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“Thanks for all your help today,” Willis said. “Can I make you something on the house as a thank you?”
“Sure, that would be great. I’d love a fish sandwich and chips,” Luke said.
“Coming right up.”
Before he left, he shot Hannah a knowing look, his eyes flicking to Luke for a moment. Hannah glared back at him. Her dad had given her that look before back in high school any time a boy even vaguely looked in her direction, but now she was an adult. She didn’t want him getting any ideas about intervening. She was more than capable of handling a situation on her own.
Willis finally disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Hannah and Luke alone in the restaurant aside from a couple eating on the far side of the room. They sat in comfortable silence for a while before Hannah noticed the full tip jar and got up.
“Here, let me split these tips up before I forget,” Hannah said, reaching into the jar.
“You don’t have to do that, Hannah.” Luke stood and crossed toward her in a few long steps. “Seriously. The sandwich is more than enough.”
“Come on. Just take it.” Hannah started counting out bills and extended them to Luke. He hesitated, then took them, only to put them back into the jar.
“It’s fine. It was nice to have an excuse to spend some time with you even though we were running around like crazy,” he said, his voice gentle.
Hannah’s face heated, then heated more as she took in how he was looking at her. His eyes were soft, like she was the only person he wanted to look at for the rest of the day. It was overwhelming and confusing.
“What is it?” Hannah whispered, her face unbearably warm.
“Nothing. You just look really pretty.”
Hannah shook her head, resisting the urge to finger-comb her hair forward to hide her face a little. He had to be flattering her. She was a total mess, red-cheeked, her hair messily falling out of its ponytail, and her shirt smelling of fried food. But the longer he looked at her, the more she realized he was sincere.
He looked at her like she was magical and not just someone who had grown up in Blueberry Bay without having moved anywhere else. Like she wasn’t exhausted after a rough day on her feet, fielding problem after problem and scaring away seagulls. She had always felt so ordinary, like she could have blended into any neutral background without anyone looking twice. Never the girl who was the center of anything for anyone.
But Luke didn’t see her that way, and it meant more to her than she ever thought it would.
They stood close together, close enough for Hannah to see the faint freckles across his nose even as she looked up at him. His eyes flicked to her lips, then back up to her eyes again. Hannah hadn’t kissed a lot of guys, but she knew Luke wanted to kiss her. For a moment, she nearly gave in—the way he made her feel with just a look nearly made her forget the reality of the situation.
She stepped away, unable to look Luke in the eye or figure out what to do with her hands. She wanted to kiss Luke more than she ever thought she would have. But then, Michael still had her attention and she had no idea how he felt about her. Would kissing Luke get around town like all the news did? What if Michael assumed she was taken? But also, she clicked with Luke a lot today… when had she felt like that with a guy? Rarely, if ever.
“Oh, um…” Luke took a step back, his face beet red.
“Uh, yeah.” Hannah took another step back too, then turned toward the kitchen. “Thanks again for your help. Let me just… I’m going to go check on your sandwich.”
She rushed out, hoping Luke left before she had to face him again.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Caitlin had come into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea, but the mug and tea bag sat in front of her, untouched, as she stared out the window. The memory of seeing James and April in the restaurant’s office, laughing and standing so close together replayed in her mind over and over any time her brain had a spare moment. Driving, showering, and cleaning up had all become moments to analyze every single part of that moment again.
The way James had smiled, which she hadn’t seen him do in a long time. The closeness. The way the office door was open, but was it open enough? She wasn’t sure. She had no idea what to do about it, either.
She hadn’t mentioned it to James, not because she was afraid of his reaction, but more that she was afraid of the truth. Of whether she witnessed the final nail in the coffin of her marriage without realizing it.
She finally started the kettle and started washing a few dishes. Along with her replays of the moment came her self-doubt. Had she read into it a little bit too much? Seen something that wasn’t there because of her own insecurities? There was always a chance that it was a perfectly harmless interaction.
She poured hot water over her tea bag, her throat tight. Was it really harmless, though? Just because they possibly weren’t having an affair? She hadn’t seen James look that animated in ages, much less at her. When was the last time he’d looked at her or playfully flirted with her? How was it okay for him to look so relaxed and happy around some other woman when every time they were in the same room felt like being near a stranger? They hardly even spoke.
Her cup of tea was rapidly cooling, so she took it to the living room and pulled out her phone. She called Alissa, hoping she wasn’t busy.
“Hey, Caitlin,” Alissa said. “What’s up?”
“I just…” Caitlin bit the inside of her cheek and tried to think of how to talk about this. “I saw something strange with James. He was talking to one of our suppliers in the office and they were standing close together, talking in a vaguely flirty way. But it could just be nothing. Maybe he was just in a good mood or something…”
Caitlin trailed off, hoping she had made sense. All of the words just came out in a jumble, as if they had a mind of their own when they came out of her mouth. Even though she wasn’t sure if she was making any sense, a light weight came off her shoulders after holding all of that in. She hadn’t even written about what she had seen in a diary—it had all been clogging up her thoughts.
