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“Did you win the lottery or something?” she asks. Mabel is my grandmother’s youngest sister. Her gray hair with blonde streaks is pulled into a bun. She’s wearing her usual yellow ruffled apron, and carrying a coffee pot, obviously on her way to offer refills around the room.
The cafe has thirty white wooden tables. Twenty-three of them are filled. All have little glass vases full of yellow and white flowers. The windows have ruffled yellow curtains that match the staff’s aprons.
It’s cozy and quaint. Everyone who comes in knows the menu by heart, and has their go-to favorites. And Mabel knows everyone’s usual order.
The fare is simple breakfast and lunch offerings, and while the food is extremely good, people also come for the camaraderie. The usuals know each other and chat from table totable about everything from the weather to what the city council is currently considering to the latest Hollywood scandal.
During tourist season, visitors do wander in, but Mabel’s is one of the places that stays full with more locals than tourists. The tourist area is closer to the water and, well, we like it that way. We certainly appreciate the boost to the economy and are friendly and welcoming, but it’s also nice to have some places that aren’t infiltrated—not my word, since I love meeting new people.
“I did kind of win the lottery,” I tell my aunt, glancing from Ivy, Liam, and Ford back to her. “I’m in love.”
Her eyes widen. “No shit.”
I laugh. “No shit. So make a good impression, okay?”
She studies the booth. “Which one?”
“How about you be nice to both of them?”
Ford already loves Mabel, and it’s reciprocal. She also already knows that he’s going to order her Everything Omelet and extra toast.
She swats my arm. “Well, of course I’ll make a good impression on them both. But which one are you in love with?”
I grin down at her. “How about both?”
She shakes her head. “So selfish. How about you let Ford have one of ‘em?”
I laugh even harder. “You’re right. Maybe I’ll share the pretty blonde with him.”
Mabel nods. “There you go.” She gestures toward the booth with her coffee pot. “Go sit. Coffee for all of you?”
“Yes. And abigmug for the surly one,” I say, watching Liam say something that makes Ford laugh.
“Got it. Soup bowl of coffee for the hot guy.”
“You don’t think Ford’s hot?”
She wrinkles her nose. “I changed his diapers. Yuck.”
Fair enough.
I make my way to the booth and slide in next to Liam, putting Ivy and Liam between me and Ford.
Perfect. Now we just have to keep them there, metaphorically if not literally, until they fall in love with Honeysuckle Harbor.
And both of us.
CHAPTER 21
Liam
“It might surpriseyou to know I’m not really a boardwalk kind of guy.”
Ford looks over at me. “Oh, I’m totally shocked.” He grins. “Me either.”
“Really? I would’ve thought you’d love it like everyone else here.”
We’re down along the boardwalk that runs the length of the beach in Honeysuckle Harbor. It’s clearly a favorite spot for locals as well as tourists. It’s also obviously been here for a very long time. There are shops and snack carts, an actual boardwalk and an area with rides and games.