Читать книгу Jewels On Tiger Island - Catherine Pickren - Страница 6

Mary, Lucy, and Lucy’s fiancé, Logan, celebrated the sale of the house the next evening at the Le Clos Restaurant, a quaint French restaurant in the downtown area of Fernandina Beach. They had just been seated, when Mary looked up over her menu and spotted John Fielding smiling and staring at her. This had to be fate. He was seated two tables away. Lucy also saw him and suggested that they invite John to sit at their table.

At first, Mary was hesitant to ask him to join them because they really didn’t know him, and she didn’t want anything to jeopardize the sale of her home. But with coaxing from Lucy and Logan assuring her it would be a great idea to get to know the new owner of Mary’s home, she relented. Mary went over to John’s table and asked John if he would like to join them and he said, “Yes.”

The four of them got along well at the restaurant telling jokes, laughing, and having a good time. Mary found out that John was thirty-three, he was single, and that he owned several different electronic franchises, as well as several shopping malls located in Boston. He became interested in buying a place on Amelia Island, Florida because of his deceased uncle’s exploits sailing down the Eastern coastline from Boston to Miami and his frequent stops at Fernandina Beach, Florida.

When dessert was ordered, John asked Mary, Lucy, and Logan if they would like to go boating the next Sunday. John told them he had bought a seventy-foot yacht that day and that it was moored at the dock in front of Bret’s Restaurant. The weather report indicated that no rain was predicted for Sunday, so they could leave between noon and 12:30 in case anyone wanted to attend church.

Mary said, “I would love to go, providing Prince can tag along, too.”

John replied, “That would be fine. He’s a retriever, so he’ll enjoy the water and the boat ride. Besides, I think he likes me.”

Mary smiled. “Yes. He is not always so friendly to most people he just meets.” Lucy and Logan laughed. Lucy said, “This is true! You should have seen what happened the first time Logan met Prince. At Mary’s Halloween party, Logan came dressed up as a pirate with a patch over his eye. Logan yelled, ‘ARG’ real loudly behind Mary. Mary screamed, spilling her drink, and Prince ran from his favorite spot by the fireplace and took a lunge for Logan. Prince has now accepted Logan as friendly, but it took a lot of dog treats before he made this decision.”

More amicable chatter followed. When it was time to leave, Mark, Lucy and Logan all agreed upon what food and drinks to bring with them on the boat ride. The three of them were looking forward to seeing John and his new boat in front of Bret’s Restaurant the next Sunday between noon and 12:30.