“Are you really sitting in front of me?” Jacob whispered.
“I thought I wouldn’t see you again. I thought maybe you had left Cape Elizabeth.”
He lifted his hand as though to caress my face, but then he remembered we were in public and pulled back. “I couldn’t remember where you worked.” Then he started to laugh. “I tried so many places in town looking for you.”
I took his hand. “I work at the library. I’ve been looking for you as well.”
Before I knew it, we had finished our tea and cake. As we headed for the reception room, Jayne and Eleanor headed toward the powder room while Jacob took my hand and pulled me into an alcove behind a really large, potted plant.
“Please tell me you’re not marrying that other fellow?”
“No,” I replied, shaking my head. He shocked the life out of me by kissing me on the cheek, tenderly.
“Can I see you again?” He moved closer.
“Yes.”
His lips came down on mine. I was sure I could see stars. I couldn’t think, my whole world had tipped on its axis. He pulled his mouth away from mine, and I finally came back to myself. He just grinned at me.
“Um . . . I think we need to practice that.” I blushed at how forward I was being.
I reached up and pulled his head down to mine. Fireworks exploded in my head. I wasn’t usually so forward, but this felt right . . . this was Jacob.
We both pulled away rather breathless. “Can I see you tonight?”
“Oh, yes,” I replied excitedly.
I told him where I lived and we quickly arranged to meet at ten on the beach.
All the way out of town, Jayne did nothing but go on and on about Jacob and how much my parents would disapprove. I pointed out to Jayne that it was my life, and I would see Jacob if I wanted to. She walked off in a bit of a huff. From now on, I am going to keep him my secret. I certainly didn’t want to have my parents finding out about him before I knew him better.
My father was a snob and, in his eyes, anyone who wore anything other than a suit to work was not worthy of his only daughter. He actually hated me working at the library, which was all the more reason to do it!
Later that night I brushed my hair until it shone. I slipped on one of my new dresses, which was pale pink with white piping around the neck and sleeves. I applied my pink lipstick and slipped my feet into my pink shoes.
My stomach was full of butterflies with excitement as I sneaked out of my room and down the stairs, through the kitchen, then out the backdoor.
With a deep breath, I walked around Mother’s rose garden and between the gaps in the hedges to be able to walk down the path to the beach without being seen.
Five minutes later, I turned the bend in the path and could just make out Jacob and the smile that spread across his face at the sight of me.
Jacob started walking toward me as I sped up my walk, and before I knew it, we stood facing each other.
He reached out with his hands and caressed my face before he touched his lips to mine in the sweetest of kisses. The kiss went on and on, and by the time he withdrew his lips from mine, my knees were so weak, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to walk.
“I can’t believe you’re here in front of me. That I have my hands on your face. I feel as though I’ve known you for years and that it hasn’t only been a few days since we met,” he confessed.
I had tears in my eyes. “I know what you mean. I feel it too, Jacob.”
He seemed to pull himself together before he stepped back and took my hand in his. “Come, Rose. Let’s walk along the beach before it gets too dark.”
“I’d like that.”
We strolled down the sandy beach wrapped in each other’s arms. My arm was around Jacob’s waist and his was around my shoulders, holding me tightly. He felt delicious against my side, and all I wanted was for him to stop walking and kiss me senseless.
I had been on dates with other young men in the past . . . we had held hands, walked down the beach and through town, but no one had ever felt as good beside me . . . no one had felt so right.
Was I falling in love with him? I honestly felt so happy with Jacob.