Free Persuaded by Misty Dawn Pulsipher

She felt herself blush at her unspoken musings. “Are you a
photographer?” she asked, nodding to the camera.
    “Guilty,”
he said with another charming smile. “I’m doing a piece on New England
harbors.”
    Hanna
would’ve loved to hear more about it, but her nephews were getting beyond
impatient for the kite’s maiden voyage and were having no luck on their own.
The helpful outsider chuckled jovially at the boys and then said, “I’d better
let you go. Hope the kite works out for you.”
    “Thanks
so much for your help,” Hanna answered before turning her attention to the task
at hand. The photographer withdrew a little and busied himself with snapping
pictures of the harbor.
    The
kite had been a great backup plan, but the wind certainly wasn’t in much of an
obliging mood. They tried to get the poor thing aloft for the better part of
half an hour before CJ finally growled in frustration.
    “This
kite doesn’t work, Banana!”
    “There’s
not enough wind,” she corrected. She thought quickly, trying to salvage the
outing. “How about we walk down to the harbor and look around? I bet we could
find some ice cream.”
    CJ
brightened on the spot. “Yeah! Let’s go see the Laconia !”
    Ugh.
Why hadn’t she seen this coming? Of course Derick’s sailboat was moored at Old
Lyme Harbor, but the thought hadn’t even occurred to her.
    “Pleeeeaaaase,
Banana? Derick won’t mind.”
    “Dick!”
Walter echoed.
    Hanna
cringed, but was too caught up in her own thoughts to correct Walter. Chances
were that they wouldn’t be able to locate Derick’s boat anyway, since there
were so many. And a walk would certainly do the job of exhausting her nephews.
    “Okay,”
she finally relented with a sigh. “Let’s reel in the string first.”
    “Yes!”
CJ hollered, running off to do as he was told.
    “No
luck then?” came an inquiry from the photographer.
    “Not enough
wind,” Hanna answered with a smile. “Murphy’s law.”
    “That
Murphy is always up to no good, isn’t he?”
    Hanna
blushed just a bit. This good-looking stranger was flirting with her. Flirting.
With her. Though she couldn’t account for it, she liked the idea. She couldn’t
remember the last time anyone had looked twice at her.
    “It’s
nothing a little ice cream won’t cure,” she assured him. “We were hoping they
had some down at the marina.”
    “They
do. I was just about to head down myself to get some close-ups of the boats.
Would it be weird if I walked with you?”
    “Not
at all,” she said, hoping that her skin wouldn’t betray her flush of pleasure
at the idea.
    He
beamed. “My name is Eli,” he offered, thrusting out a hand.
    “Hanna,”
she answered, taking it.
    “Well,
that’s a relief,” he said. “It would have been really awkward if your name was
Banana.”
    Hanna
laughed. “My nephew couldn’t say Hanna when he was little, and it just kind of
stuck.”
    The
boys had done their best to wind the kite string back up though on completion
of the task the spool looked more like an unraveled ball of yarn.
    “So,
Eli, are you here for the summer?” Hanna ventured as they began walking toward
the marina.
    “This
is home for the time being . . . I travel a lot with my job. What about you?”
    “I came
to spend the summer with family,” Hanna said, keeping her answer just as vague
as his.
    “So
where is home, then?”
    “Harbor,
Oregon. It’s close to Brookings—just a few miles from the California border.”
    “Ah. I
love the northwest. Oregon has some of the best rocky beaches in the U.S.”
    “It
does,” she concurred with a smile. “You wouldn’t think the scenery would vary
much from coast to coast, but it does.”
    “Yes,”
he agreed.
    “So .
. . what are the other stops on your tour?”
    Eli
looked confused, and Hanna clarified, “New England harbors?”
    “Oh,
right,” he said, shaking his head as he laughed at himself. “I’m not sure yet.
I kind of decided to just start here and