Taste of Romance by Darlene Panzera Read Free Book Online Page A

The cupcake shop is only a block away. You can
     come and visit me anytime.”
    “Did you bring me a cupcake?” he asked, motioning to the small box she held in her
     hands.
    Rachel smiled. “Yes. I don’t think your nurse would approve, but I sneaked you in
     one anyway.”
    “Thank you, Rachel.”
    Rachel patted his arm. “Anytime, Grandpa.”
    “I have no friends here,” he said, placing the small box next to his larger memory
     box covered in photos.
    A knock sounded on the door, and Kim let Bernice in. “Here comes a friend for you,”
     she told Rachel’s grandfather.
    Grandpa Lewy’s face lit up. “She looks familiar. Who is she?”
    “Someone who loves you,” Rachel told him and smiled at Bernice. “We are all so glad you’re here.”
    After Rachel told Bernice they needed help to buy the shop, the old woman shook her
     head.
    “I’m sorry,” she told them. “I admire you girls for going after your dreams and opening
     the cupcake shop, and God knows your grandpa loves cupcakes, but I need to save what
     money I’ve got to pay for Lewy’s treatments. Medical expenses aren’t cheap, and we
     have no idea how long he’ll need care.”
    “I know,” Rachel told her. “My mom and I appreciate what you’re doing for him.”
    A S THE DOOR shut behind them on their way out, Kim couldn’t help but think that even Grandpa
     Lewy had someone special who cared for him. Her thoughts turned toward Nathaniel,
     especially since they had to walk past his yard on their way back.
    Andi caught her glancing toward the black wrought iron gate. “So are you looking forward
     to it?”
    “To what?” Kim asked, feigning innocence.
    “Your date with the handsome Swede,” Andi teased.
    Kim shrugged. “He’s nice. It will be okay. I’ll be fine.”
    “Of course you’ll be fine,” Rachel said, in her infectious sing-song voice. “About
     time you took a chance on love again. And what’s better than a rose gardener who can
     send you roses every day?”
    “I wonder how many you’ll get tomorrow,” Andi mused.
    Kim smiled. “Okay, yes, I’m looking forward to it.”
    “What part?” Rachel teased. “The date or the roses?”
    “All of it,” Kim admitted and continued to smile all the way to the shop and all the
     way home.

 
    Chapter Five
----
    The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched—they
     must be felt with the heart.
    —Helen Keller
    K IM PULLED THE ribbon-tied bundle of seven different species of flowers from beneath her pillow.
     Did it work? The Scandinavian street vendor she’d met at the bonfire the night before
     had assured her if she slept on the flowers on Midsummer’s Eve, her future husband
     would appear to her in a dream.
    She’d dreamed of Nathaniel but wasn’t sure if it was just wishful thinking. Dropping
     the flowers on her nightstand, she threw on a green tank top to match the color of
     her eyes and a pair of faded denim cut-offs for the Troll Run.
    Her gaze swung to the bulletin board on her wall with the maps, postcards, and brochures
     she’d collected of various places she wanted to go but would never see because they
     all required an airplane flight.
    She knew she should remove the photos and other travel paraphernalia so they wouldn’t
     taunt her. But that wouldn’t stop her from imagining herself walking the streets outside
     Buckingham Palace, or horseback riding across the green Irish countryside, or climbing
     into a Venetian gondola. No, taking away the items wouldn’t take away her dreams any
     more than taking away a framed photo could take away her memories of her mother.
    She reached out and picked up a photo of her mother standing beside her at the Port
     of Astoria West Basin Marina. It was the last one taken before her mom’s small-engine
     plane crash.
    There was a knock on her bedroom door, and a moment later, Andi entered the room.
    “Look at this article Jake wrote for the paper,” her sister said,