Love Finds You in Treasure Island, Florida (7 page)

He shrugged and pulled out his favorite pair of khakis and a burgundy golf shirt. “I’ll be fine with this.”

“Bo–ring,” she crooned with a smile.

Was it boring? he wondered. Or, more importantly, was
he
boring?

“Since I’ve never attended a beach festival, I have no idea what to wear. This is probably safe.”

Jerry felt his mother’s gaze as she tinkered with his confidence, so he turned to face her. She remained in the same position, arms folded, head tilted to one side.

“You think I’m too safe, don’t you?” he asked.

“Sometimes,” she admitted. “But that’s part of your charm.”

“So what do you think I should wear?” His arms dangled at his sides as he looked from his wardrobe to his mother.

She grinned back at him. “Never mind what I said earlier. I don’t think it really matters what you wear to this festival. I’m sure Amanda is just happy to be going with you.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. “Positive. I hope she was okay with the change in plans.”

He didn’t tell her what he was pretty sure Amanda was thinking— that anything would be better than coming to the condo for dinner and having to suffer through an interrogation. “I hope so,” he said softly. “She acted like she really wanted to go to this festival.”

“Well, it certainly sounds like fun to me. Your father and I used to do all sorts of things like that when we were younger.” The sadness in her voice was evident. Ever since his dad had started wandering off and getting lost, they weren’t able to do much that involved large crowds. And now that his mom had Parkinson’s, she was at the mercy of an increasing amount of physical limitation.

A surge of guilt washed over Jerry. Why was he so worried about what Amanda thought? These were his parents, who’d been with him through everything. They’d never acted ashamed no matter what he did. He loved these people unconditionally.

Forgive me, Father, for the terrible thoughts and lack of respect for Mom and Dad. They’re special people, and I wouldn’t want to hurt them for anything.

He felt a little better, but there was still a tiny grain of remorse. Mom and Dad had never been embarrassed about him, even when he was on his worst behavior.

Guilty feelings aside, it was too late to do anything about that now. But next time—assuming there would be a next time—he’d work on his attitude and display his parents with pride.

Early the next morning, Amanda downed the last of her coffee before grabbing her gear and starting for work. Lacy intercepted her before she got to the door.

“I won’t be home for dinner tonight,” Lacy said, grinning from ear to ear.

“Neither will I.”

Lacy’s smile faded as she pulled back and squinted her eyes. “So where are you going?”

Amanda had spoken too quickly. “Sun, Sand, and Swing Festival.”

“By yourself?”

“What do you think?” Amanda popped her helmet on her head and snapped the strap under her chin. “I’m going with a friend.”

A slow smile tipped the edges of Lacy’s lips, and she batted her eyes. “It wouldn’t just happen to be Jerry Simpson, would it?”

“Okay, yes, I’m going with Jerry. So how about you? Where will you be?”

Lacy grinned. “I’m going to the festival, too, and I bet you’ll never guess who I’m going with.”

Rather than play one of Lacy’s favorite games, Amanda opened the door, stepped halfway out, then turned to face her sister. “So who are you going with?”

“You’ll see,” Lacy said with a giggle.

“Fine, don’t tell me.” She started to pull the door closed but paused when Lacy reached out and flung it open again.

“Are you coming home to change before you leave?”

“No,” Amanda said slowly. “Why should I?”

Lacy grimaced and shook her head as she pointed to Amanda’s clothes. “You’re going like that?”

Amanda glanced down at her bike shorts, sports top, and Windbreaker. “What’s wrong with this? I wear it almost every day, and you haven’t said anything about it before.”

“But you don’t normally have a date after work.”

“This isn’t exactly a date,” Amanda tried to explain. “He’s just looking for something to do, and I said we could go to the festival.”

“Trust me, Amanda, this is a date.” Lacy reached out and gently pulled Amanda back into the house. “It’s fine if you want to wear that for work, but you need to change into something a little more flattering afterward. C’mon, I’ll find you something that’ll knock his socks off.”

Rather than waste time arguing with her sister, fashion icon and basic shallow thinker, Amanda allowed Lacy to rummage through both of their closets until she came up with trousers from Amanda’s wardrobe and a cute little tunic from her own.

“I’m glad I bought this in a size smaller,” Lacy said as she shoved the tunic into a tote. “I thought I was going to lose a little weight, but since it didn’t happen, at least you can get some use out of it.” She grabbed a necklace from the wicker table and dropped it into the side pocket. “Put this on, too.”

“Thanks.” Amanda took the tote and headed out the door before her sister thought of something else she might need. As it was, she had a little difficulty maneuvering everything while steering her bicycle toward the shop.

Between customers, Amanda thought about the clothes in the bag and wondered if she really needed to worry so much about what to wear. If Jerry really liked her, would it matter if she put on that cute little top of Lacy’s?

The day seemed to drag, but a half hour after the high school let out, Tiffany arrived to take over. Amanda handed her the reservation book then headed for the back room where she’d stashed the tote from her sister.

When she heard the bell on the door, she stilled and listened for Jerry’s familiar voice. Her heart pounded when she was sure it was him.

“Just a minute,” Tiffany said. “I’ll see if she’s ready to go.”

Amanda hadn’t changed yet, so when Tiffany stopped at the door of the back room and eyeballed her before speaking, she made a decision. She wasn’t changing clothes. This wasn’t a date, and she’d decided it would be easier and more fun to ride bikes to the beach.

“Tell Jerry I’ll be right out,” she said. “Oh, and does he have biking clothes?”

Tiffany slowly shook her head no. “He’s a little overdressed for riding a bike.”

“That’s fine.” Amber glanced around the room until her eyes settled on some returns she’d kept on hand for emergencies. “He can wear that. Why don’t you send him back here?”

“Okey-dokey.” Tiffany disappeared as Amanda searched until she found everything Jerry would need.

“You wanted me for something?” Jerry asked.

Amanda crooked her finger and motioned for him to join her. “You’re a little too dressed up for riding bikes, so I found something for you to change into. I hope you don’t mind.”

His lips formed a straight line as his forehead crinkled. “We’re riding bikes?”

She nodded. “I thought that would be fun.”

After a brief pause, he looked at the clothes. “I’m game.” A goofy expression spread over his face as he raked a gesture over his outfit. “You don’t approve of what my mother picked out?”

She laughed. “You look nice, Jerry, but next time, you might want to remember where you are. This is Treasure Island. The beach. We like to go casual around here.”

“Good thing I keep sneakers and workout socks in my SUV.”

“Perfect!”

Jerry picked up the bike shorts and T-shirt then glanced around. “Where should I change?”

“The restroom is over there in the corner. Just hang your stuff on the hook.”

As Jerry went into the restroom and closed the door behind him, Amanda thought about what a great sport he was. Not every man would be so agreeable.

She went out to the front of the store to chat with Tiffany while she waited. “He’s cute,” Tiffany said softly, “for an older guy.”

Amanda smiled. “Yeah, he’s okay.”

She started to add that they were just friends when she heard the sound of Jerry clearing his throat behind her. She spun around in time to see him doing a model pose in his shorts and logo tee.

Tiffany came around from behind the desk and gave him a slow once-over. “You look just like a professional biker,” she said.

Jerry grinned and winked at the teenager then turned to Amanda. “Better now?”

“Much better,” she said. “We need to get going. I have a couple of bikes ready and waiting. I need to go drop something off with a friend at John’s Pass. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Fine with me,” he said. “You lead the way.”

Amanda heard a long, dreamy
ahh
from Tiffany as they left the store. She made a mental note to squelch any romantic notions the girl had before it got around that she was dating a man. Rumors, particularly among the Treasure Island high school crowd in St. Petersburg, traveled fast and knew no limits.

They took off, starting on the road then bumping up onto sidewalks where the traffic was heavy. Amanda had to stop and wait for him a couple of times as he maneuvered between cars.

“This is interesting,” Jerry said as they pedaled along. “The traffic keeps getting worse.”

She nodded. “If you think this is bad, you should have seen it a couple months ago.”

They were approaching a bridge that was slightly trickier to maneuver. She was glad there was no westerly wind, or they’d have had to deal with the salt spray. Most of the time she didn’t care if she got the frizzies, but for once, her hair was behaving.

After they crossed the bridge, Jerry veered to the side, stopped, and pulled off his helmet. He straddled his bike as he lifted his hand and shielded his eyes from the sun. “This place blows me away.”

She maneuvered her bike closer to his. “You like it?”

“It’s breathtaking.”

“If you like this, maybe we can go on a longer ride sometime.”

As he turned to face her, his expression changed. He slowly nodded. “Yes, I’d like that.”

Her heart hammered, and her lips quivered. She hoped he didn’t see how he was affecting her. After this was all over, she’d make a list of reasons it wouldn’t be good to fall for this guy—the first one being that he was a tourist and nothing would ever pull her away from her sister and the business she’d worked so hard to build. The second one being the fact that she stunk at relationships.

After positioning her foot on the pedal, she motioned for him to step it up. “Let’s keep moving. I don’t want to miss more than we already have.”

Jerry felt a sliver of hope. Amanda was fun. She’d definitely liven up his vacation. He’d have to keep it on just-friends terms; otherwise he could see himself falling for her, which would be a disaster. He didn’t need any distractions to keep him away from taking care of his parents when they needed him most.

They took turns with the lead for most of the trip, but after they crossed the bridge, Jerry followed her the rest of the way to John’s Pass, where she delivered some fliers at a friend’s surf shop. Then they hopped back on their bikes and headed across the bridge to Treasure Island. She obviously knew exactly where she was going, and she was focused. He liked that about her.

“I was hoping we could catch at least part of one of my favorite bands,” she hollered as they drew closer to the activities.

“What band is that?”

“It’s an old-time swing band.”

“Sounds interesting.”

They parked their bikes in a rack and locked them together. If he’d had any doubt about how to dress, he shouldn’t have worried. People wore anything from golf clothes to swimsuits—and everything in between. No one looked out of place—not even the businessmen who appeared to be networking. The beach was packed, and the crowd spilled out from the sidewalks to the road.

“Look.” Amanda pointed to something behind him, so he turned to see what it was.

An elderly gentleman sat in front of an easel and was painting the crowd before him. Even though movement was fluid, he managed to capture the essence of what was around him.

“This is really great,” Jerry said.

“I know,” Amanda said. “There’s always something fun going on here. When I was younger they had pirate festivals, but that ended a few years ago.”