Harbor Lights by Sherryl Woods Page B

She’s opening a bookstore next to Bree’s shop. I was helping her at the shop earlier.”
    “Good for you,” Mick said, retrieving a chair from a nearby table and pulling it up to theirs. “Think I’ll join you for a cup of coffee, if you don’t mind.” Then as an obvious afterthought, he added almost hopefully, “Unless I’m interrupting.”
    Kevin, his expression resigned, sat back down. “You’re not interrupting.”
    “Well, that’s good then.” He beamed benevolently at them as if bestowing a blessing.
    It took every bit of restraint Shanna possessed not to chuckle at Mick O’Brien’s undisguised eagerness to figure out what was going on between the two of them. If Kevin weren’t so obviously miserable at having been discovered with her, she probably would have laughed. She hadn’t had anyone so blatantly checking out any of her dates since she’d left home for college, and back then it had been her dad.
    “Mr. O’Brien, it’s a real pleasure to meet you,” she said when Kevin remained silent. “I fell in love with this town when I visited last year. I’m so excited that I was finally able to get some retail space to open my shop.”
    “You’re exactly the kind of young, energetic person the town needs,” Mick said. “You’ll keep Main Street interesting, just the way it was intended to be.” He paused long enough to order a decaf coffee from the perky young waitress, who’d been hovering nearby, her rapt gaze on Kevin all evening. When she’d left, he asked Shanna, “How did you and my son meet?”
    “Dad!”
    He blinked at Kevin’s reaction. “What? It’s a logical question.” He winked at the waitress when she brought his coffee. “Thanks, Mary.” He turned his attention back to Shanna. “So, how did you meet?”
    “He was looking for Bree yesterday and stopped in my shop. He came back today and saw that I was practically buried under a pile of unassembled bookshelves. He offered to pitch in.”
    She was surprised by the look of dismay that passed over the older man’s face.
    “Kevin put your shelves together?” he asked, sounding worried.
    “He did.”
    “And they’re still standing?”
    She frowned at his reaction. “Well, of course they are. Why wouldn’t they be?” she asked, indignant on Kevin’s behalf.
    “Dad’s not a fan of my construction skills,” Kevin told her.
    “You said yourself this morning that you don’t have any,” Mick reminded him. “This isn’t news.”
    “Well, he did a fine job on my shelves,” Shanna insisted. “You can inspect them yourself.”
    Mick backed down, obviously chagrined at having maligned his son in front of her. “No need for that. I guess I’m just surprised.”
    “For any number of reasons, I’m sure,” Kevin added wryly. “Dad, is everything okay at home? Davy’s not sick, is he?”
    “No, no. I just decided to go for a ride. You know I like to take the Mustang out on a nice night from time to time.”
    “Which necessitated circling this block several times?” Kevin inquired.
    Mick actually blushed at that. “Thought I saw you here, but I wasn’t sure at first. Then I had a bit of trouble finding a parking space.”
    Kevin took an exaggerated look up and down the street, where parking spaces abounded. “Really? There are plenty now.”
    “Well, there weren’t ten minutes ago,” Mick told him, taking a final sip of his coffee and then standing. “Nice to meet you, Shanna. You let me know if you need any more help getting your store ready to open. I’d be glad to help out.”
    “Thanks, but I think it’s all under control now,” she said.
    “See you at home, Kevin,” he said, then turned on his heel and walked away.
    Beside her, Kevin released the breath he’d obviously been holding.
    “For a minute there, I thought he was going to tell me not to stay out too late,” he grumbled. “Do I look like I’m sixteen?”
    “I think he was sweet. He was obviously curious about what was going on