Chapter Nine
KURT WROTE UNTIL four in the afternoon, when it dawned on him that he didn’t have Leanna’s phone number and they hadn’t made any firm plans. She really did steal his cognitive abilities. Although, for the first time in the last forty-eight hours, he’d been able to really focus on his writing, and he’d knocked out four chapters that resonated so strongly with him he half expected to find his villain standing next to him when he finally pried himself away from the computer. He wondered if in some convoluted way it had anything to do with their impending date. He took stock of his emotions. He was definitely feeling more enthusiastic about…well, everything…and more driven since she’d agreed to go out with him.
Kurt saved his work and brought his notebook inside, thinking about where to take Leanna that evening. They could go to the drive-in theater, but he really wanted time to talk with her and get to know her a little better. If they went to the drive-in, there was no way he’d be able to keep his hands off of her long enough to do any talking. He smiled to himself, because he also knew that once he got her talking, he might be in for an entire night of listening to her sweet voice.
Kurt showered and changed into a pair of linen slacks and a button-down shirt. On the way to Leanna’s, he drove into the town of Wellfleet to pick up a few things at the Wellfleet Market and noticed a poster announcing a movie that was showing on the back of Town Hall later that evening. Kurt rarely ventured out in the evenings, and he was excited to do so. He realized that he wasn’t thinking about writing. His mind was completely consumed with Leanna and their impending date.
He drove down the main drag toward Seaside and glanced at the bouquet of wildflowers on the passenger seat. It had been years since he’d bought flowers for a woman. He hadn’t been planning on buying them, but when he saw the bouquet of colorful wildflowers, their haphazardness reminded him of Leanna. This was the first date he’d looked forward to going on in years.
He parked in her driveway and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. She rattled him. She sent his heart off kilter with everything she did, and while she wasn’t a train wreck, as she thought she was, she was definitely not the most organized person, and she didn’t seem to live with any method to her days. Leanna breathed new life into everything around her. Including Kurt. When he was with her, things didn’t just look different; they were different. Days seemed brighter. Scents were more aromatic. Even the feel of her hand on his skin brought a heightened sensation. It was as if he’d been living life through a cloud, and Leanna breezed in, bringing clarity and lighter, happier feelings. She even seemed to have improved his creativity and writing. She lit up the darkest corners of his world. And although Kurt was a creature of habit and didn’t like surprises, or change, very much, he was drawn to Leanna like pen to paper.
He climbed from the car with his purchases in hand and was greeted by Pepper’s bark through the window.
“Hi, Kurt.”
He turned and waved to Bella and two other women sitting on the deck of one of the cottages before heading up to Leanna’s door. Pepper clawed at the screen, and Kurt crouched so he was eye to eye with the white fluffy pooch.
“Sit.”
Pepper did.
“Good boy.”
“Did I hear you call Pepper a good boy?” Leanna came out of the bedroom wearing a white gauzy dress, cut midthigh in the front and below her knees in the back and belted at the waist with what looked like a brown scarf of some sort. Her hair cascaded in loose waves over her shoulders. She pulled open the screen door with a sweet smile.
“Wow, Leanna. You look incredible.”
That earned him a smile and a tippy-toed kiss. Her sweet, summer scent enveloped him.
“You smell amazing, too. What is that?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea. Whatever lotion I grabbed from my dresser, but thank you. Now I wish I knew which one it was.”
He was slowly coming to understand and appreciate that this was how she lived her life, easy, free from worry, natural, and that those moments he’d witnessed—forgetting her bike, leaving her clothing in his car and at his cottage, and even the disarray of her kitchen—hadn’t been moments at all, but peeks into the remarkable woman that she was.
And he liked it. A lot.
“These are for you.” He handed her the bouquet.
“Wildflowers? How did you know they’re my favorite?” She wrapped her arm around his hip and snuggled against him in a one-handed hug. “Thank you.”
While Leanna put the flowers in a vase, Kurt opened the bag he’d been carrying and crouched beside Pepper, who was wagging his tail and panting for all he was worth.
“Yes, I brought you something, too.” He held a doggy treat in his hand, and Pepper climbed right up onto his white pants and licked his cheek. Kurt laughed as he pulled back from him. “Sit,” he said a little less sternly than he had before.
Pepper obeyed.
“Good boy.” He handed Pepper a treat, and Pepper carried it beneath the table and scarfed it down.
“I can’t believe you brought Pepper a treat.” Leanna crouched to watch Pepper eating.
“I figured he deserved it. He might be lonely if I steal you for the evening.”
She slid her arms around his waist again, as if she’d done it a million times before, and she gazed up at him.
“Thank you for the leash. I can’t believe you bought that and the baking soda even though you thought I was going out with Carey.”
“I didn’t want to come between you two, but the thought of you trying to walk Pepper with a rope long enough to trip a thousand kids worried me.”
“It was very thoughtful of you.” She moved away to slip her feet into a pair of flat, strappy sandals. “Where are we going?”
“That depends on what you feel like doing. There’s a movie playing on the back of Town Hall, and I brought a bottle of wine. We could grab a quick dinner and head there, or have dinner on the beach, or go to a restaurant in town. Or maybe head up to Provincetown and walk around, grab a bite to eat?”
“You gave me so many options. It’s hard to decide.”
Pepper whined up at them.
“Oh, hush. You’ll be fine.” Leanna reached down to pet Pepper, and he pawed at Kurt’s pants leg. “Are you starved?” she asked Kurt.
“Never.”
“Really? Sometimes I’m so hungry I can’t see straight.” She tucked her hair behind her ear as she rose to her feet.
Why doesn’t that surprise me?
“I love the beach at night, and I haven’t gone much this summer. Why don’t we grab something quick to eat at PJ’s or Mac’s and take it to the beach with the wine? If we get bored, we can go see the movie.”
Bored? Between his writing endeavors and his love of exercise, Kurt had never experienced being bored a day in his life.
She took his hand and they went outside.
Pepper whined and barked behind the screen door.
“Let me just go ask Bella to take care of Pepper. She won’t mind, and I’ll only be a minute.”
Kurt looked down at Pepper’s big, sad eyes.
“If we’re not going to a restaurant, we can bring him with us. Unless you don’t want to.”
She stopped cold. “You…want to take him?”
Kurt looked at Pepper again. “He’s kind of like your kid, isn’t he? Doesn’t he go everywhere with you?”
“Pretty much, but I never date, so he doesn’t really know dating etiquette.”
“As opposed to…flea market etiquette?” He reached for her hand.
She stared at their linked fingers. “Point taken, but won’t he be a total mood killer?”
He brought her hand to his lips and pressed a soft kiss to it. “I’m not sure there’s any such thing when I’m around you.”
She stepped in close and ran her finger down the center of his chest. “Well, Mr. Remington, you know how to cut right to a girl’s heart. Are you sure you don’t mind?”
He eyed Pepper again. “You’re a package deal, and I have a feeling that I might as well get used to it.” He leaned down and kissed her long and slow, and when their lips finally parted, he wasn’t so sure he even wanted to leave the cottage.