The Do-Over(46)

“Cappuccino,” he called over his shoulder with a smile, already loping down the sidewalk toward the harbor.

Grabbing our coffees and a table, I pulled my phone from my purse and immediately laughed at the barrage of texts sitting there from Laynie.

So?

I need details?

Are you alive?

If not, I hope he f*cked you to death.

Where the hell are you?

You know you are killing me.

Taking a sip of my latte, I answered. All is well. We sailed out to Pt. Jeff. Walking around the town. Wes just went to put some stuff on the boat.

OMG you are alive. Details, please.

Having fun. Not much to report yet. Taking it slow. He is so easy to be with. He is just one of those rare good guys.

He’d better be or I’ll have to stab him with pins.

I choked on my coffee at Laynie’s last text.

I see him coming up the hill. Talk to you later.

When are you coming back?

Sailing back tomorrow.

Have fun. And show him how a grown woman f*cks!

I laughed at her last swipe at Keiko and CB. Damn right I will!

As Wes approached, I couldn’t help but smile. The man was timeless cool. The hair, the sunglasses, the ease with which his body moved. I wondered how many people passed him thinking, what band is that guy with? Isn’t he somebody famous?

I could see that he was talking on the phone, observing as his face broke into a huge smile when he noticed I was watching him. Sliding into the chair next to me at the little wrought-iron café table, he put down a small paper bag and picked up his Cappuccino, mouthing, “Yum. Thank you,” after the first sip.

“Yeah, she’s right here. You have a bone to pick with her? And you really think I’m going to hand her this phone.” He was smirking.

“Oh no, what did I do now?”

“No clue.” He shook his head, handing me the phone.

“Hello,” I was pretty sure I knew who was on the other end of the line.

“You bitch,” she exclaimed.

Yup. I was right. “Hey Stace.”

“Stace? Wes is the only one that calls me Stace.”

Laughing, “Well, now there are two of us. So, what did I do now?”

“Oh my God, that book. It ended in a cliffhanger. I’m dying here. I can’t even breathe. I hate you, Tara.”

“Well don’t hate me for too long,” I was smiling at Wes, as I spoke to his sister. “You’re getting something in the mail today. So, now it’s all up to your mailman.”

“Well that f*cker better not be late. I’m going out now to check the mail.”

“Okay, well enjoy.”

“Don’t hang up. I’m taking you with me to the mailbox.” I heard some scraping. “It’s here,” she exclaimed. “Shit Tara, do you have a tape fetish or something?”

Choking on my latte, I looked directly at her brother, “A tape fetish? Are you asking me if I like things tightly bound?” Now I was smirking and Wes was choking on his Cappuccino.

“Oh my God, Tara, what do I do?”

“Hit the power button. That will bring you to your library of books.”

“The rest of the series is here.” I couldn’t help but smile at the excitement in Stacy’s voice. “I have all the books.”

“Yup.”

“Tara.”

I was biting my lip, not wanting to have an emotional moment with Stacy. “Now stop bitching at me and you can get off that damn cliff and find out what happens next. Here’s Wes.” I handed him the phone.

“Yeah, I’ll call you tomorrow night when I get home,” he told his sister before hanging up. “What did you do?” He was looking at me with that glorious smile.

“Okay, well Stacy, this woman Andie who’s on the same chemo schedule and I all started reading this book series together. I thought it would be something fun we could all talk about during treatments. But I didn’t know if Stacy would be into it, so for the first book in the series, I bought paperbacks. When I saw she liked it, I ordered her an eReader and downloaded the rest of the series and some other books I thought she might like.” Wes was silent, smiling at me. “So the first book ends on a huge cliffhanger, which is why Stacy was cursing me out. But little did she know, in her mailbox was her new eReader with the rest of the series.”

Wes shook his head, “You are a gem. A true gem. That you are even thinking about ways to make things better for her is so selfless and beautiful.”

“It’s really nothing. I’ve always been a voracious reader from the time I was a kid. And a good book transports you to a different world and sometimes, we all just need a break from the world we’re in. So, I thought this might be good for Stacy and then Andie joined us, so that makes it even more fun.”

Sliding the paper bag over to me, Wes cocked his head to the side. His voice was a little choked when he spoke. “I saw this in a shop down the hill and it made me think of you.”

Smiling, I just looked at him.

“Open it,” he urged.

Reaching inside the bag I could feel a small box, telling me this was some kind of jewelry and I think the shock registered on my face, because Wes just laughed at my reaction. As I pulled the small rectangular box from the bag, I couldn’t stop smiling. “What did you do?”