Chapter 48
Where are we going?” she asked for the tih time since getting back in the car.
Kate. I told you to stop asking,” Kylan repeated for the third time.
She sighed, staring out the window at the passing town. She recognized that they were headed into Downtown Portland. Her eyes followed the many gallenes, shops, and restaurants that lined the narrow streets
Five minutes later, Kylan finally found a place to park along the read, expertly pulling into it at a parallel angle.
Wat here,” be msiructed, turning off the car and then stepping out.
she watched him walk around the vehicle and then he opened her door for her, extending his hand to her in his same customary fashion. She smiled, surprised but not put off by his insistence to be chivalrous. Were this a real date, it almost would have melted her heart. As it was, she had a smile on her face that she couldn’t quite rid herself of
she took his hand, and he guided her down the sidewalk. A breeze blew nearby leaves around her ankles and she shivered, letting go of Kylan’s hand in favor of wrapping her arm around his.
He didn’t say anything about it, instead still leading the way
wherever he was
taking h
her.
She couldn’t help the feelings of contentment that found their way into her body. It was oddly.comfortable, strolling with Kylan along the streets that she grew up wandering. She spent her time gazing up at both the familiar businesses that seemed to of always been there, and the new galleries and shops that sprung up while she was away.
The feeling of Downtown Portland was one she never really forgot, and while she held onto Kylan, she felt at peace. Happy. Calm
It was nice. Domestic, almost, and she wondered idly what Kylan would be like in an actual relationship:
She was pulled out of her day dreaming when Kylan stopped her in front of a shop on a street comer. She looked over the entrance and then a smile, the kind of smile that hurt her face, broke through and she laughed. Giggled, really.
“A candy shop?” she asked him excitedly.
The corner of Kylan’s mouth quirked into what she swore resembled a smile. “Come on, then.” He put a hand on her lower back and opened the door, allowing her to go in ahead of him.
It was magnificent, there was no other word to describe the shop in front of her. Shelves upon shelves lined the colorful store, and the smell was nothing short of heavenly. It was perfect, every kind of candy she could possibly think of already waiting for her to buy.
“This is amazing I didn’t know this place existed,” she gushed, walking through the aisles with wide eyes.
They only opened a year ago.” Kylan informed her, looking at her as she looked at the candy.
“I see. You found this place yourself?” she asked him in
in awe.
Kylan shrugged, shifting his gaze away from her. “Seemed like the kind of place you would like,” he said softly, his eyes downturned.
She looked at him, surprise filling her heart. This was the second date that Kylan had picked where the setting was anything but what he would personally enjoy spending his time doing. She couldn’t help but feel. Weird. But not in an entirely bad way. No, was Sweet Nice, It was nice of
ham
“I do like it. Thank you, Kylan. Let’s pick a few treats, yeah? We need to make sure we bring something back for Oscar as well.” She took hold of his hand and pulled him through more aisles lined with sweets.
She gravitated toward the sour candy section, talking animatedly about several different kinds they both had and hadn’t tried yet
“Oh God, Oscar would love these!” She found an oversized bag of normal gummy worms and grabbed them, smiling brightly.
Kylan mostly kept quiet, following her around and nodding or humming in response to her antics. She didn’t mind, it felt special to just have him there. She couldn’t believe he even wanted to come, in the first place.
By the end of her tour around the candy shop, she held various bags of gummy candles, sour sprays, and a few bits of chocolate. She was grinning from ear to ear, far more excited for her lout than was probably logs al
She didn’t care
care though, and she felt lighter than she had in months, walking along with Kylan, taking in the different mixture of smells, all of them far too sweet in the very best kind of way.
Kylan paid for her finds, despite offering to do so herself. He gave her an offended glare and she only smiled back at him.
With her goodies in hand, she stepped back outside and silently decided to keep
keep walking. She stopped every so often, staring into either a gallery or another shop that caught her interest.
She kept the easy conversation flowing with Kylan, mostly biling the gaps by talking about more stories from growing up in Portland
It was easy, far too easy, walking with kylan, her shoulders brushing as she held hanels and wandered.
She stopped to eat lunch at a sandwich shops she didn’t recognize either, quietly marveling at how much her small town had really changed. Lunch was a delicious combination of soup and a sandwich, with Kylan opting for a sandwich and a cup of tea that he openly detested, of course After their meal, they walked some more, with no real destination in mind. She explored a few art galleries then, explaining to Kylan what more of the paintings in the exhibits made her feel. He seemed just as interested as he had the first time she did this at the gallery back in New York, and it made her impossibly happy.
Around four–thirty, she was nearing the rental car and she looked at Kylan thoughtfully, “Can we go walk along the beach, Kylan?” she asked him hopefully.
I suppose so. We’ll have to rinse off as soon as we’re back at the hotel, though,” Kylan conceder, opening the passenger door for her
She laughed lightly and sat inside. “Of course, God forbid a speck of sand makes its way into the hotel room.” She joked with him once he was situated behind the steering wheel,
“Exactly, Kate.” Kylan responded far too seriously, which only made her laugh some more.
-0-0-0-
The Gulf of Maine was hypnonically beautiful, and seeing it up close, hearing the waves crest on the sandy shores, she allowed herself to realize how much she missed being near all of what Maine had to offer her.
She was happy in New York, but this. This slower–paced, peaceful way of living. It couldn’t be beaten, not with every skyscraper or taxi in the world.
She was pleasantly surprised when she slipped off her shoes and socks, and Kylan followed suit. She each held her shoes in one hand, grabbing hold of the other’s free hand and walking down the shoreline slowly.
The tide was calm, the wind had mostly died out a long time ago. The sun was steadily dipping below the endless expanse of water in the far–off distance, hues of pink and orange reflecting off the ocean’s surface. Also situated in the distance, the infamous lighthouse that Portland was long since known for, sat on a rocky bank. The distinct shades of fall made their presence known along each rock with various flowers and weeds, oranges and yellows and greens bouncing off the sun in a way that captured her breath.
It was peaceful. Romantic. Intimate in a way that only the sea and the shore could provide her
After walking in silence for a while, she glanced at Kylan, noticing how the setting sun accentuated his profile beautifully. He looked peaceful, if not
Kylan at least content. She couldn’t help but think that a town like Portland was fitting for a man as complicated and high–strung as
It made her recall the fact that Kylan was also from a small, coastal town. She had surely talked his car off about her own knew very little about his. She wondered if she asked him something about it and if he would answer her.
childhood, but she still
There was only one way to find out
“Kylan, what was Bristol like growing up?” she asked him tentatively, moving to stand a bit closer to him when a sea breeze caused her to
shiver
Kylan looked at her for a moment, and then he looked down at the sand between his toes as she both walked. “Bristol was quiet. There wasn’t much to do, so we usually spent our time at the beach, the local movie theater, or going sailing While he spoke, his gaze never quite returned to hers. He sounded far away, wistful even
“Did you have many friends in Bristol? I’m trying to picture you laughing and being carefree, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen that side of you before this weekend.” She nudged his shoulder playfully and he scoffed
ost of my time with Kylan swallowed hard, his jaw noticeably tensing.
“I had two very close friends that I spent most of
She wasn’t certain why, but it felt like she was asking something that she shouldn’t be. She decided it would be best to change the subject.
“What part of France was your mother from, if that’s okay to ask?”
It was a risk. A big risk to ask about his mother. It was most likely another topic that should be off the table for her, but her curiosity won out before she could help herself.
