At Last (The Idle Point, Maine Stories) - By Barbara Bretton Page 0,30

you." She bit off a piece of lobster roll and chewed slowly.

"You knew about that?"

"Gramma Del told me. I kept bugging her about why I couldn't see your electric train set." She kicked his ankle lightly. "Don't look so embarrassed. It's not like it was a big secret or anything."

"I never could figure it out. I mean, it's not like my old man is that big a snob."

Gracie laughed. "I'm not so sure about that."

"I had some of the other kids over and—" He muttered an oath. "Sorry, Gracie. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Old news," she said. "I don't know what their problem is but my family doesn't like yours any better your family likes mine." Who cared what they thought anyway? It all seemed as far away and unimportant as the price of tea in China. The only thing that mattered was that Noah was back in Idle Point, sitting right here beside her on a sunny afternoon in June.

They watched quietly as a seagull landed a few feet away from them and began to hammer at a clam with his long, sharp beak. When that didn't work the gull picked up the clam and flew a lazy circle around the spot before dropping the clam onto the rocks below. The clamshell shattered open and the bird returned to enjoy his feast.

Gracie laughed softly as another seagull tried to steal the bounty but was scared away in a flurry of squawking and ruffled feathers. "Gramma Del used to take me down to the beach when I was little. We'd walk along the shore and she'd teach me the names of the birds and the different shellfish."

"She taught me the phases of the moon," Noah said, "and all about the tides. The house isn't the same without Del."

"She doesn't think we should be friends." She regretted the words the second she uttered them.

"I thought she liked me." He sounded hurt and Gracie couldn't stop herself from placing her hand on his forearm.

"She used to," Gracie said. "She thinks you might be trouble."

"She might be right."

"And she might be wrong."

"Don't bet on it."

He looked so sad when he said those words that Gracie felt compelled to explain. "Gramma Del worries. She just doesn't want me to spend time with any guy."

"Neither do I."

His words hung in the air between them. He looked down to where her fingers rested lightly against his skin. She thought about moving her hand away but didn't. The breeze off the ocean was sweet and soft against her bare arms and legs. They stayed locked in position for what seemed like forever and then Noah leaned closer to Gracie and Gracie moved nearer to Noah and the lemonades and lobster rolls and lighthouses were all forgotten.

He kissed her the way she had dreamed of being kissed, with strength and tenderness and a yearning that matched her own. Her lips parted slightly. He touched his tongue to hers, sweetly... so sweetly that she felt herself melt against him even though she hadn't moved an inch.

The kiss lasted only a few seconds but those seconds changed their lives forever.

Chapter Six

Gracie had never lied to Gramma Del before in her life but there was no other choice. She couldn't possibly tell Gramma that she was seeing Ruth Chase's son. The merest mention of the Chases upset her grandmother so much that Gracie worried about her heart. Besides, she was seventeen now and entitled to a life that belonged to her alone. The days of sharing everything were gone and Gracie's happiness was laced with a bittersweet sense of regret.

Noah's plan to work at the animal hospital went by the boards when Simon stepped in and made it clear that Noah's summer would be spent learning the newspaper business from the ground up. In a way Gracie was glad. She couldn't think when Noah was around. Something happened inside her brain every time she saw him or spoke with him or even knew he was somewhere in the vicinity. Her heart beat faster. Her hands trembled. Her concentration flew out the window like Old Man Horvath's runaway budgie. She fit all the other bits and pieces of her life into the spaces between Noah's kisses.

There was a lot of talk about Noah around town. Everyone had a story to tell. He'd been spied in the back seat of Laquita Adams's Toyota. Somebody else claimed to have seen him with the principal's daughter out near the football field. Partying on Hidden