Kiss Me in the Summer - Barbara Dunlop Page 0,68

added orange brandy?”

“You’re mellowing out, Laila. Be honest. Rutter’s Point is getting to you.”

“Maybe it’s the pets,” I said, giving Butch a stroke on the head.

Josh went silent. The minute stretch on until I looked over at him.

“Stay,” he said.

I didn’t think I’d heard right. “What?”

“Don’t go back. You don’t have to go back and fight. Stay here.”

There was something about the question that terrified me. It was tempting. How could it possibly be tempting? “I can’t—” I began.

“Shh.” He put a gentle finger across my lips. “The thing is, you can. I’m here. Butch is here. Madeline will hire you in a heartbeat.”

“But—” I said over his finger.

“You’re thinking of all the reasons why you can’t.”

He was right. There were a lot them. So, I nodded.

“I swore . . .” He slid his glance away from mine and drew in a very deep breath. “I swore to myself that I’d never ask a woman to change her life, not ever again. But I’m asking you now. I’m asking you to change yours.” He looked at me again.

My chest swelled with emotion, my heart thudding inside my chest. I took in the lights of Rutter’s Point stretching along the coast. I gazed out to the sea, up to the stars, then down at Butch and back to Josh again.

The thought of staying in what felt like paradise filled me with unexpected joy.

He took my hands, giving me strength.

“I don’t . . . know,” I admitted, letting him see both my longing and my fear.

He gave a broad smile then he kissed my knuckles. “That’s not a no.”

“It’s not a yes.”

He squeezed my hands. “It’s still a win for me.”

Chapter Thirteen

I felt torn between two worlds—the bliss of Rutter’s Point and the triumph of a Manhattan law firm.

I’d been turned on to law at our high school career day when Julia Ferris, the first woman partner at QCD talked to students about opportunities in the law. She was strong, smart, professional, and very pro-women. She’d laid out a path, and I took it, from a 4.0 GPA to acceptance at Columbia Law and my associate position at Laatz Wallingsford.

I’d spend years doing the hard work, just like she’d said. And all that time, I knew I was going to make it. I was going to be Julia Ferris. Nothing was going to stop me.

And then I hit Rutter’s Point. I met Josh, and my life took its first time-out.

Now here I was greeting the friendly townspeople amidst the flowers of the summer festival, managing dog adoptions, enjoying treats from the food vendors, and watching entertainment on the bandstand. Josh and I laughed and touched and occasionally shared a kiss.

I took on a few new clients and took care of some legal work that couldn’t wait until after the festival. They were small matters, the necessary little things of peoples’ lives. But they were satisfying—each and every smile, each and every thank you, each and every problem solved.

Then Becky gave birth to the twins in Brunswick. The babies were early but both over six pounds, strong and healthy.

At the same time, Butch settled happily into Josh’s house. I could easily understand how the dog felt. The house was pretty much paradise with its view, big front yard, massive deck, and every comfort and convenience a person or a dog could want.

It wasn’t odd to be happy in Rutter’s Point. There was so much to love about the town. But it was odd to feel satisfied. I knew I should want something more, something bigger, something more impactful to the world.

Before I knew it, Saturday arrived, the last day of the summer festival, and the night of the big wind-up dance.

By midafternoon, Pooh-Pooh was the only dog who hadn’t been adopted.

I felt sorry for her. I wished I could give her some advice about her snotty attitude. It wasn’t helping her make friends.

She wasn’t all bad. In fact, I wondered if she might be masking a bit of insecurity. She didn’t growl at me anymore. So, we’d made that much progress.

Josh came up behind me at the edge of Pooh-Pooh’s pen. “We are not taking her home with us.”

“I never said anything.”

“You have that look in your eyes.”

“What look?”

“Your eyes get very round and very clear blue when you’re weighing the evidence about something and you’re about to change your mind.”

“They do?” I wasn’t sure if I believed him.

But if it was true, that meant I had a tell. That was bad for