The Bookstore on the Beach - Brenda Novak Page 0,26

“Thanks for stopping in.”

“Autumn has always loved this restaurant,” Mary said. “Especially the carrot cake you have on the dessert menu.”

“That’s a special recipe of my mother’s,” he informed them.

“I’m glad you still serve it,” Autumn said. “I’ll have to order a piece tonight, if I have room.”

“I hope it’s as good as you remember it.” He flashed those dimples at her, and she felt mildly guilty for finding him every bit as attractive as she had back in high school. “Hopefully, I’ll see you again soon,” he added as he started to walk away.

She doubted he wanted to see her again at all. He was probably as uncomfortable as she was that he’d been summoned to their table. But like him, she played along and pretended otherwise. “That would be nice.”

“I feel so bad for him and his father,” Laurie murmured when he was gone. “What they’re going through is terrible.”

Autumn exchanged a look with her mother. She sympathized with the Vanderbilts, too, but Autumn felt—and guessed her mother agreed—that drawing Quinn away from the kitchen hadn’t made his night any easier. He had to be tired of responding to the well wishes of the community.

“I hate to ask this,” Laurie said, “but do you think you’ll ever start dating again?”

“Laurie!” The tone of Uncle Chris’s voice was a rebuke for asking such an indelicate question.

Laurie winced. “I’m sorry. But surely you must’ve considered what happens next if...you know, if Nick doesn’t come back.”

“Nick probably isn’t coming back, but I haven’t quite let go. So I don’t think I’ll be dating anytime soon.”

“You’ll know when the time is right,” Mary said.

Autumn hoped the fact that Quinn was now single hadn’t provoked the question, but the timing certainly suggested otherwise. “I hope so.”

* * *

Penn liked her; Taylor could tell. No matter where she went at the party, he followed, trying to talk to her. If he wasn’t driving her crazy going on and on about his disbelief—or denial—of climate change, he was dissing veganism, which bothered her almost as much. She wasn’t a vegan, but she respected those who had the self-discipline to care that much about animals and the Earth, and it bothered her that he was giving Sierra, who was a vegan, such a hard time.

Fortunately, Sierra was more than willing to spar with him. He’d said vegans don’t get enough B-12, and she’d snapped back that B-12 doesn’t come from animals, it comes from the soil adhering to the grass and other vegetation eaten by animals, that meat-eaters are usually deficient in B-12, too, and that the fat and cholesterol in animal products has been tied to heart disease and some forms of cancer.

Taylor had learned a lot just listening to them. “I’m sorry there isn’t more here you can eat,” she said to Sierra when Penn finally went over to play a game of pool and she noticed Sierra eating only the corn chips and salsa.

“I’m used to it,” she said with a shrug.

“Are you ever tempted to break down?”

“Not really. I feel better eating the way I’m eating. When I’m working out, I’m stronger and recover more quickly.”

“How often do you work out?”

“Whenever I can. I like to do yoga on the beach as the sun is coming up.”

“You seem...”

Sierra stiffened and narrowed her eyes. “What?”

“Older than the rest of us,” Taylor said, and the tension in Sierra’s face disappeared.

“I get that a lot. I’ve been told I have an old soul. Even the music I like to listen to is a throwback.”

“What are some of your favorite bands?”

“Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. Bread. The Beatles. Pink Floyd. Queen. Bruce Springsteen. The Eagles. The Doors. Mostly seventies stuff. And I prefer vinyl.”

Taylor had heard of only a few of those bands. “How did you start listening to them?”

“My dad introduced me to them.”

“Do you like rap?”

“Hardly.”

As Taylor sipped her Coke, she couldn’t help noticing that Sierra drank only a glass of water. She wouldn’t accept a plastic bottle because she said plastics were part of the problem. “How long have you been vegan?”

“For almost a year.”

“What made you decide to stop eating meat?”

“I watched Game Changer. Have you seen it?”

Taylor felt kind of lame because Sierra acted as though she should be familiar with it, but like some of the bands Sierra had named, Taylor had never heard of it. “No.”

“It’s on Netflix. You should check it out.”

“I will.”

The billiards game Penn had been playing ended, and Caden called over to them.