Every time Paul thought about asking Annie to marry him, he remembered the time when he was seventeen and that blonde girl on the beach had offered him a lick of her ice cream cone.

Annie had never once offered him as much as a peek at her checkbook balance.

Chelan Kingfisher lives on beautiful Orcas Island in the Pacific Northwest. She both fuels and exhausts her days navigating the uncertainties of seeking happiness in the tiny things of life.