A soft laugh escaped Barry.“Go ahead. I can see you want to add something.”
She smiled at him in the soft glow of the fairy lights from the solar mason jars scattered around them.“Well…I thought Del looked at Cassandra like…well, as if helikedher. Some kind of longing in his eyes.”
“I don’t know. They haven’t seen each other in years.”
“I know, but still…I think there was some spark between them. And her eyes lit up when she sawhim. I just think…”She sighed.“Oh, I’m just a hopeless romantic, I guess. But it’s probably a moot point since she was just here to see the hotel. Wonder where she lives now?”
“No clue. She hurried off after Camille came up and started acting all possessive of Delbert.”
“Yes, that was awkward.”
“You know what else was awkward?”Barry asked.
She frowned.“No, what?”
“The fact I wanted to pull you into a dark corner and kiss you all night long. What would the Parker women have thought about that?”
“What the Parker women don’t know won’t hurt them.”She grinned at him.
They settled back in their chairs, under the moonlight, and talked or sat silent as the mood struck them. It was way into the early hours of the morning before he finally walked back home.
She slowly went to her room and took one more look at the lovely gown before slipping it off and carefully placing it back on a hanger. The night had been magical. Both the gala and the late-night visit with Barry out under the stars.
Real life was going to feel kind of…real…after tonight.
Chapter 5
On Monday morning Heather hurried down the pier toward Brewster’s. She ducked down between two buildings to the back walkway when she spied Jillian and Jackie sitting on the bench in the middle of the wharf. Best to avoid them. Always the best choice.
She walked into Brewster’s and spotted Livy already sitting at a table by the water. She slid onto the chair across from her and reached for the waiting coffee. After one sip, she leaned back in her chair, knowing what was coming.
Livy didn’t disappoint.“Okay, so…what’s the deal between you and Jesse?”
“Can’t I even have my coffee first?”Heather asked, averting her eyes.
“Nope. A deal’s a deal. You promised you’d tell me.”
She let out a long sigh, knowing that she couldn’t avoid the conversation forever.“There isn’t much to tell. He made a mistake, and I reacted badly to it. Then later he tried to apologize and…well, I didn’t want to hear it.”That was the short version, anyway.
“What mistake did he make?”Livy peered over her coffee mug, her eyebrow raised.
She let out yet another sigh.“He…He kissed me.”
“Hekissedyou? That was the big mistake?”Livy’s eyes widened.
Heather looked up, her voice firm.“Yes, it was a mistake. We were friends. Like forever. He was easy to be with. Fun to talk to. I loved being his friend. But he ruined everything when he kissed me.”
Livy frowned.“And how did you react badly?”
“I…”She broke into a sheepish grin and shrugged.“I slapped him.”
“Youslappedhim?”Livy tried hard to squelch her laughter but failed. Miserably.
“Yes, he just surprised me and all I could think was that he was ruining everything.”
“And you told him that?”
“I did. I said he’d ruined everything and how our friendship was wrecked and…”
