Spitfire (Puffin Cove) (10 page)

"
Kane, I will never be able to thank you enough for this day. I think it was one of the best of my life." She leaned against her car, smiling into his eyes, their long shadows cast by the light from the peak of the barn door.

"
And mine as well, Laura. Thank ye fer lettin' me be a part of yer experience." He lifted an arm and laid his big hand on her jaw, caressing her cheek with the pad of his thumb. Her hand crept over his heart, feeling the slow, steady beat. "I'd like t' see ye again, t' show ye more of the sights. T' show ye some bigger icebergs."

Her
heart was so full, and she was sure that her smile was so bright that it must have cast shadows of its own. "I'd like that too, Kane. Very much."

He leaned in and kissed her, so softly, barely a
whisper of velvet lips.

"
Good night, Spitfire. Safe home. Sweet dreams."

Chapter Nine

She didn
't see him the next day, or hear from him. Or the day after that. She couldn't stop thinking about him. The scenes from their day together replayed over and over in her head, especially that first mind bending kiss, then the second heart melting one. As hour rolled into hour she wondered why he didn't call or come by the inn. She hadn't given him her number, he hadn't asked. But he could have gotten it from Jill. She wondered whether he might have had misgivings, realizing with the new day that he maybe shouldn't have led her on.

Or maybe he was just one of
those
. Guys like Joel. Guys that thought physical intimacy was just there for the taking. No strings, no repercussions. Unable or unwilling to keep his hands out of the cookie jar. She let that thought rot in her brain for a good hour on the second day, before she mentally kicked her own ass for making judgements. He just didn't seem like that kind of guy. And oh, she so hoped that he wasn't.

She kep
t busy knitting, reading, sightseeing, visiting with Moira and George, Jill and Shannon. She uploaded the pictures from her camera onto her laptop, and emailed most of them to Kyle and Kevin and her parents with long narratives.

Jill
vibrated with excitement when Laura casually mentioned in conversation that she and Kane had spent a day together. She and her laptop were immediately invited over for supper, and she showed Jill and Shannon her pictures of their sightseeing expedition. Jill was particularly animated when they got to the candid shot of Kane, and watched Laura blush with an unconcealed flash of warmth in her eyes when it slid onto the screen. "Oh, I'm so happy that you two have discovered each other!" she squeaked, hugging an arm around Laura's back as they sat hip to hip on the sofa in front of the computer.

Once the slideshow was over, while
Jill finished supper prep and Laura set the table, Jill peppered her excitedly with questions. "So how did you two hook up? Looked like you sort of rubbed each other the wrong way at first, even at the party the other night. Have you got plans to see each other again? Didja rub body parts together?"

"
Oh, for heaven's sake. Take a breath, girl. I can see where the half-pint gets it."

"
Well? Give!"

"
I dropped by his farm to apologize the day after the party for being catty. Once you'd set me straight about your relationship with him I figured I owed him at least that much."

"
And…?"

"
And he made me tea, I gave him a pair of socks I'd made -"

"
You made him socks?" Jill interrupted. "Wow. Who'd've thought you'd been thinking of him enough to make him socks? Hmm, still waters run deep, me ol' trout." She bumped a hip to her playfully at the kitchen counter.

"
Whatever. Don't be gettin' all up in my shit, girlfriend," Laura chuckled.

"
Oh, I'm gonna be all over your shit. Deets, girl. Gimme. I need the deets," Jill's voice jiggled with unrestrained glee.

"
He asked me if I'd seen any icebergs yet, and when I got all dorky about it, off he dragged me. We toured around all day. It was…well, it was pretty much the best day of my life." She ducked her head to hide her goofy smile.

"
More. Come. On!" Jill, if it was possible, had grown even more excited. Laura's eyes bugged out at the quivering pixie, and calmly removed the sharp knife from Jill's hand before blood was shed or digits were severed.

"
We had lunch at a café, checked out Trinity, hiked Skerwink Trail," she blushed, Jill didn't miss it, "…and ran out of daylight. We slurped up buckets of mussels, and headed home. There, deets revealed."

"
Uh-uh. There's more. He kissed you, didn't he?"

When
Laura's hands stilled in the silverware draw and her eyes slid away, brushing her friend off with a wave of her hand, Jill's softened voice said, "It's okay. If he did or didn't, you wanted him to or didn't, it's none of my business. I didn't mean to pry. I'm just so excited that you two aren't spitting at each other anymore."

"
Jill. Holy geez. It was…I've never felt...God!" She pressed a hand to her stomach. "I've never reacted to a man like I did to Kane. He knocked my socks off!"

Jill
whooped and hopped up and down, clapping her hands and smiling like a loon. "I knew it! I knew it! So when are you seeing him again? Oh, this is so great!"

Shannon
, alerted by the excitement, came running to hop and clap too.

L
aura ruffled the tyke's fluffy blond hair and said, "I don't know. He said he wanted to, and I would definitely like to, but I haven't seen or heard from him since."

"
Kane's pretty quiet and solitary, you know? A lone wolf." She giggled. "I'm sure you'll hear from him soon."

Laura
shrugged casually, feigning a nonchalance that she didn't feel. If this were just a one-time thing, she was shocked by how much it would hurt. She was pretty sure that she could fall hopelessly in love with this gorgeous, sexy, sweet man. And maybe that was as good a reason as any that she probably shouldn't see him again. After all these years, opening her heart to the possibility of having it torn out and stomped on again was still unthinkable. Yup, better leave it where it lies. She didn't know if she could stand another heartbreak in her life.

Jill
dipped her head down and peered up under the cascade of red hair that Laura was hiding behind. "Hey, how would you feel about a trip down to St. John's? I've got a few things I need to pick up, and you could check out the city, see if there's things you'd like to do. It's only a half hour drive. Whadya say?"

"
Sure. Sounds great. I've been so taken with this place that I haven't even thought of going back down to check out the shops and pubs. One of these nights I want to experience George Street, too. Think you'd be able to get your mom and dad to watch Shannon one night so we can hit the town?"

"
I'd love it! I haven't partied on George Street since before Shannon was conceived. But I think we should save it 'til the festival. That's when it's the most wicked crazy fun. It's at the end of July. Only a month and a bit away. Wanna wait 'til then?"

"
Sounds like a plan, Jill my girl. We'll get all dolled up and show the boys what's what, eh?" Laura's eyes glimmered. And Jill's answering twinkle sealed the deal.

"
Well, let's go do the day thing tomorrow, anyways. I do have some errands to run, and if you haven't got anything better to do I'd love the company."

The
next morning, they bundled Shannon into the back seat of Laura's car, Lola's carrier strapped to the seat beside her. Shannon was bubbling with the inbred female excitement of going to town, and getting to take Lola was making it extra special.

They made the drive to St. John
's listening to the child's non-stop chatter. "And you gotta always pay tension. I'm gonna hold Momma's hand and you're gonna stay right beside me. I'll hold your lease tighter when we crosses the street, cuz that's when them bloody bastards'll run you over as soon as look at ya."

"
Shannon Mary Bainbridge! That is not appropriate language for a young lady."

"
Sorry, Momma. But Grampa says the big city's gettin' busier and busier ever day now that the goddam shy knees are freightin' their wares into the harbour."

"
Lord love a duck. That's it. I'm gonna have to stop letting Dad take Shannon so much. Girl's gonna get herself expelled on the first day of school."

Laura
's face hurt from the grins she wore and the ones she tried to suppress all the way into the city. "Jill, I swear, that girl is the best kid I've ever met. She cracks me up."

"
Shh!" Jill hissed. "You'll only make it worse. Before long she'll figure out what makes people laugh, then she'll end up like one of those saucy little smart-alecks who don't know what's right and wrong and when to button their lip."

Lau
ra had already experience firsthand that Jill couldn't help but laugh at her daughter most of the time too, but being a single parent, the burden of raising her right was doubly heavy. Laura knew all too well Jill's concern. So she tried her best to support her friend and be a good role model for Shannon.

"
After we're done at the mall, how would you like to go to the gallery?" Jill asked. "There's a collection I want to see."

"
Oh, I'd love that. The Rooms are all full of local art, right? I didn't get a chance to go there when we came with my mom. The boys would have been bored, and I hated trying to keep them quiet in places like that."

"
Strangely enough, that's one place where Shannon does button her lip. My girl has an uncanny sense of timing. Sometimes." Jill rolled her eyes.

Laura
secreted her tiny dog into her shoulder bag, and no one was the wiser when they stopped in at the mall, blessedly only having to stop at two stores. Laura detested shopping malls. After that, they walked along Water Street and ate lunch at an old time greasy spoon that served the most delicious, artery-clogging, cholesterol-infused french fries and milk shakes that Laura had ever had. They window shopped, and Jill herded them through a door where she forced Laura to buy a flirty, filmy dress in hundreds of watery shades of blue, along with sexy, strappy heels to match.

"
Now where the heck am I going to wear something like this?" she protested, smoothing her hand over the gorgeous, silky fabric.

"
George Street!" And that was that. Jill dusted off her hands, and herded them all back out the door.

Laura
bought a pretty flowered sunhat for Shannon, stalling her mother's protests, saying, "Jill, it's almost nothing, and I'd really like to. Please let me." Jill had capitulated, and Shannon turned her head to look in every store window's reflection, adjusting the brim and ties at each new image.

They piled their treasures and the tired dog back into the car and drove up the hill to the art gallery and museum
. The building was surreal from the outside. Two huge twin buildings with white sides and red roofs were connected by a soaring glass wall that gave Laura the impression that she was looking right through to the harbour. They parked in the shade and cracked the windows, leaving a collapsible bowl of water on the floor of the car for Lola.

Laura
paid their admission, shoving Jill aside at the kiosk, where they had a minor skirmish that Laura won, because she was bigger and threatened to sit on her. They entered the vast atrium and were disoriented as to where to start. Shannon decided, dragging her mother by the hand toward the polar bears.

They spent a leisurely hour learning of the history and heritage of the people of Newfoundland, and of the animals and plants
. They paused for a time, emotionally affected by the Titanic exhibit, reading the transcription of the distress calls that had been received at Cape Race in 1912, and looking at the artifacts that were recovered after the tragedy.

Laura
set her radar on Jill, hoping that this exhibit wouldn't cause her pain. How did one grieve a beloved whose body was never recovered from the sea? Laura could not possibly imagine. Both women stood with tears in their eyes, mourning those poor souls who lost their lives a hundred years before, one mourning the loss of the husband she could never bury. Laura put her arm around Jill's shoulders and gave a squeeze. Jill rested her head on Laura's shoulder and patted her hand.

They moved on to look at the bird exhibit
. There were at least thirty birds displayed, the idiosyncrasies and lifestyles of the inhabitants of Newfoundland entertainingly and informatively described.

Shannon
tugged on her mother's jacket and whispered, "Momma, is Uncle Kane here today?"

Laura
thought that was a strange question, but maybe Kane was a history or art lover. How would she know? She knew next to nothing about the man, other than that he was beautiful and smart and sweet and so easy to be with. And sexy. God, so bloody sexy.

Jill
whispered back, "Could be, Shannybanany. Should we go see?"

Jill
angled a saucy wink at Laura, and Laura lowered an accusing glare back.
What are you up to, my dear friend?
she telegraphed with her eyes.

Who, me
? Why whatever do you mean?
the ultra-innocent wide-eyed blink messaged back.

"
Shannon, do you remember the way?" The girl nodded vigorously to her mother, and on silent sneakers hopped up the spiral glass staircase to the artist-in-residence gallery.

There were more birds here, of all shapes and sizes
. Some she recognized as Newfoundland natives, others were exotic and unknown. They were all exquisitely mounted, and Laura marvelled that a taxidermist could make them appear so alive. She leaned forward to look at the description of a sulphur-bellied flycatcher, and was startled to learn that it hadn't once been alive, that it was carved from a Newfoundland tuckamore, that all of these beautiful birds were actually wooden carvings.