Until Then (Cape Harbor #2) - Heidi McLaughlin Page 0,90
it landed on me . . .” She sat back and smiled. “Girls were pissed, but I didn’t care, because I was heading into the closet with this really hot guy.” Graham blushed as Rennie recounted the way they met.
“I remember that night clearly.”
“You were my first kiss. Hell, you were my first everything, and there was a time when my mother thought we were going to get married.”
“Really?”
“Yeah . . .” Rennie paused when the waiter came to the table with their salads. She and Graham both took their napkins and placed them on their laps and picked up their forks. He dug in immediately, but she waited. She wanted to finish telling him about her mom. “When we went off to college, she told me to be careful, that she always heard the women were a bit wild down there because so much sun made them do crazy things. I remember laughing her off and thinking she had no idea about her daughter. I couldn’t wait to party. But as she was helping me pack, she put her hand on mine and said, ‘Graham is a good guy and is going to be a great man.’ At first, I had no idea what she was talking about until I told her about Theo. Her first question was, ‘Whatever happened to Graham? I always liked him.’ So, what did happen?”
Graham put his fork down, finished chewing, and used his napkin to wipe his lips. “Nothing happened. I fell in love with someone, Austin died, and then she left me because I felt I had a duty to come home and help Grady and my dad. It was like some perverse life cycle I couldn’t control.”
They were only halfway through their salads when dinner arrived. Graham seemed lost in thought each time Rennie would glance at him. They made small talk, mostly about the area they were in and how long they were going to stay.
“My vacation is over on the third,” she told him. She needed to talk to distract herself from her thoughts.
“I don’t know if I can be gone that long, but I’ll check with Krista.”
“Ask her if it’s okay if you’re gone until the first. I do feel bad keeping you away from work. We can go back tomorrow, if you want. I know you have a life, and I’ve completely interrupted it. I’m sorry, Graham.”
“I’ll call her tomorrow and see how she feels working through the holiday.”
“You need more staff.”
Graham chuckled. “We need more people in Cape Harbor. There are times when I look at the books and ask myself how the bar has stayed open as long as it has, and then I remember the regulars. They come in every day or every other day because they’re loyal. Things are great in the summer, but winter hits us hard.”
“If Krista is okay with you being gone, I can come work at the bar for a few days before I have to head back to Seattle.”
“You want to work in the bar?”
Rennie shrugged and smiled brightly. “Why not? I had a lot of fun when I did it earlier.” She stuck her lower lip out in a pout.
Graham shook his head slowly and started to laugh. “You’re crazy, but if you want to work, you can. I just don’t want to hear you complain about your feet hurting or the lousy tips you’re getting.”
She clapped her hands in delight. “Perfect. Now I feel like I’m not hogging all your time.”
“Why’d you throw your phone in the water?” Graham asked, breaking the silence between them.
Rennie set her fork down and pushed her plate away. “Because the only person I wanted to speak with was with me. Everyone else, including Brooklyn, would coddle me, treat me like I’m fragile. I didn’t want to answer a million texts asking how I’m doing or see Theo’s name pop up on the screen. I know I could’ve blocked him, but he’d just call from a different number, and I didn’t want to deal with it. I’m also on vacation and shouldn’t have to deal with work.”
“You only wanted to be with me?”
“When that shit went down, you were the only person I wanted to come to my rescue.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Graham, it’s like you make breathing easy for me. When I’m around you, I can be myself. I’m not Renee, but Rennie, and it doesn’t matter what’s going on in my life—you’re not going to make me feel like I’m less