Free Seaside Reunion by Irene Hannon Page B

propped the shovel against the edge. “Here you go, Sam.” She rang up the purchase, thanked the man for his business, and settled down to work on some notes for the town council meeting.
    Except her mind was more on the man sitting a few yards away than on the plight of The Point.
    After their rocky parting yesterday, she’d spent an hour on the internet, pulling up stories with Nate’s byline from the Tribune archives. Hoping they’d offer her a little more insight into the man whose presence continued to unsettle her. And she hadn’t felt in the least guilty reading those articles. They were public record, after all.
    She’d learned a lot, too. Not just about his considerable skill with words, but about the man. His stories were an intriguing mix of contradictory emotions, and many had an underlying theme of courage in the face of desperation and despair. The profiles he’d done of troops under fire revealed soldiers who were often searching for meaning in their missions, yet who served with valor despite their doubts and fear.
    Based on the brief snippet she’d read in his piece on The Point, the search for meaning was a recurring theme in both his professional and personal work.
    Which led her to wonder if that was the reason for his journey to Starfish Bay. Was he on a quest, searching for meaning in his own life?
    The bell over the door jingled, and she dropped the pen she’d been tapping against the blank sheet of paper.
    Cindy entered, glanced toward the coffee nook, and joined her at the counter.
    “The other day I was late. Today, I’m too early.” The woman blew out a breath and massaged her forehead. “I can’t seem to get my timing right anymore.”
    At the glint of moisture in Cindy’s eyes, Lindsey’s heart contracted. “Hey, trust me. Things will get better. Bit by bit, day by day. It’s just really hard in the beginning.” And even after three years, in the lonely hours of the night, though she left that unsaid.
    “That’s what I keep telling myself. At least I’m beginning to adjust to the nine-to-five world again. And I’m lucky Ruth agreed to watch Jarrod during the summer and shuttle him here for his sessions with you. She’s been a godsend.”
    “No arguments there. I don’t know how she does it, with four children of her own, but she always finds time to help those in need. She was there for me after I moved back, too. She invited me and Dad to dinner every couple of weeks and encouraged me to run for the town council. Plus, she stopped in here every few days to chat.”
    “That sounds like Ruth.” As Cindy checked her watch, she leaned back to peer around the shelving. “Looks like they’re still hard at it over there. You know, I couldn’t get Jarrod off the computer last night. And he was so busy copying and pasting articles for Nate he didn’t want to go to bed. Here’s the best part, though—he wanted to talk about some of the things he’d read. He opened up even more than when he was seeing the grief counselor.”
    “That’s wonderful, Cindy.”
    “It’s a start, anyway. I don’t know how long your friend is planning to hang around, but as far as I’m concerned, it can’t be long enough.” Cindy shifted a bulging satchel from one hand to the other. “Well, I guess I better break up the party over there. I don’t want to overstay our welcome.”
    Five minutes later, as Cindy and Jarrod exited, Lindsey took a deep breath and walked toward the nook. Time to put her appeasement plan into action.
    As she stepped into his line of sight, Nate motioned her over. “Take a look at this.”
    She circled around the table until she was beside him, then leaned down to see the screen. As the subtle scent of his aftershave wafted her way, she closed her eyes.
    “Pretty amazing, huh?”
    Yeah. Amazing.
    Oh, wait. He was talking about something on the computer screen.
    She opened her eyes and forced herself to focus on the text. Several sentences had been highlighted