A Haven on the Bay - Nicole Ellis Page 0,36

and he momentarily took his eyes off the journal. The old leather hit the table. He fumbled to catch it, tearing a page in the process. She cringed as though she’d been physically injured.

He held the book in his hands, staring at in horror. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. It just slipped out of my hands.”

“It’s okay.” She smiled at him. “It’s not a big deal.”

He ran his finger over the ripped paper. “I think I can tape this, if you’d like. I’m really sorry.” Judging by the reverence she’d shown while handling the journal, it was obviously important to her. She’d only had it for a few hours and he’d already managed to ruin it.

She laid her hand on the rough table, a few inches away from his and looked him in the eyes. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll tape it when I get home. It’s an old journal. I’m sure it’s seen its share of war injuries. Besides, if it hadn’t been for you helping me with the chest of drawers, it probably would have ended up in the dump.”

A glimmer of a smile slid over his lips. He stood and gathered up their plates and empty cans of soda. “Maybe we should get back to work in the barn. Who knows how many more journals are lost in that mess?”

She laughed. “Maybe we’ll find a whole set of them.”

They didn’t find any more journals, but they did sort through a previously untouched corner of the barn. It felt like they were making progress. Zoe came by to help Meg make decisions about which furniture to throw out and which was good enough to move back into the barn until they could work on it. Moving things back in felt like they were going the wrong direction, but it still looked better than it had that morning.

“Thanks, Taylor.” Meg took her work gloves off and wiped her hand over her brow. “I really appreciate your help. I think we’re getting somewhere now.”

“No problem.” Taylor took his own gloves off and handed them to her.

“You know, you should really be out having fun on your days off, not helping me.” Her back was turned to him as she put both pairs of dirty gloves into a plastic sack and then tossed them into her bag.

He raised an eyebrow. “Fun like what?” There weren’t exactly a lot of things to do or people to hang out with on Monday and Tuesday, his customary days off from his job at the Lodge. When he took vacation time, he usually went home to see his family in California.

She picked up her bag and, rubbing the worn leather strap between her thumb and forefinger, turned to face him. “I don’t know. Like spend time with friends? You said you like hiking and climbing. Maybe go out on a date with a nice girl.”

He cocked his head to the side. “And just where am I supposed to meet this ‘nice’ girl? We don’t get a lot of singles frequenting the Lodge, except for weddings, and there’s no way I’m going to ask out a wedding guest. The single women at weddings can be a little crazy sometimes.” He wasn’t sure why he was even talking about this with Meg. They didn’t usually discuss his love life, or lack thereof, although she’d sometimes relayed information about her dates with Theo.

Blood pounded lightly in his ears. He wished she wouldn’t tell him about Theo. That guy didn’t seem right for Meg, although she seemed to like him a lot.

They walked out of the barn and she slid the door closed. While they were making their way back to the Inn, she snapped her fingers. “Hey, what about my sister, Samantha? You guys would be great together.”

He gritted his teeth. He’d thought she was done with this, but he should have known better.

“Sam loves to do outdoor stuff and she doesn’t have a normal schedule, at least for the next week. You should totally ask her out.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her look up at him, but he pretended not to see. “I really think you should get out more.”

He sighed. She was like a dog with a bone. “I don’t know. I don’t have time for dating.” His last relationship, with a woman he’d met through his friend in Seattle, had fizzled out over a year ago. They’d both been wrapped up in their careers and hadn’t made