Taste of Romance by Darlene Panzera

jump out and swim with the fish.”
    Kim took a deep breath, her palms sweaty and her nerves zinging. “I’m ready.”
    The propeller on the front of his brother’s small single-engine seaplane spun around,
     picking up speed, and her heart beat faster and faster.
    You can do this, she told herself. You have to do this.
    As they moved forward, the high squeal ringing in her ears dropped to a low buzz.
     Out her side window a white wake followed the slender float as it cut through the
     water.
    “Okay?” Nathaniel asked, glancing her way as he worked the controls.
    “Yes.” She held tight to her seatbelt and gritted her teeth as the plane lifted higher.
     “I’m . . . okay.”
    And she really was.
    Youngs Bay stretched out before them, and she giggled with nervous relief, giddy as
     Theresa on too much sugar.
    “This is amazing,” she said, her voice soaring an octave higher than normal.
    Nathaniel laughed as if energized by her excitement. “There are many lakes in Sweden.
     My brother and I have been flying float planes since we were in high school even if
     our mother didn’t want us to.”
    “Was she afraid you’d get hurt?” she asked.
    He shook his head. “She was more afraid for the plane. It wasn’t ours, but a neighbor’s.”
    Kim urged Nathaniel to go a little higher and marveled at the scene below, images
     she never would have seen with her own eyes if she hadn’t agreed to fly.
    She thought of her mother and the risk involved. Since the crash, Kim had avoided
     all kinds of risk. She had even avoided risk in her relationships by keeping tight
     control over her emotions.
    Until Nathaniel.
    “Thank you,” she said, touching his shoulder.
    He grinned. “No, my dear Kimberly, thank you. ”
    E ARLY THE NEXT morning, Kim checked on the little blackbird by the side door in the party room.
     She’d placed leaves and birdseed in the box with it, along with a bowl of water. The
     song by the Beatles came to mind, as she checked its broken wing and urged it to fly.
     Instead, it fluttered around, hobbling, with only little jumps here and there.
    “What are we going to do when its wing heals and we have a bird flying around the
     shop?” Rachel asked, coming up behind her.
    Kim shrugged. “I’ll open the door and let it go.”
    She heard her name and looked through the connecting door into the main room of the
     shop, where Meredith was talking on the phone.
    “Sorry,” Meredith said with a conniving note in her voice. “She’s not available right
     now.”
    Kim walked toward her. “Is that for me?”
    Meredith glanced at her and grimaced. “Well, she might be here after all. Hold on.”
    Kim narrowed her gaze on the girl and took the phone away from her. “Why didn’t you
     call me over?”
    “You want me calling out across the shop?” Meredith asked, her hands on her hips.
    “If the phone call is for me,” Kim said, “then, yes!”
    Meredith rolled her eyes and walked away in a huff.
    “Hello?” Kim greeted the person on the other end of the line, hoping it was Nathaniel.
    It wasn’t. It was one of her friends from the Portland art show.
    “Kim, I’ve been talking to the others, and we really need to know if you plan to open
     the gallery with us. Mark, Ellie, and I are looking at possible locations, and as
     soon as we find one, we’ll need the money for the first month’s rent.”
    She hesitated, then glanced toward Andi and Rachel, who were filling the display case
     with fresh cupcakes. “Can I give you an answer by the end of the week?”
    “Sure, Kim, but the sooner you decide, the better. We need you.”
    Kim hung up, confident that by the end of the week, she’d know if there would still
     be a cupcake shop to stand in her way or if the choice would be a no-brainer.
    At least she had options. If Creative Cupcakes closed down, she didn’t know what Andi
     and Rachel would do.
    Through the large front window she caught sight of a motorcycle and ran