A Walk Along the Beach(22)

“A lot of men order cold-brew coffee, but I didn’t think you’d want to start the day off with a cold drink.” I bent forward and retrieved the basket. “I wasn’t sure if you took time for breakfast. I have a couple of cinnamon rolls if you’re interested.”

“Does a bear…” He hesitated. “I’m always interested in your cinnamon rolls. We’ll take a break and eat when we get to Snoqualmie Pass, if I can wait that long.”

Before we left, I’d Googled the route and saw that the drive between Oceanside and Toppenish would take nearly five hours. That meant we’d be spending ten or more hours on the road. Sean had warned me it would be a long day. That hadn’t been a deterrent; I considered it a plus. The time in the car would give me the opportunity to get to know him better.

    “Harper and her friend Leesa are minding the café,” I mentioned, looking to start a conversation.

“Are you worried?”

“Not overly. Harper’s helped me out before, and Alice is there if she runs into trouble. She can make most of the drinks without a problem. It’ll be fine.”

“You sound worried.”

“I kind of obsess over things.” I couldn’t help it. Ever since Mom died, I’d been a worrier and a caretaker. Even now, when we were all adults, I hadn’t been able to stop, as evidenced by my constant concerns about Harper’s health. “Not just Bean There. Although this is the second time in a week that I’ve left the café in someone else’s hands. That’s not like me.”

“I’m happy you agreed to come with me.”

“I am, too.” I didn’t want Sean to think otherwise. Since our conversation in the grocery store, I’d been on a natural high, giddy. Of course, Harper had picked up on my mood. To hear her speak, his interest in me was akin to a wedding proposal. She might have been inspired by Lucas and Chantelle’s wedding announcement. My mistake was telling her. From that point on, Harper had been full of relationship advice, guiding me on how best to reel Sean in. I listened with half an ear, amused and at the same time interested. I found it laughable that the girl who hadn’t stayed in a relationship longer than a few weeks insisted on giving me advice.

I hadn’t seen Sean since I’d spoken to my brother and his fiancé, so I told him Lucas was engaged.

“You like Chantelle?” he asked.

“Love her. She’s a good match for Lucas. I wondered why it took him as long as it did to make it official. In looking back, I believe it has something to do with her family.”

“Oh?”

“They have money, and, well, we don’t. My guess is Chantelle shut down that argument, which is probably why Lucas insists on paying for the wedding on their own.”

    “I can understand his point of view. A man has his pride, you know. We all do.”

I paid close attention to that piece of knowledge. It helped me understand my brother better and would help me with Sean, too, if we continued seeing each other.

After the first hour on the road, Bandit stirred and stuck his head between the two seats. “Well, hello there,” I said, patting his head.

“I bet he smells those cinnamon rolls,” Sean said. “You know how he got his name, don’t you?”

I laughed, remembering the story. “I should have brought a treat for him, too.”

“He’s not getting my cinnamon roll, so don’t even think of offering it to him.”

“No worries. You’re good.”

Once we reached the top of Snoqualmie Pass, we took a short break. Sean walked Bandit and then returned to the car. I had everything ready for him when he joined me. We ate our breakfast and I shared part of my roll with Bandit, who licked my hand in appreciation. Or it might have been on the off chance a bit of the icing remained on my fingertips.

Once we were back on the road, Sean gave me the lowdown on this assignment. “Seattle Magazine asked me to shoot several murals around the state. I was up in Anacortes a week ago, and Seattle has a number of murals as well.”

I remembered seeing one or two over the years, mostly near Seattle Cancer Center and the University of Washington Medical Center, where Harper had spent much of her hospital stay.

“Have you shot any in Tacoma?” I asked, thinking there were sure to be several there.

“Tacoma’s interesting,” he said, glancing toward me before returning his attention to the road. “They have what’s known as Graffiti Garage, and that’s literally what it is. The city banned graffiti, but they allow artists into this garage every Sunday to paint the walls. I stopped by one week and the artwork was fantastic. Some of the best I’ve been able to shoot.”

    “Did you get a look at the two that are in Oceanside?” He couldn’t very well have missed them. Not many people were aware Keaton had painted those.

“It was those murals that inspired the idea. I took pictures of them and a few in Seattle and approached the magazine with the idea and they went for it.”

“So you drum up your own work?”

“Yes. I am often approached to do a shoot, but others are on spec. My trip to Bolivia is on spec, which means I’m footing the cost in the hopes of finding a publication that will find it newsworthy.”