He put several more inches between them, then snatched up the bottle of wine and poured two glasses. Without looking her way, he passed one over, then drank deeply of his own. Her gaze was on his face, he could feel it, so he gestured toward the horizon with his wine. “We’re here to see the green flash at sunset.” An object of myth and superstition, the flash was a real but rare optical phenomenon. As the trailing edge of the sun appeared to hit the water, a green light could sometimes be seen shooting upward.
“Oh.” She was silent a long moment. “I’ve never caught sight of one. Dad—” She broke off, her breath a little hiccup that was almost a sob.
The sound made his chest ache. He looked over at her. “Honey...”
“I’m fine,” she said quickly, straightening her posture as if under inspection. Her attention was focused westward, at the sun already half-hidden by the horizon line. The wind fluttered the ends of her hair. Then, as he watched, a single tear crested her lower eyelid, turning gold as it caught the last rays of light.
Vance didn’t even think before sliding close and then circling her waist to draw her against him. It killed him when she lifted her shoulder in a quick surreptitious gesture to blot her cheek.
So intent on hiding her emotions. In a professional soldier’s household any sentimental display had likely been looked upon as weakness.
She cleared her throat. “My father told me about one he witnessed in Iraq,” she said, her voice a deeper rasp than usual. “You can see them over the tops of mountains and even clouds, did you know that?”
Vance shook his head, struck by the beauty of her face as a second golden tear rolled down her skin. His fingers itched to touch it, to brush it away, but suddenly that seemed like the most intimate act of all.
Her hand lifted her glass, but she lowered it before taking a sip. She stared at the sun as it sank lower. “Jules Verne said that a person who sees a green flash gains special powers. They can’t be deceived because they can read others’ thoughts.”
He grunted, alarmed by the idea. Good Christ, it would only be trouble if Layla started reading his mind.
“But according to sailors,” she continued, “when the flash appears, it means a soul has crossed over.”
According to Layla, too, Vance realized, watching her so-serious face. She wanted to believe she was here to see her father’s soul pass on.
So Vance turned westward, as well, willing it for her with all he had. When the wind died and the final fingernail rim of the orange sun slipped into the ocean, though, there was no coinciding emerald burst of light. No souls crossed that night.
He thought he might just cry at the lack. Another long silence followed, the dusk deepening around them. Lights came on in the windows of the other houses in the cove, but their glow didn’t touch them here, at the south end and under the darker shadow of the looming cliff.
Finally, Layla lifted her glass for a sip of wine. “Vance, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.” Ask me if I saw the flash. I’ll lie my ass off and say yes if it will make you believe the colonel’s peacefully passed on. Anything. Any damn thing to make you happier.
“I have a couple of questions for you, actually.” She went quiet again, as if gathering her thoughts. “First, about last night...”
His groan was swallowed back. “Maybe it would be better to leave that alone.” He started to shift away from her, but she placed her hand on his thigh.
“Okay,” she said easily enough. “Then answer my other question.”
Darkness came swiftly once the sun was gone. Her features were already obscured, and it made him uneasy. “If I can,” he said, cautious now about his promises.
She took a breath. “I wondered what the problem is between you and your brother.”
He blinked. “Fitz?”
“I know you were angry at him last night and maybe I was miffed, too, but the fact is, he seemed upset—”
“I’ve changed my mind, Alex,” he said. “I’ll take About Last Night for two hundred dollars.”
She let out a little startled laugh. “Really? You won’t tell me why—”
“About Last Night for one thousand dollars.”
No way in hell did he want to discuss the situation with his brother. Talk about personal. And intimate. Telling that story would be like plunging