Free Finding Pride (Pride Series) by Jill Sanders Page B

made of glass which overlooked the water, giving the guests a sense of romance and elegance.
     

     
    Instantly Todd’s senses were flooded with a hundred memories, of family, friends, and his youth. The place was packed as always on Friday nights.
     
    One of the young high school employees, dressed in the red and white sailor shirt with a Britney name tag, greeted them at the door. “Good evening Mr. Jordan. Table for two?”
     
    “ Better make it for four, if I know anything about my brother and sister they’ll be along shortly.”
     
    And sure enough as Britney was seating them, Lacey walked over carrying a large tray over her shoulder with glasses and dishes on it. She wore on her usual white and red stripped shirt, but instead of slacks she wore a short black skirt with black hose and flats.
     
    “Hi guys. Give me a minute and I’ll be right back,” she said and then hurried off towards another table.
     
    “She usually only waits tables on Friday nights, that’s when we’re the busiest.” Todd explained as he pulled out the chair for her.
     
    “Thank you. Wow! What a view,” she said looking out the windows next to their table.
     
    The sun was just setting, lighting up the sky with hues of pink and purples. The lights from all the boats along the shore glowed and gleamed in the failing day light.
     
    “During the day, you can see clear up the coast.” he said handing her a menu. “At least on a clear day.”
    ,
    The table was set with; low candles, a small vase of white flowers, cloth napkins that were silver, and the paper place-mats. It felt right. It was a warm mix of family and romance that gave the place character. Fish nets hung on some walls; others had oars, but what really caught her eye was the paintings that sat on almost every wall.
     
    Colorful oil paintings depicted scenes of; violent stormy oceans, colorful sunsets over calm waters, boats filled with fishermen. Some paintings even had underwater cities or merpeople swimming in the backgrounds.
     
    Above the stone fireplace was a large painting of a mermaid who had green eyes so like her own, she had to blink.
     
    The mermaid was poised as if she was day dreaming, staring off to some distant place. She ran a shell comb through her long blonde tresses that covered most of her chest. Her tail was a vibrant green that seemed to sparkle when Megan turned her head from side to side.
     
    “The first time I saw you, I thought of her.” Todd said noticing her survey of the Mermaid. “You have your brother’s eyes, but – you also have hers,” he said nodding towards the picture. “My great-grandmother was the artist of everything hanging in here. She was a little eccentric in some of her paintings, but my great-grandfather always helped to keep her feet on the shore. Some say that she came from the sea instead of Southern California,” he said with a wicked grin.
     
    “They’re wonderful. I’ve always wanted to have a talent like painting, but it appears that both Matt and I have two left hands when it comes to art. Did any of the talent survive the generations?” Megan asked looking down at her large menu. She saw that the front cover was a sketch done in the same hand as the sample advertising for the bed and breakfast she’d seen in the file sitting on Matt’s desk. The menu’s drawing was the view of the restaurant from water. Taking a closer look at it, she realized the name in the bottom left corner and looked up at Todd.
     
    “Yeah, I have some talent for sketches.” He smiled.
     
    “You did this? And the one for the bed and breakfast?” She asked, running her hands over the slick menu cover.
     
    He smiled back. He had a great smile, his whole face lit up. She got that familiar flutter in her stomach and turned back to the menu.
     
    “When I was seventeen, my father asked me to do some sketches. A week after drawing this one, he had the menus printed up, and they’ve stuck every since.” He’d always