Small-Town Girl (13 page)

Then there was Brice. He was sweet and kind. While she enjoyed every minute she spent getting to know him, how long could their easy friendship last? Old lies crept into her mind, whispering that he would grow bored with her. That he would leave the way everyone always did.

Last but not least, Kendall didn't know what to think about God. While she believed in Jesus and was a Christian, she held God at arm's length. He didn't want to be involved in her life. Not on a personal, detailed level. That was what she had always thought. But if He was responsible for leading her to Goose Harbor and for her friendships here, how could she deny any longer that He cared about her as an individual?

If God cared like that...that sort of love had the power to change her entire life. Then again, even if she and God shared a moment of peace right now, even that could crumble if she did something wrong. Right? One incorrect step, one foolhardy decision, and God's blessing and love would vanish. And that was the scariest thought of them all. After feeling loved by God, losing His favor would be heart wrenching. That was how all of Kendall's relationships always seemed to go, so why would it work any differently with God?

But for now...for now she would savor the moment. During her interview with Jason she'd wondered if she had ever experienced a time when everything in her world was right—a memory worth cherishing. She'd foolishly only considered it in a romantic way, but this—right now—was her first perfect moment, and she'd cherish it, even though it would be gone by the time she tucked herself in bed.

Kendall sloshed a few inches deeper into the water, letting it tickle back and forth against her ankles. She hugged herself, fighting a shiver. The lake had cooled down by a surprising amount.

After a few minutes she let out a long breath. It was time to head back and join her friends. She turned around and spotted Paige cuddled next to her husband as they laughed with a group of high school students. Jenna appeared to be deep in conversation with an elderly lady as they roasted marshmallows together. Which was fine; Kendall didn't feel like returning to the party. She'd had enough large group interaction for one day. The condo she was renting was a short walk down the beach. Instead of navigating her way through the crowd on Ring Beach and in the town square to get back to her car parked near her office, she would just leave it parked in town and pick it up tomorrow.

A second before she resolved to follow through on her plan, she spotted Brice sitting on a bench at the end of the boardwalk. Not just any bench, their bench—the place they had sat together a few weeks ago when they shared ice cream. Had that really been that long ago? He was far enough away from the party where no one would bother him, but near enough to still see what was happening. As if a string tied her heart to his, Kendall felt a tug to go to him and her feet started in his direction before she'd even resolved to head over.

Hopefully he'd welcome her company.

Kendall cleared her throat as she approached the bench. While she knew that Brice wasn't a fan of large crowds, the slump of his shoulders told her there might be more going on than simply avoiding the people on the beach. Her bare feet slapped against the boardwalk. “Happen to have room for one more?”

Brice glanced her way. His lips pulled into a tight smile that didn't reach his eyes. “There's still a lot of the party left. I doubt you want to waste the rest of it sitting next to me.”

Something was definitely wrong. Had she upset him? Or was his mood unconnected to her altogether?

She gripped her sandals a little firmer as she searched her mind, going over their last couple interactions. Nothing negative. In fact, he'd been acting more friendly than usual with her. Flirty even. Kendall took a tentative step closer. “Brice?”

He sighed. “You'll have a much better time if you head back to the bonfires and mingle with everyone.” He jutted his chin toward the gathering crowd.

The campfire smell of wood popping under the heat of fire filled the air. With the sun close to setting, a chill had begun to creep across the beach. No matter how hot the day had been, Lake Michigan's presence kept the nights cool. A breeze whispered through the thin forest covering the top of a nearby dune. The wind carried into the crater of Ring Beach and washed over Kendall, sending a shiver down her back. In her shorts and tank top, she wasn't dressed for a drop in temperature.

She sat down on the bench and slid over to get closer to Brice, relishing the warmth of another person nearby. “How about you let me be the judge of where I want to be and who I'll enjoy spending my time with the most?”

Brice stared out toward the lake. The muscle in his jaw popped. Her fingers itched to touch his cheek. To make his stress disappear. But would that help him? She didn't know. What would be best? The answer came to her quickly: she should pray for him, as Paige had done for her.

Please. Please help me figure out what's bothering him. Give me the right words. The right questions. Let me be Your hands.

“Brice, what's going—”

“The boats are about to start.” Over the past fifteen minutes vessels of every shape and size had begun to line up in the lake. Brice pointed toward them.

She laid her hand on his knee. “I think we should talk.”

He shook his head. “It's your first Venetian Festival. Let's not ruin it. There'll be time to talk later.”

Kendall swallowed hard but nodded. She wouldn't force him to share what was troubling him...at least not yet. The possibility loomed that whatever he was battling, he didn't want to share it with her. If that was the case, she'd have to respect his wishes.

He pressed his palms together and rubbed them back and forth as if he had sand coating his hands. “I'm sorry I didn't enter our paddle wheeler.”

Was that the cause of his sudden distant attitude? Misplaced guilt over not using the parade to market their cruises? Silly man. If that was the reason for his mood, she could fix everything between them. Fix it so the peace she'd felt on the beach as she prayed carried into this moment with Brice.

“Not our boat.
Your
boat,” she urged. “But between you and me, decorating the paddle wheeler and parading it around doesn't seem your style. And I'm glad you didn't enter it. Really glad actually.”

He quirked an eyebrow and shifted to meet her eyes. “You are?”

“Of course.” She bumped her shoulder into his. “If you were in the parade, then you couldn't be here with me. And I'd much rather have you beside me.”

There. That should assure him. Everything would be all right.

Besides, they hardly needed more advertising. Papers and magazines were calling from places all over the Midwest for more information on her business. People were booking her date-planning services months in advance. She had some up-front payments stretching far into the Christmas season. The sunset cruises had been an instant success, so much so that the last two weeks they had to turn people away because the boat had reached capacity. Their clientele spanned tourists to anniversary couples to local teenagers taking each other on first dates.

A loud horn sounded and everyone on the beach started to cheer as they pressed closer to the shoreline. Kendall was sitting close enough to notice the muscles in Brice's arm and shoulder go rigid.

Why wasn't he relaxing?

A sick feeling rolled through her stomach. Somehow she'd made a mess of everything with him, hadn't she? Disappointed him in some way. Kendall blinked against the burn of tears.

Her mother's voice charged through her head.
Mark my words—he won't stick with you for long. You're too much like me, Kenny. Neither of us can keep a man.

She scooted away from him on the bench.

A part of her wanted to jump to her feet and start running, run until the breath heaved from her lungs and all she could think about was her sore muscles. Run home. Close the door on all the ridiculous hopes she'd allowed to take root in her heart.

But her more rational side told her something else, something unrelated, was going on with Brice. He was struggling, and she needed to be here for him. Kendall couldn't let her old fears surrounding men and relationships get in the way of whatever was happening between her and Brice. She couldn't—wouldn't—lose his friendship. Because...truth be known, she didn't just want a friendship with this man any longer. She was falling for him and he deserved to know that.

A second horn sounded and all the boats lit up, soliciting applause from the event goers. The first boat chugged as close to the shore as it could. It was simply decorated with American flags and white Christmas lights. Goose Harbor's elderly mayor sat in a chair near the front, and the rest of the staff from city hall waved from on board.

The next boat had a sign proclaiming Goose Harbor Public Works. The side was decorated with orange construction signs reading Slow, Use Left Lane, Watch for Workers and Road Construction Ahead. Construction horses with blinking lights gave the boat a disco feel. All the men on board wore safety vests and hard hats and danced to “Y.M.C.A.,” making the boat rock. They received a huge response from the crowd, who all laughed.

Kendall found it difficult to focus on the parade and near impossible to enjoy it amid the turmoil between her and Brice.
Tell him. Tell him now.
But Brice had been right to say they wouldn't be able to talk during the event; the crowd's murmurs along with music that accompanied each ship would have added further strain to a serious conversation.

The parade continued with boats of every size. The local drama troupe acted out a scene from Shakespeare's
The Tempest
, and a string of ships followed that had lights strung in ways to disguise the shapes of the boats. One looked like a semitruck floating on the water, another like a submarine, and yet another had different colored lights hanging in the shapes of palm trees. A ship toward the end of the line boasted a huge windmill. Clog dancers in full costume clomped to a lively tune. The final boat was lit to look like Cinderella's pumpkin coach from the fairy tales. A lady stood in the center blowing kisses to the crowd. Her blond hair was tucked back just like the famous princess's always was, and she wore the poufy blue signature dress.

The people on the beach all rose to their feet and clapped as the boats continued down to dock at the pier near the square. Everyone would be allowed to take turns getting an up-close view of all the boats, and there were ballots available so people could vote for the one they liked the most. But Kendall and Brice stayed on the bench.

Tell him you're falling for him.

If he didn't feel the same way, would that ruin their business relationship?

What was she going to do?

* * *

Brice ground his molars together. Kendall deserved answers. But sometimes words hurt on the way out, like the ones he'd had with his mother. His throat still felt raw from that exchange. He'd thought he would be out of sight this far down the beach...had expected Kendall to capture everyone's attention at the party as she did his. What he hadn't planned was that she'd leave the crowd and seek him out. Of course he wanted her nearby; that wasn't the issue. He still felt so raw and cut up from dealing with his mother that he didn't know what to do with those emotions and felt bad bringing down Kendall's fun night.

He watched her out of the corner of his eye. She'd moved away from him, leaving his side. With her arms wrapped around her stomach, she was either cold or upset.

He rubbed his palms over the worn fabric of his jeans. “I need to explain—”

“I...I...” Kendall's voice shook. “I should probably head home.”

Brice hooked his hand around the back of his neck. “You aren't going to stay for the fireworks?”
Don't go.
But then, he hadn't given her much of a reason to remain. He knew he had been acting detached with her, but it wasn't because of Kendall. She needed to know that. If he could convince her to stay here with him—forever—he would.

She swiped at her eyes.

Wait. Was she crying?

Brice caught her by the arm as she made a move to stand. “Hey. Are those tears?” His gut twisted.
Buffoon.
He'd made her cry. “Kendall, what's wrong?” He mentally kicked himself for acting so coldly moments before.

“What's going on between us?” She ran her fingers under her eyes.

Oh.
Not the response he'd expected. “I don't—”

She closed her eyes tightly. Then she opened her eyes, took a deep breath and said, “Did I ruin everything, all those nights ago, when I said I didn't want to date? Or is there still a possibility that you might want to take a chance on me?”

What? He leaned forward. “Of course I want you. I've wanted to date you since almost that first day. I didn't think you'd ever... You want to be with me?”

“Yes. Of course. But if you feel that way, why were you acting like you were?” She pushed her hands into her hair, winding chunks of it around her fingers, and pulled, making her hair stick up at odd angles.

She kept talking. “And don't say you weren't acting weird. I'm not overthinking all this. You were being strange. You still are.” She pointed at him. “You didn't even want me to sit here with you. You didn't want me to stay—” Her voice broke again. “I'm sorry. You must think I'm being ridiculous.”

He'd tried—tried very hard—to keep from being affectionate with her, but with Kendall doubting her place in his heart, he couldn't hold back any longer.

“Kendall,” Brice groaned as he pulled her into his arms. She tucked her head into his chest so it fit right under his chin. “It's not like that. Not at all,” he whispered into her hair and rubbed a circle against her back. She shivered in his arms. Brice loosened his hold on her and shrugged out of the zip-up hooded sweatshirt he was wearing. He draped it around her shoulders. “Here. You're freezing. Put this on.”