My sister had apparently thought this through, because she shrugged as if that would be a small inconvenience. “If that happens, we’ll move, or maybe I’ll move myself. You could keep the apartment. We aren’t attached at the hip, you know. The time will come when you’ll want your own space and I won’t be here.”
“What?” I started to argue, but she cut me off.
“You don’t need to worry, I’ll take care of her. I’ll keep Snowball in my room with a litter box.”
“You can’t keep that sweet kitten a prisoner in your room,” I insisted. “That would be unfair to Snowball.”
“Don’t make me take her back,” Harper pleaded.
“Where did you get her?”
Petting the tiny kitten, Harper explained. “Candi Olsen from my yoga class. You remember Candi, don’t you?”
I did. She was a frequent customer.
“Anyway, Candi found the mother and this litter under her back deck. She brought the kittens into class with her, looking for homes. Snowball was the only one left. The funny part is, Snowball was the one I wanted. It was fate, I tell you. She was meant to be with me.”
Looking at the tiny kitten, I was torn. It was hard to refuse Harper, especially when she was this adamant. And I certainly didn’t want her to move. Her eyes continued to plead with mine. Heaving a sigh, I reluctantly nodded.
“I knew you’d agree,” she said, dancing about our small living area. “You have a home, Snowball.”
“As long as you remember she’s your cat, and you’re footing the bill for all the costs of the vet.”
“Gotcha.” Harper beamed at me.
Although I was hesitant to admit it, Snowball was irresistible.
CHAPTER 6
Sean
I decided to name the dog Bandit, seeing that it seemed that he had a habit of stealing. He seemed to adjust quickly enough to a more domesticated lifestyle, although in the beginning it’d been hard on both of us. Regular feedings seemed to have persuaded him that it was worth keeping me around.
Mellie, Preston’s wife, had examined him and found him to be a mixed breed. Her guess on the specifics was as good as mine. She suspected he was part shepherd and several parts something else. Whatever it was, it appeared he’d gotten the best of all sides, smart as he was. We both guessed he’d had a home before and had been either lost or abandoned. There’d been no identification on him and no chip. After all these weeks, if he’d been lost there would have been some effort to find him. As far as we could see from an Internet search, no one was looking.
According to Preston, abandoning pets in Oceanside was a common practice, though who knew what people were thinking, bringing their pets to a resort town and leaving them behind. Myself, I couldn’t understand anyone being that heartless and cruel. How long Bandit had been on his own was hard to tell. Two or three weeks, possibly longer.
Now that he’d accepted me, I found him to be an amiable companion. I bought a bed for him and kept it in one of the four spare bedrooms that I used as an office. He seemed content to sleep at my side as I sorted through the various photographs that I’d taken on the assignment I’d gotten that weekend from Starbucks. I’d been honored to do repeat business with them, even if it was last-minute. A couple of years earlier, I’d documented coffee origins for the Seattle-based company, traveling to Colombia, Panama, and Ethiopia.
When I was certain that I had several photos that would satisfy my client, I emailed them and awaited word back. Caught up in the project, time had passed quickly, and I realized if I didn’t leave soon, Bean There would be closed.
Watching the way Willa’s face had lit up when she’d first seen the photo was more than enough thanks. I would do almost anything to see her smile. She’d been full of questions and I enjoyed telling her about my photography, although I’d avoided talking about my baseball career. From experience, I knew the minute I mentioned I’d played in the majors, that was all anyone wanted to talk about. Baseball was my past and I was no longer a part of that world. Nor did I wish to be.
As hard as it’d been to accept at the time, I was grateful to have gotten away from professional sports. Photography was my all-encompassing passion. Not a day passed when I didn’t have a camera in my hand. All those years I’d been the star. How odd it was now to feel the comfort of being behind the camera instead of in front of one.
Bandit woke and stretched. He looked up at me as if to remind me it was dinnertime. It seemed like this dog’s appetite would soon eat me out of house and home.
“Don’t worry,” I told him, “I’m going to feed you; I haven’t failed you yet, have I?”
Although I’d had Bandit less than a week, he was already filling out, and with good reason. I’d fill his dish, which he’d promptly scarf down. As if to say he’d been cheated, he’d look up, asking for more. Seeing how thin he was, I willingly obliged. Already his ribs didn’t stick out quite as much as they had when I’d first brought him home.
Leaning back in my chair, I raised my arms over my head and stretched. I needed to check my email and almost dreaded what I would find. I was waiting on word from National Geographic about a Research and Exploration Grant that would send me to a series of islands off the coast of the Philippines. It would take some time for the team to be assembled. My hope was that I’d receive word any day now. Already I hated the thought of having to leave Bandit behind. Mellie and Preston had assured me they would find a good foster home for Bandit when the time came, if that was what I chose to do. That had been the deciding factor when I agreed to adopt him.
“I was going to do it, you know,” I told Bandit, who cocked his head at me. The poor dog didn’t have a clue what I was talking about. I was talking about Willa. She was almost constantly on my mind. “I had every intention of asking her out and would have if a customer hadn’t arrived when they did.” I was a victim of poor timing. It’d taken all my self-control not to tell her customer she was closed for the day.
Bandit continued to stare at me. “I agree, asking a woman out shouldn’t be this hard. Guess I’m rusty when it comes to this dating business.” That was an understatement if ever there was one. From the time I’d left baseball and started freelancing, every spare moment had been tied up with building my portfolio. Although I’d saved a nice nest egg from my time in the majors, it wasn’t enough to support me for more than a few years, especially considering my traveling expenses for freelance opportunities. I’d worked night and day, hustling for jobs, investing in top-of-the-line digital cameras, a laptop, lights, and a website. That didn’t leave time for much of anything else.
Traveling as often as I had in the last few years had made it difficult to maintain a relationship, even with my own family. I’d lost count of the number of holidays I’d missed. The truth was I hadn’t found a woman that had caught my interest nearly as much as Willa had. She was almost entirely the exact opposite of Nikki, who’d flaunted her beauty.
Looking back, I realized I’d had a lucky escape. It baffled me that I had been so foolish, unable to accept what was right in front of me. Nikki was greedy and self-absorbed. Everything was about her and what she could get. The last I’d heard, she’d hooked up with another player, my replacement, in more ways than one.
“Next time I see her, I’ll ask her out,” I told Bandit. I could have sworn I heard him snort as if he didn’t believe me. “Just you wait.”
The opportunity came sooner than I expected. After filling his bowl twice for dinner, I realized Bandit had gone through an entire bag of dog food. I didn’t want him to go hungry come morning, and decided to make a run into town that evening, heading to the local grocery store.
My mistake had been in purchasing a small bag. I didn’t want to waste money on a brand Bandit didn’t like. I should have known that after living off scraps and whatever he could steal, he wouldn’t be picky.
I l
oaded a twenty-five-pound bag into my cart and headed to the cashier. As I rounded the corner, I nearly bumped into another cart.
“Willa.” I gasped, shocked to see her.
She looked as surprised as I did. “Hello, again,” she said after her initial reaction. “Funny running into you here.”
“Yeah. Funny.” My wit had failed me, which it seemed to do whenever I was around her.
Staring at the huge bag of dog food in my cart, she raised her gaze to meet mine. “I didn’t know you had a dog.”
“Bandit is a recent addition.”
“Harper and I have a new addition ourselves. She brought home a kitten this afternoon.” Lowering her voice, she added, “Our lease doesn’t allow pets, so I don’t know how this is going to pan out.”
“Bandit was a stray in need of a good home.”
Willa smiled knowingly. “That tells me Preston and Mellie Young got ahold of you.”
Barking a laugh, I nodded. “That they did, although to be fair, I wasn’t all that averse to adopting him. He’s proved to be a good companion.”
“I’ll let you know how it works out with Snowball,” she said.
It seemed neither one of us knew what else to say after that. “I guess I better get back home,” I said, “Bandit is waiting.”
“Me too, although I just started.”
I noticed she had only a few items in her cart. She went in one direction and I headed in another. Once I paid and hauled the heavy bag out to my car, I returned the cart to the store.
A light rain had started to fall, and I hurriedly got into the car and was ready to pull out of the parking lot when I stepped on the brake and slammed my hand against the steering wheel. I heaved a sigh big enough to lift my shoulders. I’d let yet another opportunity to ask Willa out slip through my fingers.
Not happening. Not again. Hadn’t I told Bandit less than two hours ago that I would ask the next time I saw Willa?
Turning off the engine, I opened the door to pelting rain and raced back into the store. It took me three aisles to find her.
“Willa,” I called out loudly, capturing her attention. I was a man on a mission, and this time I wasn’t backing down.
She looked up and blinked. I must have been a sight. Rain had plastered my shirt against my front and back. Water dripped from my hair onto my shoulders and into my eyes.
“It’s raining?”
“It’s a monsoon,” I said.
“I didn’t hear anything about rain in the forecast,” she said, as though I’d returned to the store to warn her.
“Listen,” I said, “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m asking you not to say anything for the next few minutes.”
She looked concerned and confused. Not that I blamed her. That wasn’t how I should have started, but I wasn’t stopping now.
“Okay,” she agreed. “What’s this about?”
I’d already started down this path and was unable to make a course correction now. It was my do-or-die moment. “Every time I try, I flub this up, so please be patient.” I paused as if awaiting her response before I realized I asked her not to give me one.
Sucking in a breath, I charged forward. “I like you, Willa, and I’d enjoy getting to know you better.” I brushed my wet hair off my forehead. “You should know I don’t drink coffee. I don’t like the taste. The only reason I stop by Bean There is for the chance to see you.”
Her dark eyes widened as if my words had offended her. I probably shouldn’t have admitted that.
“Don’t get me wrong. You make good coffee; it just so happens that I’m not a coffee drinker. I felt I had to justify coming in every day. I add cream to make it tolerable.” Seeing that Starbucks was one of my major accounts, I felt the need to add, “If you ever have the opportunity, promise me you won’t let the folks at Starbucks know that.”
“Ah…”
“That’s beside the point.” Already I was screwing this up. “What I’m doing a piss-poor job of saying is that if you’re agreeable I’d like to date you. We can go out to eat, take in a show, take a walk along the beach. I’m willing to do anything you want.”
She continued to stare at me with her mouth half open as if she didn’t know what to say.
Finally I couldn’t stand it any longer. “Say something,” I urged.
It appeared she had no words.
“If you’re not interested, tell me.” She should know her silence was deflating my ego. And physically I was already all wet.
“Okay,” she said.
A single word, and it was as if someone had resuscitated me back to life. “Okay you’ll say something, or okay you’re willing to go out with me?”
“Both, I guess.”
“You will?” I had to be sure I understood correctly.
She nodded.
“Good.” Nervous as I was, I left her and walked all the way to the end of the aisle before I realized that I’d abandoned her. Doing an abrupt about-face, I hurried back to her. “When would you like to start?”
“I…anytime,” she said. She seemed to have gone pale. “I wouldn’t be able to stay out late, though. Three-thirty comes early.”
“You get up at three-thirty?” That seemed unbelievable. “What time do you go to bed?”
Lowering her gaze, Willa gave the impression that if she said too early, I’d have a change of heart. I needed to correct that impression.
“It doesn’t matter—nothing does, as long as you’re willing to go on a date with me.” I was convinced the pleading in my voice destroyed my man card.
“Lights are off around nine.” She sounded unsure, as if her hours remained a deal-breaker.
I did the math in my head. “Is that enough sleep?”
“I can stay out later if you want.”
“No need,” I rushed to assure her. “I’m willing to take whatever time you give me. I’ll get up at three-thirty, too, if that helps.”
Willa smiled. The only thing I could equate her smile to was watching the sun rise, spilling light over the Olympic Mountains. I’d managed to capture that shot in one of the several magazine covers I’d had over the years. The photo, which I considered my best to date, took my breath away once the film was developed. I swear I stared at it for a good fifteen minutes, unable to tear my eyes off the image I’d captured.
The same feeling flowed over me with Willa’s smile. “Is tomorrow too soon?” I asked, calmer now, my heart returning to an acceptable beat. From the way it had pounded earlier, I should have been light-headed.
“Tomorrow would be perfect.”
“What would you like to do?” I was game for anything, as long as it was with Willa.
She met my gaze. “Would you mind a walk along the beach?” she asked.
A walk along the beach. “That sounds perfect.”
I would have gladly taken her to the priciest restaurant in the state, had she asked. This was Willa, though. Nothing fancy. Nothing out of the ordinary. A simple walk along the beach. If I wasn’t half in love with her already, this simple request would have done it.
CHAPTER 7
Willa
I arrived home, bubbling with excitement, eager to tell Harper about running into Sean. I flew in and nearly tripped over the rug in my eagerness. My shoulders deflated when I found her in her room, fast asleep. Snowball was nowhere in sight. Careful to keep the screen door closed as I traipsed back and forth hauling grocery bags into the apartment, I kept an eye out for my sister’s kitten.
Snowball didn’t make a showing and I could only imagine where she was hiding.
I made dinner and went to wake Harper. “Dinner’s ready,” I told her, gently placing my hand on her shoulder.
Stretching her arms over her head, she yawned and briefly looked up at me. “I’m tired. I want to skip dinner tonight.”
“You sure?” Normally Harper had a good appetite.
“I did a hard workout this afternoon and was up late on the phone with John last night. Let me sleep.”
John, if I remembered correctly, was a fellow climber. From the beginning I’d had my doubts about this mountain adventure of Harper’s. She was exhausted and she had yet to set foot anywhere close to Mount Rainier. “Sleep,” I whispered. She’d wake later and change into her pajamas and probably raid the refrigerator.
In the meantime, Snowball was AWOL. Hoping to lure her out from her hiding spot, I set a bowl of food on the kitchen floor. She was a no-show. Surely the kitten would be hungry by now. So much for Harper’s promise to take care of her.
Mumbling under my breath as I headed into my room, I found Snowball curled up and asleep on my pillow. How she’d managed to get all the way up to the bed was a mystery.
“So here you are,” I said, lifting her and gently petting her. “I have food out for you.” I carted her into the kitchen and placed her on the floor. Snowball found the bowl and quickly ate. When she’d finished her dinner, I carried her back to Harper.
“Harper,” I said softly, not wanting to startle her. “I have your cat.” I set Snowball down on the pillow next to my sister’s head. While half asleep, Harper smiled and gently tucked Snowball against her stomach. The kitten immediately curled up and took a nap.
Shaking my head, I left the two of them.
* * *
—
I didn’t talk to Harper until the following morning, when she stopped off at Bean There on her break between her fitness classes.
“Hello, Sleeping Beauty,” I said, and handed her a protein drink along with a vegan blueberry scone. There’d been evidence that morning of her kitchen raid sometime during the night.
“I know. Can you believe I slept nearly twelve hours?”
“Yes. I think these workouts are stretching you to the limit.” I didn’t want to claim they were too much for her, for fear of sounding like the mother she’d accused me of being.
A Walk Along the Beach Page 5