Every Little Thing (Hart's Boardwalk 2)

I leaned down and kissed her cheek. “How are you?”

She gave me a tired smile. “I wanted to come out today. See everyone.”

“It’s good to see you.”

“It is that.” Iris handed Anita her ice cream and she took it, clearly delighted.

She licked it and smiled up at Archie. “Better than the ice pops.”

He laughed and explained, “We eat a lot of ice pops at the hospital. They hand them out more than they do drugs.”

“Nothing beats Antonio’s ice cream,” I said.

“Shh, don’t say that too loudly.” Ira jerked his head behind him. “Ice Cream Shack.”

I made an Ahh face. There was a long-standing competition between the couple and the Ice Cream Shack. Iris and Ira tried to be nice to the proprietor, a Mr. Shickle, but he took everything they said as an insult, and as rivalry.

“Who’s your friend?” Anita looked past me.

Guilt suffused me for my rudeness. “Oh, God, sorry. This is Rex. Rex, this is Anita and Old Archie. And you’ve already met Iris and Ira.”

“Hey.” He grinned at them.

“Anyway, we better let these people get their ice cream,” Old Archie said. “We’ll no doubt see you two later on.”

I smiled and nodded, my heart aching as they left. Iris met my gaze and she shook her head sadly. Swallowing the lump of emotion in my throat, I grinned with faux cheer. “I’d like a strawberry and white chocolate, please. Rex?”

“The same.”

A minute later we were moving through the Main Street crowds. “This ice cream is so good,” Rex moaned.

I laughed because he looked like a little boy. So freaking cute. And I laughed because I was glad he hadn’t asked what the deal was with Anita. A year ago I’d thought she’d win her battle with cancer, but one battle had turned into a war, and the outcome didn’t look good for her. She just wanted to enjoy her day, however, and I didn’t want to dwell on it.

“Come on, I see someone I want you to meet.”

Rex followed me through the crowds toward the bandstand.

“Kell!” I shouted.

The short blond spun around from speaking to some guy crazy enough to wear a leather jacket in the heat, and Kell broke out into a huge grin at the sight of me. “Bailey!” He hugged me, deftly avoiding my ice cream. “It’s been a while, lovely. Since that terrible incident with Devlin.”

“I know. But we’ve both been so busy. It can’t be helped. Kell, this is my friend Rex. Rex, this is Kell Summers. He’s one of the town councilors and the official events organizer around here.”

“Nice to meet you.” Rex held out his hand.

Kell peered up at Rex as he took it and shook it vigorously. “Friend?”

I laughed and leaned against Rex. “Yes. Friend.”

“Who is a friend?” I turned as Kell’s partner, Jake, arrived on the scene. While Kell was cute, blond, and excitable, Jake was tall, dark, and more reserved than his partner. He enveloped me in a warm hug, kissing my temple before stepping back. “I keep meaning to pop by the inn, make sure Devlin isn’t causing you any more trouble.”

“He’s not,” I promised him. “Believe me, you would already know if he was.”

Jake nodded, satisfied, and then turned to Rex.

“This is her ‘friend,’” Kell air-quoted.

I rolled my eyes as Jake chuckled and held out his hand to Rex. “I’m Jake.”