She wanted to say something back, but words wouldn’t form. Instead, she snuggled in close. What a relief it was to have him back in her life. His body was sturdy and strong, and so was his heart, it seemed. At least for the summer, she reminded herself.
When the late day heat intensified to what felt like way over a hundred degrees, they decided to pack everything up and go back to the canoe. Logan tossed her some sunscreen from the rear of the canoe. Shelby slathered it on and tossed it back. His arms glistened in the sun as he covered them with lotion. Mind on the paddling, she told herself as they worked their way back to his dock.
After tying up the canoe at the DeLucas’ they sat down at the edge of the dock, their feet dangling over the water.
“Don’t forget,” he said. “Our annual Fourth of July party is coming up. You’ll be there, right?”
“Of course,” she said. “I wouldn’t miss it.”
“I wonder if my dad will make it home for the party,” Logan said despairingly.
“Why wouldn’t he?” Shelby asked.
“He’s a corporate partner with an international law firm in San Francisco. He’s overseas more than he’s in the States, and rarely home.”
Shelby laid her head on his shoulder. “It must be hard on your family.”
He sighed. “Yeah.”
Shelby couldn’t even remember her father. And they’d lost touch with his side of the family after he’d passed. She wasn’t sure she was looking forward to officially meeting Mr. DeLuca either.
Logan gave her a quick hug. “Let’s go,” he said, pulling her up from the dock. Face to face, she wondered if he would kiss her again, but he turned back toward the house. On the way up, they ran into Gabe heading toward the path to Mutt’s house.
“How was the ride?” Gabe asked.
“It was great,” Shelby said.
Gabe looked from Shelby to Logan and back again. “I bet.”
“Get going,” Logan said teasingly.
He walked Shelby back to her house and watched as she walked up the stairs to the door. She turned to wave. "I'll text you later.”
Chapter 20
“What do you think?” Alice asked when she emerged from her bedroom wearing a white cotton sundress with pale blue stripes and a V-neck.
“You look beautiful,” Shelby said.
Her grandmother blushed. “At my age?”
“Why not?”
Alice’s silky white-streaked curls framed her face, complimenting her rosy cheeks and sapphire eyes.
“Perfect for the Fourth of July party.” Shelby looked down at her belted tan shorts and off-the-shoulder floral blouse. “Am I underdressed?”
“Oh no, dear,” Alice said. “I stopped by last year briefly with Joann and some people even wore swimsuits and cover-ups. It was very well attended. They even have their own private fireworks off their deck.”
Shelby raised an eyebrow. The DeLucas certainly seemed to have enough money to do whatever they wanted.
“Theo didn’t know what to bring, so I suggested a fruit salad,” Alice said. “You should have seen him yesterday at the Veterans Center with his Photograph Your Dog Day. Scarlett and I went along to help.”
“Did it go well?” Shelby asked.
“A lot of veterans showed up with their dogs in various scarves, hats, and even a few bows. Trying to get the dogs to hold still was our biggest challenge. Especially Wally, who was very naughty and stole some dog cookies off a table.”
Shelby laughed. “I’d love to see some of those photos sometime. I hope Theo can take a group shot of our dog walkers club sometime.”
“I’m sure he’d be delighted to.” Alice looked at the clock. “We better get everything packed up. I told Theo we’d meet him over there by 7:00 p.m.” Earlier they’d baked lemon blueberry cupcakes with red, white, and blue buttercream icing and put them in a large Tupperware container. “Can’t have too many desserts,” Alice said.
Logan told Shelby that the DeLucas always provided juicy burgers, oversize hotdogs, and BBQ ribs. She was a little anxious over meeting Logan's father, and wondered what he would think of her.
“Ready when you are,” Alice said. She turned to Scarlett. “Sorry you can’t come, little one. No dogs.”
Shelby rolled her eyes. “What is Fourth of July without dogs?”
“I know,” Alice said. “But Anthony DeLuca does not seem to be fond of them.”
The sun was just starting to set as Alice and Shelby made their way across the street. Iris welcomed them at the door and directed them to the kitchen as she continued to greet guests arriving behind them.
"Hey, Shelby, nice to see you!" Gabe shouted as he flew by