Vivien’s breath caught slightly at his words, and she took another sip of wine, looking at him over the rim. “It might. Depends on if you brush sand off my face again.”
He reached over the table and grazed her cheek with his knuckle, leveling his gaze at her long enough for her to feel it right down to her toes.
“It’s my signature move,” he joked with a wink.
“And once again, I swoon.”
They both laughed and stayed quiet for a few seconds, enjoying the connection before they continued with the dinner and talked and laughed about a million different memories from the past.
They remembered the time Eli got stung by a jellyfish and Peter announced that the only thing that could save him was to pee on it. And the summer they were stuck inside for three days during a tropical storm, and spent the entire time playing a Monopoly marathon. They remembered meals they’d made, nicknames they’d invented, and a few more girls Eli had obsessed over.
“But no one could hold a candle to Tessa,” Peter said. “Especially the last two years. After she turned seventeen, Eli was a goner.”
“He was a goner from the day he saw her.” She looked skyward. “We all knew it. Even Kate, who felt about him like I did about you.”
“Another crush I didn’t know about.”
“We kept that one very secret because they were sisters and Eli was…oblivious.”
He lifted his brows. “Funny thing, though. I sense something real with Kate and Eli now. She’s special. Do you think they’ll work out?”
Vivien considered the question, narrowing her eyes as she thought. “I think they have a shot, except for the small matter of living a thousand miles apart. And his beliefs are strong. If she’s going to be in his life, I’d imagine she’d have to at least give faith a chance.”
He nodded. “I’ve thought of that, although he’s low-key about his religion.”
They finished eating and lingered over coffee and the conversation until it was well and truly dark. They finally left to walk with the tourists that filled the sprawling shopping and retail center.
As they got downstairs from the second-floor restaurant and stepped outside, Vivien let out a grunt of frustration.
“I left my cardigan on the chair,” she said. “I bring one for air-conditioning and always forget it.”
“Stay right here,” he said. “I’ll be back in a second.”
She gave him a grateful smile and leaned against the railing, looking out at the lights of the boats all over the harbor.
The strains of music from the restaurant floated down and she took a deep breath, replaying the conversation and feeling…something.
Warmth. Comfort. Security. Peter was a friend, and, yes, in some sense, a brother. She already loved him like that, but could it be more? She didn’t know, and considering the fact that her divorce wasn’t even final, it really was a moot point.
At the sound of a woman’s laugh, she looked up and caught sight of a couple upstairs, something about her pulling Vivien’s attention.
Was that Fiona Buckman?
It was! She was too far away to greet, but Vivien leaned back and watched her talking and laughing with a man seated across from her. Well, what do you know? The merry widow was on a date.
Vivien squinted to get a good look at the man in the shadows and soft restaurant light. He had a strong jaw, a handsome face, and the posture of confidence. Wealth, even. Or maybe that was the cut of a shirt that, even from a distance, looked custom made.
Wait a second. Waitone ever-lovin’ second.
She stood a little straighter, inhaling a sharp breath. Was that thehandyman? That handsome man who was definitely much younger than?—
“Here you go.”
“Oh.” She turned to see Peter, holding her sheer white sweater. “Thank you. I…”
“Who you stalking?” he asked as he slipped it over her bare shoulders, following her gaze.
“That’s Fiona, my client,” she said in a whisper, even though the woman couldn’t possibly hear her. “And she’s out with the hapless handyman! Who has to be ten years younger!”
