Free Silver Linings by Debbie Macomber

their rooms. I’d left them fresh flowers from my garden, and the windows were open so a cool breeze came through. September really was a lovely time of the year in the Pacific Northwest. I rolled my shoulders, resolving to set aside my concerns and worries over Mark, planted a welcoming smile on my face, and headed to the front door.
    Rover beat me there and sat on his haunches, ready to greet whoever had stopped by.
    It was Mark.
    He rarely bothered to ring the doorbell. He held the empty glass and the plate in his hands. “Thanks,” he said.
    I opened the door wider, took the glass and plate, and set them aside, waiting for him to come in. He remained standing on the other side of the threshold.
    “I’ve about finished with the painting,” he said, and reached inside his hip pocket and removed a folded slip of paper.
    My gaze fell on it. The bill.
    “But you aren’t finished.”
    “Close enough, Jo Marie.”
    Reluctantly, I took the paper out of his hand and lowered my gaze. I didn’t want him to know how difficult I found this moment to be.

After Coco unpacked her suitcase she sat on the edge of the bed and looked out the window of her room onto the cove below. Sailboats bobbed on the waters of the marina and the Olympic mountains framed the background. Coco had forgotten how beautiful the view was from the cove. Next, her gaze drifted to the high school set on a hill in view of the inn. Almost against her will, her attention lingered there.
    Now that she was back in Cedar Cove, she couldn’t stop thinking of those first few weeks when Ryan paid her attention. After the school dance that Friday night in which Ryan had made it clear he was interested in her, Coco had been on an emotional high that lasted the entire weekend. Overnight she’d gone from a girl who others viewed as quirky and eccentric to something of a sensation. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to talk to her about what was happening between her and Ryan. As if she knew. One day she was just another girl on the drill team and the next she was being sought after by the most popular boy in school.
    Coco didn’t know what to tell those who were curious. She couldn’t explain why Ryan was pursuing her. As far as she knew, she hadn’t even been on his radar. And yet it was the most exciting thing to happen to her in her four-year high school career. Perhaps she should have stopped then and reasoned it out. If she had, then the events that followed might have been avoided.
    By Monday morning when Coco arrived at school, the subject of her and Ryan had spread like a California wildfire.
    He fanned the flames by seeking her out in the cafeteria at lunchtime. Despite the fact that she was surrounded by friends, he made a point of asking her to join him outside. Coco numbly nodded and followed.
    “You look great in that skirt,” he said, admiration in his voice.
    “This old thing?” she joked. It
was
old. She’d picked it up at a secondhand store and worked her magic. Taking something discarded and giving it new life was her gift.
    He smiled and Coco swore the sun grew brighter. This guy was drop-dead gorgeous and he was paying attention to her. To her! As they sat eating their lunch together on the grass with no one else around, Ryan mentioned Homecoming. The school hallways were lined with posters about the dance.
    “Are you going?” he asked.
    Her heart started to pound with such an erratic beat for a moment she feared that she might actually faint. “I…I don’t know yet.”
    “Has anyone asked you?”
    “No,” she whispered, afraid to meet his look for fear he would notice how shallow her breathing had become. It was a half-lie. Hudson Hamilton, one of the nerdiest guys in their class, had made a bumbling effort to ask her but hadn’t been able to get the words out. Even before he finished she’d told him she wasn’t interested. She hadn’t meant to be rude, but in retrospect it had probably come out that way. The truth of it was