Always (Spiral of Bliss #5) - Nina Lane Page 0,134
is arranging a flower display. “The place looks great.”
“Thanks.” Ruby wipes her hands on her clay-streaked apron and smiles. “Noah’s bringing in a few things from the back, and we should be all set for the new exhibit.”
“Did you get my bowl fired?” Bella asks her.
“Yes, it’s on the shelf, ready to go.”
Bella goes into the studio to find the bowl she made last week. The back door opens, and Noah Potts enters, carrying a framed painting.
“Hey, Liv.” He sets the painting beside the counter and peers eagerly at the boxes. “Did you bring the bee cakes?”
“Of course, and there’s an extra one for you.” I open a box and show him the mini fondant-covered cakes, each decorated with a little honey bee and a flower. Noah reaches for one, and Ruby shakes her head at him.
“Do you need me to stay and help set up?” I ask her.
“No, we’re covered.”
Noah leans over his wife’s shoulder and presses a kiss to her cheek while sliding one hand toward the bee cakes. Ruby gives his hand a gentle pat.
“Later,” she says sternly.
He groans. “You’re kiln me, honey.”
I grin as Ruby rolls her eyes at me.
“Are you and Bella coming tomorrow for our Souper Bowl throwing event?” she asks me. “We’re giving all the bowls to the library for their fundraising benefit.”
“Sure. Dean also offered to transport the bowls, if you need help.”
Bella returns from the studio with her blue-and-orange glazed bowl, which we all admire before she and I say our goodbyes and head back to the Butterfly House.
After leaving Bella at home with her chore instructions, I return downtown. I walk along a path to the lake’s edge, where a wooden dock extends out into the water. Paddle boats, canoes, and kayaks sit on the shore for rental, though a number of them are still out on the lake.
Nicholas is pulling a kayak onto the shore, his dark hair sun-streaked, his skin tanned, his lanky body clad in his standard summer attire of Bermuda shorts and a faded T-shirt.
Archer, dressed in similar clothes, is stretched out on a nearby bench, drinking from a carton of chocolate milk.
“No way, man,” he’s telling Nicholas. “Superman is just an overgrown Boy Scout. Batman had to learn how to be a hero.”
“Dude, Batman doesn’t have a single super power,” Nicholas argues. “Superman can fly. What the heck is cooler than that?”
“Without his powers, Superman would be nothing.”
“Without his gadgets, Batman would be nothing.” Nicholas tosses a set of oars onto the grass and wipes his sweaty forehead with his arm. “The fact is that Superman is a better superhero. I mean, Batman couldn’t even put the Joker away. What’s up with that? All these years and the Joker is still running wild? Oh, hey, Mom.”
“Hello, gentlemen.” I sit on the bench next to Archer. “Sorry for interrupting the great debate.”
“Who would you pick?” Archer asks me.
“Well, from a woman’s perspective, I’m going to have to go with the strong, upstanding hero who will sweep me into his arms and fly away with me.”
“Mom.” Nicholas shakes his head. “It’s not about a romance. It’s about which one is the best hero.”
“The best hero is the one who knows there’s always a romance,” I tell my son.
“Dude,” Archer says. “She has a point.”
Nicholas sighs and goes to the shore to retrieve a paddleboat.
Archer gestures to the chocolate milk. “Want one?”
“No thanks. How was the kayaking?”
“Great, especially considering I beat Dean in a race to the north shore.”
I smile. “And what’s his take on that?”
“He says he won in a photo finish, even though I had a good two yards on him.” Archer shrugs. “But he’ll want to impress you with the story of his epic win, so you might want to just go with it.”
“I’ll do that,” I agree solemnly.
“Hey, Mom?” Nicholas approaches us again, glancing at his watch. “I told Pete I’d take his shift until seven, so I won’t be home for dinner. Okay if I go to a bonfire after work? Henry said a bunch of people are meeting over at the south side beach. Dad said to ask you.”
“Yes, but be home by one, and please be careful.”
It’s a mantra I’ve repeated to both our children endlessly, and while it doesn’t mitigate my natural tendency to worry, I’m learning to let them go and find their own way. After all, I had to do the same thing once upon a time.
“Okay, thanks.” Nicholas makes his way back to the rental shack, where