Take Me All the Way by Toni Blake Read Free Book Online Page A

long time, buddy.”
    â€œI know,” Fletcher answered quietly, calmly.
    â€œAnd sometimes I just worry . . .”
    â€œDon’t,” Fletcher assured him quickly. Assuring himself at the same time. “All is well.”
    Just then a burst of female laughter cut through their somber tones, breaking the mood, making them both look up. Christy rounded the corner of the house with a young woman Fletcher didn’t know. Dark hair hung nearly to her trim waist, and she wore a short tie-dyed dress belted at the hips. She had a unique look that he instantly dug and related to, and she appeared wholly out of place on quaint, idyllic Sea Shell Lane.
    â€œOh hey, Fletch,” Christy said in greeting. “This is my friend from Cincinnati, Bethany. She’s here early for the wedding—I’m so excited that she’s staying for so long!”
    â€œAh yes,” Fletcher said, remembering the stories Christy had relayed about her old roommate. She was an artist, a painter—and if his perceptions from Christy’s tales were apt, maybe a slightly lost soul searching for something she hadn’t yet found. Though his first impression was that she didn’t feel lost—and something in her eyes instantly told him that she saw the world through a slightly different lens than most people. Like him. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” he greeted Bethany. “Fletcher McCloud, your friendly neighborhood funambulist. Welcome to Coral Cove.” He held out his hand and she took it.
    â€œFunambulist?” the dark-haired woman said with an easy confidence that nearly dripped from her. Not arrogance, but an obvious comfort in her own skin—she clearly knew who she was and embraced her individuality. No, not lost at all.
    â€œTechnical term for a tightrope walker,” he explained. “I like to think I put the fun in funambulist.”
    She laughed, the sound a pretty trill that seemed to fall all around him like happy raindrops. “And I,” she said, “am Bethany Willis, officially Christy’s dark side.”
    And Fletcher laughed. He recalled from Christy that indeed her friend walked more on the wild side than her. “You don’t seem so dark to me,” he said anyway. There was a big difference between darkness and wildness. “More of a free spirit, I think,” Fletcher said. “More light than dark.”
    The slight, saucy tilt of her head and the quirk of her bright red lips made him think she liked that. Even when she laughed and said, “I don’t know about that. Just ask Christy—hang around with me long enough and I’m bound to get you in trouble.”
    That made Fletcher let out another laugh, Jack and Christy joining in. “I love her, but she’s telling the truth,” Christy added with a grin.
    â€œAh, I’m not afraid,” Fletcher replied.
    And Bethany smiled at him. She had a lovely, honest smile. He knew already that she didn’t give it away easily, automatically, like most people—but that when you got it from her, it was the real deal.
    â€œWell, we’ll let you two get back to work,” Christy said, an excited-about-my-wedding gleam in her eye. “We’re going inside to make some plans for the shower.”
    And as the two disappeared into the side porch door of the small house, Fletcher couldn’t help feeling uplifted, and as if he’d just stumbled upon a kindred soul.
    â€œCute girl,” he told Jack, thinking out loud.
    Causing Jack to glance up from where he’d just begun to focus on the instructions for his arbor, a speculative look in his eye.
    And Fletcher read his mind. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, my friend. I simply made an honest observation. You know I’m unfailingly honest.”
    Jack gave a short, accepting nod. “That I do.”
    And then they got down to the task at hand, Jack studying the arbor plans, Fletcher