cruise—she couldn’t remember when the last time was that she’d done something simply for pleasure. She usually spent her evenings seeing patients or doing research. And just then she was still getting settled into her new place, which was taking up a great deal of her time outside of work. Her life in New Hampshire had centered around her hardworking, driven attitude, and she didn’t see herself starting to take time for leisure just because she’d moved to a new place.
“The weather out here is great,” Michael continued cheerfully as he started to make the americano. “I know it’s a little chilly now, but as soon as it’s fully spring out here, you’re going to love it. Next time you come here, you should sit outside and enjoy the patio seating. It’s a great place to read a book, or just sit and think for a while.”
“Maybe,” she said, smiling briskly again. Internally, though, she was brushing his suggestion aside again. She didn’t have time to sit and soak up the small-town atmosphere. If she was going to read a book, she would rather read it at her desk or in her apartment where she could concentrate properly and take adequate notes.
“Here you are,” he said, flashing a cheerful grin as he handed her the drinks. “Anything else I can get you?”
“No, that’s it, thanks,” she said. She felt impatient to bolt out the door and go back to her clinic. She hated the idea of someone showing up and being told, “Sorry, the doctor is out getting coffee.” It would make a terrible first impression.
“See you again soon!” he called cheerfully as she stepped out the door, and she smiled back politely.
She glanced at her watch as she hurried back to her car, holding the cups of coffee. They smelled incredible, and she wasglad she’d gone on the errand even though it had lasted longer than she’d wanted it to.
Once she was back inside her car, she took a sip of her drink and her eyebrows lifted in surprise. It was the best coffee she’d ever had.
Hmm,she thought.I guess Blueberry Bay has its perks.
She started to pull out into the road just as a truck was backing out of a parking spot across the street. The truck was filled with lumber, some of which was jutting out beyond the back of the truck bed. The driver of the truck clearly didn’t see her and was moving with an unreasonable speed.
She slammed her hand on her car horn and the truck stopped just in time. She realized that her heart was in her throat, and she pulled back over onto the side of the road to catch her breath and wait for her heart rate to go down. Even though there had been no accident, she knew it wasn’t safe to drive when her emotions were high.
She put her car into park and took a deep breath. She glanced over at the truck, expecting it to just hurry on its way—but she was surprised to see that the driver had also pulled over onto the side of the road. She watched as a man wearing a black leather jacket hopped out of the truck and hurried across the road toward her.
She raised her eyebrows in surprise. The man stepped up to her window, smiling and waving. She noticed how kind his eyes looked.
“Hi,” he said, as she rolled down the window. “I’m so sorry about that.”
She blinked, surprised that he’d gotten out of his car rather than simply waving an apology to her and driving off. Everyone in Blueberry Bay seemed to be unusually friendly, she thought.
“Well, no harm no foul,” she said. She wasn’t entirely sure what to say—she felt that he should have been more careful, butshe didn’t feel comfortable reprimanding a stranger. Especially such a kind, friendly stranger.
“I guess I’m a little too excited to get all this lumber over to Little Clams. I forgot to check where I was going.”
Gwen wondered what Little Clams was—probably some kind of specialty grocery store—but she didn’t want to ask questions. She had coffee to get to Heidi and a clinic to run.
“I accept your apology,” she said, realizing that she sounded a little cool, but she didn’t know what else to say or how to say it. After an awkward pause in which he was still smiling at her, she nodded stiffly.
He held his hand out to her. “I’m Isaiah Dunlap. I’m here making renovations to Little Clams.”
She nodded again, blinking a little bit. She didn’t know what to say—she couldn’t very well say “Welcome to Blueberry Bay” when she’d just arrived herself.
“You must be new around here too,” he said, grinning at her.
Her eyebrows lifted. She was surprised that he’d guessed that.
