Her? Then she remembered their last conversation. “To apologize for sending me up the high road, where I crashed?”
He gave a sad smile. “Yeah, Eli told me it didn’t go so great with your ex. I still think you did the right thing.”
“I did,” she said. “Now I know there’s a good a reason I’m getting a divorce.”
“Exactly. No doubts or second-guessing.”
“Yep. I do appreciate your advice, and I hope that Ryan and I can somehow remain civil, if not friends. As you said, divorce lasts a long time.” She added a smile. “In fact, I’ll be signing those papers in a matter of days.”
“Then my timing is perfect,” he said. “Maybe a little early, but that’s how I roll.”
“A little early…” She frowned, not following.
He angled his head as if he couldn’t believe she didn’t know. “Too soon to have dinner, Viv? I’d like to go out with you.”
He…what?
“I didn’t want to ask via text—I’m way too old school for that. And I wanted to see your face, and going by that surprised look, Eli didn’t warn you I’d be asking.”
She felt her face warm with an unexpected blush for the second time in a few minutes.
“No, I…no. He didn’t warn me about anything,” she said on a laugh. “So…really? A date?”
He smiled. “Just a nice dinner to catch up without the entire Lawson crew breathing down our necks.”
“Peter, I…” She was weirdly breathless, certain her hair was falling in still-damp clumps and her mascara might have left raccoon eyes. But he looked like he didn’t care about any of that. “Yes, of course. I’d love that.”
The look on his face made the whole awkward moment utterly worthwhile.
“I’ll call you,” he said, taking a step forward. “Eli gave me your number.”
“You two are scheming like teenagers, aren’t you?” she asked on a chuckle.
“Some things never change, Viv.” He stepped closer and for a second she though he was going to lower his face and drop a kiss. But he just tugged one of her wet strands. “Good look for you, Viv. You look pretty,” he said softly.
And with that, he stepped out the door, leaving her breathless and shocked and weirdly excited.
The handyman had called her pretty, too. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt pretty—let alone had not one buttwomen tell her she was in the same day.
“Huh.” She looked down at her grass-stained, misshapen, ruined Belgian linen pants, smoothing the water bumps left behind. “Who knew these would be my lucky pants?”
After Peter left, Eli went back to work with Jonah, where they were underway on the unfinished apartment. Wiping sweat from his forehead, he surveyed their progress on the skeletal framework of the space. Two-by-fours framed the walls, the rough subfloor creaked underfoot, and open windows let in the warm Florida breeze.
When finished, this addition to the house would consist of two bedrooms, a living area with a small kitchenette, and a large full bath. When he’d drawn out the specs, he knew it was a brilliant use of the are above the three-car garage. It had rental income potential or could add wonderfully livable space and privacy—a working office, a mother-in-law’s suite—for whoever bought the house.
If they sold it.
He felt his heart tighten on the subject again. Part of the appeal of keeping this beach house, at least when Vivien approached him with the idea, was that he could open it up to the Wylies as frequent—regular?—guests. A place where he and Kate could meet often and nurture their budding romance.
But if Maggie’s beef with the other family was that deep and painful…could they do that? Worse, could he pursue the kind of relationship he wanted with Kate?
Jonah looked up from the bright pink fiberglass insulation he was measuring for the day’s work. “Heavy sigh there, dude. Is there a problem with that electric schematic?”
Eli inched back from the box on the wall. “If there was, I’d have to call the electrician who installed it, since I’m not licensed for that. But it’s good. I’m just…thinking.”
Jonah’s gaze stayed direct, his hazel eyes narrowing as he regarded Eli. “You’ve been weird today.”
Eli gave a snort. “You’ll have to define weird.”
