The Nantucket Inn (Nantucket Beach Plum Cove #1) - Pamela M. Kelley Page 0,3
Kate didn’t trust that his interest in her was real at first. But he won her over and six months later he’d proposed and she’d moved in with him.
They hadn’t set a date yet as they were both very busy and for now it suited them to just live together. If Kate was being honest, she’d admit that she wasn’t totally sure that what they had was a forever kind of love. Dylan was still a big flirt and sometimes it bothered her. He always laughed it off and told her she was being silly. And he was moody and distant at times. But whenever she’d question him about it he said it was just part of his creative process. And then he’d focus his attention on her fully and she’d feel foolish for doubting him.
“North End sounds great. I’ll meet you at Al Dente at six.” They almost always went to the same restaurant in Boston’s Italian neighborhood. They’d had their first date there, and it was always so good. And then they’d stroll down Hanover Street and share a cannoli at Modern Pastry. Kate’s office near South Station was an easy walk there after work.
Their condo in the Charlestown Navy Yard was just a fifteen-minute ferry ride across the harbor to the Aquarium near South Station. Kate loved living in Charlestown and looking across the water at the Boston skyline. Although she still got homesick at times for Nantucket. As much as she would have loved to stay on the island with the rest of her family, Boston was where she needed to be for her career.
The office was quiet when she arrived. The only person there was Amanda, which was no surprise. Amanda was Boston Style’s founder, and she was always in the office. She was an older woman, in her early sixties, divorced, and very stylish—she lived and breathed Boston Style. The magazine was a regional one with a focus on local fashion, food and politics. It was well respected and Lisa had felt very lucky to land a position there right out of college.
She’d started as an assistant, doing the things no one else wanted to do. But she’d done it all with a smile and an eagerness that had been rewarded. Her dream was always to write—anything from articles to columns and maybe someday, a book. She often did big investigative features which she’d won several awards for, and her mother bragged about them to all her friends.
Kate settled at her desk and quickly got lost in the project that had to be done by the end of the day. She finished a little before three and after emailing her feature to Amanda, she decided to reward herself with a vanilla chai latte. She was stiff from sitting and the walk would do her good.
Fifteen minutes later, she returned and was sipping her foamy drink as she came through the revolving front doors and almost walked into two laughing girls—Tasha, their Art Director, and Ellie, a drop-dead gorgeous blonde model they’d recently used for a fashion feature. Dylan had photographed her and had raved about her, saying that the light loved her.
But Ellie stopped smiling when she saw Kate. A cold look came over her face, and Kate took a step back in surprise. But Tasha didn’t seem to notice.
“Hey, Kate! Tell Dylan when you see him that he really outdid himself. The last batch of photos he sent were amazing.”
Ellie’s expression changed again as she smiled and teasingly said, “Of course they were, I’m in them!” They both laughed and Kate smiled too. She must have imagined the frosty glare, or maybe Ellie had meant it for someone else as she was all smiles as the two of them walked off.
Dylan was waiting for her at the restaurant when she arrived a few minutes after six. Al Dente was just around the corner from Hanover Street, where most of the restaurants and shops were. Kate always felt like she’d stepped into Italy whenever she went there. The food was always good, and the servers recognized them as regulars and always made them feel welcome. They had a delicious dinner as usual and were finishing the last of the bottle of Chianti they’d ordered when Kate brought up going to Nantucket for Christmas.
“I talked to my mother earlier and everyone is coming over Friday for Christmas Eve. I thought we could stay until Monday and make a long weekend of it?” Dylan had only