A Walk Along the Beach(15)

I loaded a twenty-five-pound bag into my cart and headed to the cashier. As I rounded the corner, I nearly bumped into another cart.

    “Willa.” I gasped, shocked to see her.

She looked as surprised as I did. “Hello, again,” she said after her initial reaction. “Funny running into you here.”

“Yeah. Funny.” My wit had failed me, which it seemed to do whenever I was around her.

Staring at the huge bag of dog food in my cart, she raised her gaze to meet mine. “I didn’t know you had a dog.”

“Bandit is a recent addition.”

“Harper and I have a new addition ourselves. She brought home a kitten this afternoon.” Lowering her voice, she added, “Our lease doesn’t allow pets, so I don’t know how this is going to pan out.”

“Bandit was a stray in need of a good home.”

Willa smiled knowingly. “That tells me Preston and Mellie Young got ahold of you.”

Barking a laugh, I nodded. “That they did, although to be fair, I wasn’t all that averse to adopting him. He’s proved to be a good companion.”

“I’ll let you know how it works out with Snowball,” she said.

It seemed neither one of us knew what else to say after that. “I guess I better get back home,” I said, “Bandit is waiting.”

“Me too, although I just started.”

I noticed she had only a few items in her cart. She went in one direction and I headed in another. Once I paid and hauled the heavy bag out to my car, I returned the cart to the store.

A light rain had started to fall, and I hurriedly got into the car and was ready to pull out of the parking lot when I stepped on the brake and slammed my hand against the steering wheel. I heaved a sigh big enough to lift my shoulders. I’d let yet another opportunity to ask Willa out slip through my fingers.

Not happening. Not again. Hadn’t I told Bandit less than two hours ago that I would ask the next time I saw Willa?

Turning off the engine, I opened the door to pelting rain and raced back into the store. It took me three aisles to find her.

    “Willa,” I called out loudly, capturing her attention. I was a man on a mission, and this time I wasn’t backing down.

She looked up and blinked. I must have been a sight. Rain had plastered my shirt against my front and back. Water dripped from my hair onto my shoulders and into my eyes.

“It’s raining?”

“It’s a monsoon,” I said.

“I didn’t hear anything about rain in the forecast,” she said, as though I’d returned to the store to warn her.

“Listen,” I said, “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m asking you not to say anything for the next few minutes.”

She looked concerned and confused. Not that I blamed her. That wasn’t how I should have started, but I wasn’t stopping now.

“Okay,” she agreed. “What’s this about?”

I’d already started down this path and was unable to make a course correction now. It was my do-or-die moment. “Every time I try, I flub this up, so please be patient.” I paused as if awaiting her response before I realized I asked her not to give me one.

Sucking in a breath, I charged forward. “I like you, Willa, and I’d enjoy getting to know you better.” I brushed my wet hair off my forehead. “You should know I don’t drink coffee. I don’t like the taste. The only reason I stop by Bean There is for the chance to see you.”

Her dark eyes widened as if my words had offended her. I probably shouldn’t have admitted that.

“Don’t get me wrong. You make good coffee; it just so happens that I’m not a coffee drinker. I felt I had to justify coming in every day. I add cream to make it tolerable.” Seeing that Starbucks was one of my major accounts, I felt the need to add, “If you ever have the opportunity, promise me you won’t let the folks at Starbucks know that.”

“Ah…”

“That’s beside the point.” Already I was screwing this up. “What I’m doing a piss-poor job of saying is that if you’re agreeable I’d like to date you. We can go out to eat, take in a show, take a walk along the beach. I’m willing to do anything you want.”

    She continued to stare at me with her mouth half open as if she didn’t know what to say.

Finally I couldn’t stand it any longer. “Say something,” I urged.

It appeared she had no words.

“If you’re not interested, tell me.” She should know her silence was deflating my ego. And physically I was already all wet.

“Okay,” she said.

A single word, and it was as if someone had resuscitated me back to life. “Okay you’ll say something, or okay you’re willing to go out with me?”

“Both, I guess.”

“You will?” I had to be sure I understood correctly.

She nodded.

“Good.” Nervous as I was, I left her and walked all the way to the end of the aisle before I realized that I’d abandoned her. Doing an abrupt about-face, I hurried back to her. “When would you like to start?”

“I…anytime,” she said. She seemed to have gone pale. “I wouldn’t be able to stay out late, though. Three-thirty comes early.”