Page 73 of Finding Forever

He looked at her standing comfortably in his kitchen, as though she belonged there. The thought caught him off guard because it didn’t frighten him nearly as much as it once might have.

“I was planning on inviting you back.”

Beth smiled. “Good.” She took a bite of her cookie and a tiny crumb caught near the corner of her mouth.

As Dave reached out and brushed it away, his fingertips lingered against her cheek.

Beth went still.

So did he.

Everything they’d said over dinner seemed to gather in the quiet space between them. Dave didn’t want to make any excuses for seeing Beth again. He wanted her in his life permanently, to be part of what made Sapphire Bay special to him.

Beth rested her hand against his chest. There was a tenderness in her expression that made his heart beat faster. “I’ve been wanting to kiss you all evening,” he said quietly.

Her eyes warmed. “You could have.”

Dave slipped an arm around her waist and drew her gently toward him. There was no hesitation this time. Beth leaned into him, her hand sliding to his shoulder as he held her a little closer. The kiss was warm and unhurried, carrying all the things neither of them seemed ready to put into words.

When he lifted his head, Beth stayed in his arms.

“I have a confession to make,” she said softly. “I’ve already told Natalie you’ll be in the photo for the opening of the arts center.”

He kissed her cheek. “What would you have done if I’d said no?”

Beth smiled. “I would have kissed you until you changed your mind.”

Dave liked that idea.

For once, he wasn’t thinking about the next deadline at Finley Point or the list waiting on his desk tomorrow.

He was thinking about Beth, about how he felt when he was with her, and not agreeing with her so quickly in the future.

Chapter 37

Eight days before the arts center opened, Beth walked through the front doors and stopped. Something smelled awful.

She had barely taken a second breath when Hank appeared from the hallway leading to the restrooms.

He wiped his hands on a rag. “Before you ask, I know.”

Beth wrinkled her nose. “Please tell me you know what’s causing it.”

“Not yet. I smelled it when I got here this morning. I thought one of the toilets was blocked, so I called a plumber.”

“At least you’re ahead of me.”

“He’s been here about twenty minutes.” Hank glanced over his shoulder. “He’s checking everything now.”

Beth slipped off her coat. “A blocked toilet I can cope with.”

Hank nodded. “So can the plumber, hopefully.”

That was reassuring. Or it would have been if the smell hadn’t followed Beth into her office. She opened the window a few inches despite the cold. In eight days, the building would be filled with people enjoying music, children’s activities, the artwork, and enough food to feed half the town.

A blocked toilet was annoying, but it wasn’t a disaster. She could deal with annoying. Opening her laptop, she found the latest list of jobs that needed to be finished and started working through them. Almost forty minutes later, footsteps sounded outside her office.

The plumber appeared in the doorway and Hank was right behind him. One look at their faces and Beth knew something had changed. She pushed back her chair. “What’s wrong?”