Seaside Romance. Mia Ross

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      Chapter Two

      The cookies were no problem, but Lauren quickly realized the sandwich platter would never fit in the small fridge Julia kept in her office for cold drinks.

      “Come on.” Angling her helper toward the door marked Private, she headed up to Julia’s apartment. “We’ll put them in the kitchen upstairs.”

      When she was about halfway up, a high-brow English accent called out, “Brevity is the soul of wit!”

      Giggling, she looked back at Ben. “You probably know Shakespeare.”

      “Oh, yeah,” he replied with a chuckle. “The Bard and me, we go way back. I thought Julia was just bird-sitting, though. Is she keeping him for good?”

      “His owner, Liam, will be at the wedding,” Lauren explained as they continued up. “He’s an interpreter, and his last assignment will be over then. After that, they’re on their way back to Wales.”

      When they reached the top, a huge blue-and-yellow macaw nodded at them with what struck Lauren as a regal bow. “Greetings, fair maiden.” Eyeing Ben, he skidded to the side of his perch and adopted a more modern pose. “Wassup, dude?”

      Ben laughed, and she shook her head at him. “You taught him that, didn’t you?”

      “Yeah. You can only take so much classic literature.”

      “Between that and the kids teaching him nursery rhymes, it’ll take Liam months to retrain him.”

      “Who knows,” Ben said as they went into the galley kitchen at the back of Julia’s apartment. “Maybe he’ll appreciate some variety.”

      “I’d imagine he’ll be glad to be home for a while,” she said while she opened the fridge and moved things around to make room for the platter. “He’s been going from one post to another for most of the last year.”

      “Kinda cool, being able to travel around like that,” Ben commented with more than a hint of envy. “You get sick of one place, you just pack up and check out somewhere else.”

      Lauren had done that, leaving a quiet Philadelphia neighborhood for the sparkling Big Apple she’d always longed to explore. In the end, she’d discovered it wasn’t where you were that mattered. It was who you were with. “It’s not as fun as it sounds. If you’re not with the right person, you could be living in a castle, and it’s still awful.”

      As he handed over the sandwiches, Ben frowned. “You sound like someone who has some personal experience with castles.”

      And princes, Lauren added silently. The problem was, the ones she kissed kept turning into frogs, instead of the other way around. She used to believe there was someone for everyone, but lately she couldn’t help wondering if that philosophy needed some fine-tuning. “Let’s just say I’ve done my time in the tower and I’m not in a hurry to go back.”

      Her attempt at humor had the effect she was after, and he grinned. “Rapunzel. Ever since she saw the movie, my niece Allie is crazy about that story. She always says if that was her, she’d never have let them put her up there in the first place.”

      “Good for her,” Lauren approved. “I wish I’d thought of that.”

      He gave her an encouraging smile. “We all make mistakes, Lauren. It’s what we do afterward that really counts.”

      The simple wisdom in his words touched her deeply. In the brief time she’d known him, she’d gotten more warmth and understanding from him than she had in a year with Jeremy. If only she’d known more guys like Ben, she might have caught on to Jeremy’s scheme in time to save herself a lot of heartache.

      Shoving the past into the back of her mind for now, she closed the fridge and smiled up at Ben. “Thanks for your help. I should get back down there to help Julia set up for the party.”

      He cocked his head like he’d just heard something unusual. “You don’t sound thrilled with that.”

      “Well,” she hedged then decided she might as well come clean. “I’m not used to kids, so I’m not sure what to expect.”

      “You’ll do fine,” he assured her with a confidence she wished she could tap into. “Kids love making Easter eggs and eating snacks, so there’s not much for you to do except make sure they don’t dye their friend’s hair purple or something.”