Free A Misty Harbor Wedding by Marcia Evanick Page B

“I was trying to work up the nerve to walk in here and meet you.”
    â€œI’m glad you did.”
    â€œI wasn’t sure what to expect, so I kept walking up and down the sidewalk all morning. I must have passed the shop a dozen times, but I couldn’t see in the windows, so I wasn’t even sure you were here.” A flush stained her cheeks. “I think people were starting to notice me.”
    â€œThey would have to be blind not to notice you, Juliet.” He marveled once again at the woman standing before him. “You’re a beautiful woman.”
    Juliet’s flush turned darker. “Thank you. My unannounced appearance isn’t going to cause any problems, is it? I’ll leave if there are.”
    â€œProblems? What problems?” As far as he knew, the only thing wrong with this meeting was it was happening twenty-six years late.
    â€œMom wasn’t sure if you had married, or if you had children. My being here could cause all types of problems.”
    â€œI have one child, Juliet, and that’s you.” He understood her concern, but it was groundless. “I never married, but if I had, you always would have been welcome.” He had no idea what Victoria had told her, but he wanted Juliet to know he would have wanted her, if he had known.
    Juliet slowly smiled. “Thank you.”
    â€œYou have nothing to thank me for.” This had to be the most awkward conversation he’d ever held in his life. “How about I go upstairs to get us something to drink, and we can relax a bit? Maybe sit in there.” He waved toward the smoking room. It was the only place in the shop to sit, besides a stool he kept behind the cash register.
    â€œThat sounds good.” Juliet’s shoulders seemed to relax a bit.
    He was halfway to the stairs that led up to his apartment when a thought occurred to him. “I have no idea what you like to drink. I only have diet soda, orange juice, and milk. I could make a pot of coffee or tea, if you would prefer.”
    â€œDiet soda is fine.”
    He hurried up the stairs and rushed around his kitchen gathering anything he thought she might like. His fingers were shaking so badly that he dropped two ice cubes onto the floor. After a couple of deep breaths he convinced himself Juliet would still be there when he went back down. She had driven all the way up from Boston to see him. She wasn’t going to disappear.
    Searching the cabinet, he found a box of cookies with a couple left and a new box of fancy crackers. He added those to the tray and hoped she wasn’t allergic to anything. His father had had a reaction to strawberries, and he had to wonder if it could have been passed to his daughter.
    He frowned down at the tray, wishing he had something more impressive than sick-looking blue glasses that he had bought more than twenty years ago, and mismatched plates. At least the tray was an elegant silver-plated antique he had picked up in London two years ago. Or it would have been if he had bothered to polish it once in a while. There wasn’t anything he could do about the tray, or the dishes. He carefully carried the tray down the stairs that ended in the tobacco room.
    Juliet was struggling to open the windows. One was open, and she was mumbling under her breath as she tried to raise the other one. The windows were very seldom opened. The reason for that was obvious. They were a bitch to get up or down.
    â€œHere, I’ll get that.” He placed the tray on the table next to the chess set and put his weight behind trying to open the wooden-framed window. Either the frame was swollen by too many winters and summer storms, or it had been painted one too many times. It took him a few minutes, but he finally managed to get the window up. A cool summer breeze blew sea-scented air into the room.
    Juliet pulled her hair to one side, then sat down in the chair closest to the window. “Thank you. I hope you