Coming Home to Seashell Harbor (Seashell Harbor #1) - Miranda Liasson Page 0,98
know is I never did get that drink,” Darla said. “Shall I bring three?”
Hadley glanced at her watch. “Thanks anyway, but I’m on the clock for another half hour.”
“I’ll get you one,” Cam offered to Darla.
Darla placed a hand on both their arms. “Go dance. I’ll handle it.”
“Shall we?” Cam asked. “Unless there’s something we need to do in the next five minutes?”
“I did want to check with Lucy one more time. But to be honest, the last time I did that she kicked me out of the kitchen.” She set down her clipboard and removed her headset. “I’d love to dance.”
Cam didn’t hesitate to take her hand and lead her onto the boardwalk.
“We haven’t danced together in a long time,” Hadley said as Cam wrapped an arm around her waist.
“Prom, senior year?”
“Father Martin told us not to dance so close that the Holy Spirit couldn’t fit between us.”
He chuckled and held her close. He was wearing…shaving cream and soap, her favorite aphrodisiacs. “No chaperones tonight,” he said with a smile.
“Just the whole town watching us,” she said. But she couldn’t bring herself to look at anyone but him. For that moment, there was just the two of them on a warm summer night, the stars peeking out above their heads, lights twinkling from far out in the ocean.
“Hi, sweetie,” her mom said, suddenly sailing by on the dance floor with her dad. “Hi, Cam. So nice to see you again.”
“You two are a cute couple,” her dad said, winking before turning to her mom. “Shall we show them our moves?” he asked.
“Moves?” Hadley asked with a creeping sense of horror she hadn’t felt since she was a teenager.
Her mom shrugged. “We’ve been practicing.” Her dad pulled her mom in, released her, and spun her around. After which they both giggled and spun away, leaving Hadley shaking her head in wonderment.
“Your parents are pretty cute.” Cam chuckled, pulling her close again. “Speaking of unexpected, look at that.” Hadley craned her neck to follow his gaze.
Cam’s dad was dancing with Mayellen.
“I totally called that,” Hadley said.
Cam didn’t look surprised. “There must be magic in the air tonight. There’s your grandmother and Paul.” He nodded in their direction. “Let’s dance by and say hi.”
“Are you sure you want to do that?” Hadley asked. “I’m afraid we’re going to get a giant I-told-you-so.”
Cam spun them around just in time for Hadley to see Paul chuckling as he slow danced with her grandmother, who was actually dancing. Cautiously, but nevertheless dancing. She was smiling radiantly into Paul’s eyes.
“Well, look at you two,” Hadley said. “Hi, Paul. I love the bow tie. You look terrific, Gran.”
“Well, look at you two,” Gran said. “You make a great team. Everything turned out amazing. Thanks to both of you, I’m certain we’ve raised a ton of money for the new pediatric outpatient building.”
As they were separated from Gran and Paul by the sea of dancers, Hadley asked Cam, “Do you ever wonder if my gran devised our ‘punishment’ for a reason?”
Cam smiled down at her, his blue eyes twinkling. “Well, it turned out not to be punishment after all. Maybe she knew all along.”
“Knew what?” Hadley asked, looking up at his handsome face. “That we could work together without killing each other?”
He shrugged. “Maybe she knew we just needed a reason to set aside our differences.”
She nodded. “I haven’t even thought about the build—”
“Don’t say it,” he warned. “Not tonight.”
“How did we manage to forget our differences?” she asked.
“People grow and change?” he offered.
Maybe so. Despite all the upheaval and the broken heart that brought her home, Hadley felt…like herself for the first time in a long time. She closed her eyes and gave in to the moment as they swayed slowly to the music.
“Do we have more things to do?” Cam asked softly as the song wound down.
Did the music have to end? Did she have to open her eyes? “I should see if Lucy needs anything,” she murmured against his shoulder, “but I think everything’s taken care of.”
“Good. Because I want to take you home.”
She looked up to find him staring at her, his gaze filled with heat. “Better be careful, Cammareri. If you kiss me on the dance floor, tongues will be a-flapping.”
As the music ended, she stepped back. He looked…amused. With the tiniest gleam in his eye that she was coming to recognize well.
“Well, I should probably do a final pass and thank all the workers and make sure that someone puts the chairs—”