Foraged Love in a Berry Grove - Love Tales from Santa Margarita Island Book 1

Chapter 7 - Buying the Drama

Gage wasn't sure he still wanted to go around with Beth. She clearly didn't want to go with him.

"Hey," Gage gently nudged her arm with his as they started walking side by side. "We don't have to go together. You can ditch me at that fork."

Beth looked up at him with wide gray eyes, appearing to consider the thought, before her expression changed to shock, then remorse. She shook her head.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, touching his arm. "Please don't take offense. It's me. I have social anxiety, and my impulse is to panic over the possibility of interaction with a stranger."

Gage smiled, "But I'm not a stranger. We met this morning, remember? And you handled that encounter just fi... " Oops! "I mean, when it was just us."

Beth bent her head at the recollection and kept quiet. Gage endeavored to stop their conversation from spiraling down the crapper. A change of topic was definitely in order.

"So, how do you like living in a van?"

Beth smiled up at him, her relief and gratitude apparent. Gage felt his heart stall for a second. "I love it. I've always enjoyed tight and cozy spaces, so the size isn't a problem for me. It's wasted on me though. I should be hitting the road and pursuing a nomadic lifestyle, but I'm pretty much tied to the farm."

"I hope you do get to travel in it from time to time. I bet it's great for road trips."

"Yes! And camping! My life has actually been a continuous camping trip for the past couple of years," she chuckled. There was that flutter in his belly again. "It's been fun, but I think I'm ready to build a house."

"Up there or in town?"

"Definitely up there. What about you? Where do you live and what are you doing on the island?"

He worked to keep his tone neutral. "I teach fourth grade at Slater International School, so I was given a unit at the school-owned apartment building right next to the campus."

Understanding dawned on Beth's face, but it was quickly chased away by that troubled look that was beginning to look uncomfortably familiar.

"You know that I used to teach there," she meant to ask, but it didn't come out as a question.

"Yeah, Nikki told me," Gage confessed.

Beth bit her lip and looked away. Man! Gage groaned inwardly. Talking to this woman was like walking in a field of landmines. Dating her is bound to be exhausting, not to mention nerve-wracking. He wasn't sure he was equal to the task. He'd had his fair share of drama from past girlfriends. He also remembered that when he had decided that he was done playing mind games with women, Lauren breezed into his life like an answer to some prayer he must have uttered. It was perfect too, until everything went to blazes.

Presently, Beth seemed to have resolved to fight through her anxiety and enjoy the exhibit.

"So, Nikki Schulz, huh?" She remarked as she approached an apple green 1976 British Leyland Mini with a black hood. "You're lucky. She's a very nice person. Beautiful, too," she stated before laughing, "You'd expect to find Mr. Bean behind the wheel!"

"Or sitting in an armchair on top of it," Gage joked back. "And yes, I'm lucky to have Nikki as a friend." He tried not to emphasize "friend", but he probably failed.

"Yeah, I remember that episode," Beth murmured. "I thought you guys were dating." She sounded nonchalant about the comment, but she had a wide, happy grin on her face. Gage felt hopeful. Of course, she could have just been amused by the stuffed toy she was pointing at. There was a replica of Mr. Bean's stuffed bear on the front passenger seat. She started to say something about it when her expression changed to one of dismay.

Oh, for Pete's sake, what was it this time? Gage followed her eyes and saw another woman staring back at her. She looked shocked. There was a guy with her and Gage didn't like the looks of him right off. For one, he looked pompous and full of self-importance. He also had the most annoying smirk on his vapid face.

To Gage's surprise, Beth grabbed his hand and pretty much hauled him out of that particular tent, bulldozing her way through the crowd until they were a good distance away before she finally realized what she was doing.

With a gasp, she dropped Gage's hand. "I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, beginning to hyperventilate.

Gage irritably noted the pleasure he had felt from their skin contact under the prevailing concern and alarm that Beth's behavior elicited from him. "Are you okay? Who were those people?"

Beth covered her face with her hands, counting in French, trying to calm herself down. She got to quinze before her hands fell from her face. Looking pale, she drew in a ragged breath before giving Gage a shaky smile. "If you want to beat it, hightail it out of here, leave my neurotic butt posthaste, I would totally understand," she joked.

Gage had a nanosecond to decide. Of course, he wasn't going to leave her there, but did he gently guide her back to Leo's exhibit never to bother with her again or did he patiently, maybe even painstakingly, hold onto and feed the connection he'd sensed with her?

Gage, at times to his own detriment, was a "yes" guy. He courageously heeded his gut most of the time, trusting it and also fearing any possible regret that ignoring it might cause. Of course, he had also just had his heart shattered, so he was a little gun shy and a whole lot more inclined to self-preservation these days. Nonetheless, he had to be true to himself, and what he essentially was was a risk-taker, so he held out his hand to Beth.

"Just lead the way and we'll go to a place where you can feel calm and safe," he proposed.

Beth looked up at him, her gray eyes huge with naked, genuine fear. But Gage discerned another emotion trying to fight its way up from those pools of fright, and it was beautiful when it finally broke through. His heart fumbled a beat yet again.

Resolve transformed Beth. Gage had never seen any hint of aura in his life and didn't believe in it, but right then he saw a pale yellow light glow around the woman in front of him.

He sucked in his breath. His chest thundered as he felt a tingling in his arms. He hoped he wasn't having a stroke. Beth seriously had a weird effect on his anatomy, and he hadn't even figured lust into the equation.

Gage enveloped the hand that Beth placed on his. Their palms kissed, nerve endings shooting mini lightning bolts at each other. They had identical flushes on their faces as Beth led them away from the cars and toward the boats.