Time After Time (Sweetbriar Cove #14) - Melody Grace Page 0,38

boarding school for the weekend, and they’re going to hang out,” she explained. “I think it was the only reason he didn’t fake being sick and miss the whole trip. But that means our chaperoning duties are over. We are officially free agents for the rest of the afternoon.”

She beamed, and Aidan smiled back, feeling just as carefree. That meant the two of them could finally be alone. “Did you want to grab that coffee?” he asked, trying to sound casual. The way his pulse was suddenly kicking into high gear, anyone would have thought he was one of those high-school kids, asking a girl out for the very first time.

“That sounds great,” Stella replied. “Do you know anywhere that will just inject it directly into my veins?” she teased.

It wasn’t exactly ‘I’ve been waiting to be alone with you, too’, but he’d take it.

They found a coffee kiosk nearby, and ordered a couple of drinks to go. Then Aidan looked around. It was a brisk fall day, with the leaves turning red and orange, crunching on the sidewalks underfoot. On a typical date, he would have already booked them a table at the nearest fancy five-star restaurant, the kind of place with linen tablecloths and a wine list a mile long.

But nothing about Stella was typical, and Aidan found himself relishing the change.

“Do you want to just walk a while?” he suggested, enjoying the crisp breeze and blue skies.

“Perfect.”

They fell into step together, navigating the crowded sidewalks as traffic threaded past, and horns blared angrily. Stella winced at the noise, and then gave a wry smile. “You can tell I’ve been living in a small town too long. But you’ve probably missed all this hustle and bustle, right?”

“You mean getting screamed at by bike messengers every day on my way to work?” Aidan joked. “Sure, it’s a real loss.”

She looked over at him. “So, it’s probably late for me to ask, but… What is it that you actually do?”

Aidan tried not to tense up. He didn’t want to ruin the day with his epic failures, so he just gave a short response. “Finance,” he replied vaguely, and maybe his reluctance showed, because Stella steered the conversation back to safer ground.

“Still, it’s a long way from Wall Street to Sweetbriar Cove. How are you finding the change?”

“It’s been… Interesting,” Aidan admitted. “Don’t get me wrong, I like the peace and quiet. It’s exactly what I need right now. But I am missing some creature comforts. I called to get some food delivered the other night, and nobody answered,” he said. “They were already closed, at 8 p.m.!”

Stella laughed. “That sounds about right. Hot tip: The pizza place is pretty much the only place that stays open past nine.”

“I’ll remember that.” They paused to cross at a busy intersection, moving away from the main shopping district, and into the quieter historic neighborhoods near the river.

Aidan couldn’t wait any longer. He reached over and took her hand.

Stella smiled, almost shy. “Still, it must be nice, being close to your family,” she continued, giving his hand an imperceptible squeeze. “They’ve all moved back, over the past few years, right?”

“Yup,” Aidan tried to drag his attention back from the feel of her fingers intertwined with his. “And it is good to see them all again. We’ve been scattered for years, and now Earl’s getting older…”

“He’s a sweetheart,” Stella said affectionately, and Aidan had to laugh in surprise. His grouchy, stubborn grandfather?

“Are you sure you’ve got the right guy?” he asked, disbelieving.

“Oh, he likes to come off all crotchety, but he’s a good guy.” Stella said. “The winter after Matty was born, he showed up with a cord of firewood. He said he’d ordered extra by mistake,” she said. “But then he would come back every year, and say exactly the same thing. Your grandmother would stop by too, when she was alive,” she added with a fond smile. “Made a mean lasagna. And those chocolate chunk cookies of hers…”

“I loved those cookies.” Aidan agreed, feeling a nostalgic pang. “Eloise must have liked you, she only made them on very special occasions. It sounds like they all took good care of you.”

Stella paused. “Most of them. The town really helped me out when we needed it most. But, well, then there were the Mindy’s of the world.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, and Stella gave a rueful shrug.

“I didn’t always get the warmest welcome. An unmarried teenage girl wasn’t exactly who they wanted in their