Free The Kiss on Castle Road (A Lavender Island Novel) by Lauren Christopher

spent the next day trying to be a mini-Olivia. She waited with Lily in front of the red-tile-roofed first-grade classrooms until the first school bell rang, and chatted with the other moms; she arranged with another mother to drop Lily off for a playdate after school; she popped into a cute little craft store on Main Street to find foam letters for a Brownies project and met the woman who owned the shop. She picked up Olivia’s dry cleaning and chatted with Mr. Hale the dry cleaner, then stopped at Jon’s post-office box to pick up his mail, where Mrs. Conner, the post-office worker, asked all about Jon and Olivia.
    The only kink in her day came when she had to take the midmorning ferry all the way to the mainland to look at phones again. After the two-hour trek, she stood at the kiosks, staring at possibilities.
    “What can I help you with?” asked the phone technician. Young guy, kind of geeky like Dr. Nerd. Only he didn’t look at her intensely. Or with curiosity in his eyes. His empty gaze went straight to her breasts.
    “I’m just looking for a replacement phone,” she said. “I’m trying to decide between these two.”
    He pulled himself together and explained the features. His voice had a condescending note to it, as if she didn’t understand pixels or SIM cards.
    “I’ll think these over,” she finally said. She needed one more day to weigh everything. Two-year contracts made her break into a sweat. But she had to do something.
    As she rode the ferry back, she found herself breathing in the salt air along with a sigh of relief as she came upon the welcoming, palm-tree-lined roads of the island. Lavender Island did have a cozy, accepting feel about it. Natalie adjusted her earbuds, turned up the Jack Johnson tunes on her MP3 player, and leaned over the ferry railing.
    Okay, here’s what she would do about the phone: She’d borrow half the money from Olivia. But she’d pay her back. They’d write up a contract and everything. It was a step in the right direction, at least. Or a half step . . .
    She hustled off the ferry and over to the golf cart, then gunned it up the hilly, winding road out of the harbor. She was proud of herself for looking straight ahead, not even glancing at the road that led to the Friends of the Sea Lion center, not even letting Dr. Nerd enter her thoughts for more than ten seconds this time.
    She spotted the entrance to the island’s only supermarket and pulled over sharply behind a large wooden wagon filled with fresh flowers. She’d pick up a few groceries before heading back to Olivia’s. First up were some Froot Loops.
    As she wandered through the aisles, basket on her arm, she heard two women giggling. She turned the corner and ran almost basket-first into none other than Doris, who was standing with another woman, heads bent over a row of paperbacks.
    “Have you read this one?” Doris was asking. “It’s not quite erotica, but I love it anyway. The hero is a cowboy, and he rides the heroine like—oh! Natalie!” She made room for Natalie in their semicircle. “Hello! It is Natalie, right?”
    “Yes. Hi, Doris.”
    “I was just telling Marie here about this hot, sexy novel. Marie, meet Natalie. She’s the beauty who came to see Dr. Sherman yesterday. Natalie, this is Marie. She volunteers at the center, too. Do you read Madame X?”
    The last question was directed at Natalie.
    “No, I—”
    “I highly recommend these!” She threw a copy into Natalie’s basket, then turned to get another one and shoved it toward Marie. “Your boyfriends will thank me!”
    The other woman—at least seventy, like Doris—nodded.
    Books were not in Natalie’s budget when she was scraping pennies for a phone. She pulled it out of her basket.
    “Doris, thanks for the recommendation, but I can’t afford this right now.”
    “Oh, honey, are you coming upon hard times? Let me buy that for you.”
    “No! No, I don’t need you to buy it for me, but I’m just trying to stay