Clallam Bay (A Fresh Start #2) by L. C. Morgan Read Free Book Online

porch. “Mind if I sit?”
    He nodded once. “By all means.”
    He continued to rock while I took a seat, leaning back against the post to face him.
    “So to what do I owe the pleasure? You had enough of your company over there?”
    “How did you know I had company?”
    “I saw two shadows and nobody’s left yet. Your boyfriend visiting or something?”
    I snorted a laugh.
    Poor flat-chested Amber and her haircut. At least she got what she was going for.
    “Hardly. That’s my friend Amber from home,” I explained.
    He slowly nodded his head. “Home. And where’s that exactly?”
    “Chicago.”
    He hummed. “Chicago’s a long ways away from here.”
    I nodded back. “That it is.”
    “So what brought you all the way out here? No teaching jobs in the city? Seems hard to believe.”
    “Yeah well, they pretty much all wanted someone with experience. So, I came here to get it.” I shrugged. “This is me getting it.”
    We sat in silence listening to the bay for a moment.
    “You fixin’ to go back after?”
    “I don’t know. Maybe. Depends on how this year goes, I guess. If there’s anything here worth staying for.”
    “You mean besides the view?”
    I smiled out over the cliff. “It is a pretty good view.”
    “That it is.”
    I turned my smile on him and he smiled back, both of us amused by his teasing.
    “Well, I think I’m gonna get going.”
    “All right.”
    Standing, I dusted off my pants. “This was nice. We should do it again.”
    “Anytime,” he said, and I descended the stairs, turning slightly to wish him a goodnight. With a nod, he gave me a lazy salute and started to rock back and forth in his chair again.
    I could still hear him rocking when I lay down on my bed, going over and over our conversation in my head. I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

Chapter Six
    I woke the next morning to the sound of my own squeaky screen door slamming shut.
    Rolling out of bed, I pulled a sweater on over my tank and poked my head out my bedroom door.
    I waited and listened, only emerging when a muted banging came from the kitchen. I found Amber holding a bowl of pancake batter, a pair of huge sunglasses on her face, and a mess of pans at her feet.
    “Morning, sunshine! How’d you sleep?”
    I jumped with the volume of her voice. “Why are you being so loud?”
    She ignored me, bending to pick up a pan before kicking the others out of her way.
    “So, who was at the door?” I asked, sitting down at the table.
    Whisking away, Amber smiled down at the batter. “Your neighbor.”
    She turned away to flick water on the pan and make sure it was hot enough, leaving me to wonder what they could have talked about.
    “And?”
    “And what?” She played dumb.
    “What did he want?”
    “You know, it’s funny.”
    Sighing, I laid my head in my hands. “What’s funny?”
    “Oh, just the fact that I was drunk, but I wasn’t so drunk that I wouldn’t remember you telling me that boy out there was the hottest thing this side of the planet.” Pouring a dollop of batter onto the pan, she shook her head and sighed. “Seriously, Hailey. That brown hair and those brown eyes … I can just imagine what your kids would look like.”
    I snorted. “Please.”
    “Please yourself.” Covering her mouth, she snickered. “Don’t pretend like you haven’t thought about it.”
    “I haven’t. You of all people know how I feel about kids.”
    Flipping the pancake, she nodded. “Anybody else’s but your own. I know. But still.” After tossing a pancake on a plate, she handed it to me. “You have to admit they’d be pretty.”
    I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “So, what did he want? What did he say?”
    “Not much. He just introduced himself as your neighbor. Said thanks for the cookies and cold burger.” She eyed me from over her shoulder. “Then he handed me that plate over there and he was on his way.” She turned off the stove then sat down opposite me. “Oh, and he invited us to the bar