A Wedding Worth Waiting For by Katie Meyer Read Free Book Online Page A

people who have never had a conch fritter?”
    She shook her head in mock sympathy. “It’s a tragedy, really.”
    â€œIt is. I guess they don’t know what they’re missing. But still, life can’t quite be complete if you don’t have good seafood.”
    A wistful look shadowed her face. “There’s a lot to be thankful for in Paradise.”
    Dylan wanted to punch himself. She’d lived most of her life away from this, and it was obvious she’d missed out on a lot more than seafood while she was gone. He couldn’t give her that time back or fix everything that had gone wrong for her, but he could at least try to keep his foot out of his mouth and make her return as welcome as possible.
    And if easing her reentry into her old hometown meant spending more time with her, well, that was just an added bonus.

Chapter Five
    W hen the waitress returned with their entrées, Sam forced herself to focus on the meal, refusing to let herself be dragged down by bad memories. Sure, she’d had a rough childhood in some ways, but she was incredibly lucky in others. And right here, right now, she was having a delicious meal in one of the most beautiful places in the world. Even better, she was having a great time. Not only had Dylan turned out to be an excellent dinner companion, but she’d actually met someone who remembered her! It was almost pathetic how much a waitress’s simple comment could affect her mood, but knowing that someone remembered her mother, remembered them as a family, meant more than she had expected.
    Her mom had been gone so long, and her father had changed so much, it was hard to believe any of it had been real. Sometimes she wondered if she’d imagined how good her life had been back then. Talking to someone who knew her then reassured her it wasn’t all in her head. They had been happy, and damn it, she was going to be happy again. She was going to make friends, kick butt at her job and make her boss and her father proud of her.
    â€œIs your sandwich okay? You’ve been awful quiet.”
    â€œOh, yes. It’s delicious, actually.” And it was, the creamy Brie and buttery lobster a match made in heaven. “I was just thinking.”
    â€œAbout?” Dylan took a bite of his taco and looked expectantly at her.
    â€œThe past, the future, that sort of thing.”
    He nodded. “Being near the ocean can bring out some big thoughts. Something about the timelessness of the waves maybe. Whenever I get too caught up in the day-to-day grind, I hit the beach. A few hours on my board helps me back up and see the forest for the trees.”
    â€œI knew it! You are a surfer.”
    â€œGuilty as charged. I don’t get as much time on the waves as I’d like, but it’s one of the reasons I took the job here. I was dying to get back in the water.”
    She dipped a corner of her sandwich in the spicy chowder and considered that. “So where were you before you came here?”
    â€œBoston. Which, although technically isn’t far from the ocean, to find waves you have to be willing to drive a while. Which my school schedule didn’t leave a lot of time for.”
    â€œWait, you were in school in Boston?” She tried hard to picture his sun-bleached hair and laid-back attitude fitting in in New England, and failed.
    â€œYeah, grad school. I got an MBA, which looks good on paper but taught me very little about bottle-feeding deer. That’s all on-the-job training.”
    He had an MBA? “What school?”
    â€œI did my undergrad at UF, but the MBA is from Harvard.”
    â€œYou have an MBA from Harvard. And you work for a tiny nonprofit where you have to nail shingles and feed deer?” Was he crazy?
    â€œI do more than that, but yes. I had job offers from larger companies, but I wasn’t interested in the whole corporate thing. I like it here, and I’m close enough to home to visit