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“I think I’ll be having dinner with Sam. He needs to eat better and drink less, so we’ll be doing a moonlight stroll on the beach, and then I’ll bring him back here and screw his brains out. Do you know what kind of cancer he has?”
Callie swallowed hard. That had to be weighing hard on Meg. No one wanted to hurt someone who was already hurting. “I don’t. I didn’t ask Trent. I just knew we had to get him back home.”
Meg stared at the brush in her hand. “I don’t want to fall for a dying man, but I think I might.”
“Would you rather have lived and loved and lived or turned him away and wondered what could be?”
“Wow, you meet Mr. Right and you become this love guru. What happened to you?”
“Liam’s amazing. I don’t know what I’ll do when I need go back to Colorado.”
“Just like I won’t think about Sam’s future, you don’t have to think about that for right now. Enjoy, my friend.” She adjusted one of the curls and then sprayed it sparingly with hairspray. “Just in case he wants to run his fingers through your hair.”
Callie giggled. “Oh, he’s gonna run his fingers everywhere tonight.”
“Ms. Laurel, you’re making me blush.” Meg fanned herself with a drama that was reserved for drag queens and Scarlet O’Hara.
A knock at the door broke into their laughing.
Meg opened the door, and there stood Liam. Linen pants, island inspired shirt, and sandals. Callie had teased him to get painted toenails during the pedicure portion of the spa day, but he’d instead chosen a lovely color of purple for her.
Oh … my … God.
He wasn’t a prince, but he made her dreams come true. Reality could wait until they were back in Omaha.
“We can go out your back sliding glass door to the garden.” Liam kissed her cheek as he grabbed her hand and tugged. “Night, Meg.”
“Night, Liam. Enjoy.”
“We will.”
When they were alone, he spun to face her, and his lips found hers like a beacon bouncing off a ship on the horizon. He called out to her, and she would be rescued.
****
Her father would like Liam, and she could imagine how happy he would be for her. Maybe it wasn’t fate; maybe Liam was a Mike Laurel intervention. He’d always said he’d know the best man for her.
Liam pulled out her chair at the bistro table on the small patio off the ocean. Before sitting, she inhaled a deep breath. Liam’s cologne mixed with the vibrant flowers surrounding the patio. It was a scent like her father’s favorite cologne, but not quite the same.
The dinner consisted of three courses. A simple fresh spring greens salad with mango and lemon basil vinaigrette, pepper filet medallions with baby potatoes and fresh steamed veggies served with hot fresh bread from the oven, and for dessert—chocolate-covered strawberries. She couldn’t look at the strawberries, her stomach gurgled so full.
She cringed when he held out the tray. “Maybe in a little while?”
“Yeah, me, too. I haven’t eaten that much food in a long time.”
He lifted his glass of champagne. “To you, Captain Callie Laurel, I’m not sure what I did to deserve you, but I’m not going to question it too much. I’m happy to be here with you. Here’s to the future.”
Callie clinked her glass to his and sipped. “Liam, you know I live in Colorado, right?”
He sighed. “Yeah, I know.”
“Sounds like you like visiting there.”
“I really do.”
“We could stay casual for a while. No expectations, just taking it slow and finding out what’s here.” It sounded like too little, but she wouldn’t ask for too much.
“I don’t want to think about it tonight, Callie. Can we just enjoy each other and what’s here right now? A beautiful sunset, with an amazing woman, and a delicious meal, I’m in heaven right now and thinking that there’s a reality ahead that won’t allow more of this…” He stared at the pink and orange crescent in the sky. “I can’t think about it.”
