So I was more than a little surprised to see Scott and Tommy sitting at a small table in the lobby, drinking coffee.
After we’d exchanged greetings, I’d eyed the two of them ruefully. “I know why I’m here—and that doesn’t matter, it’s work-related—but I have to admit, I didn’t expect to see you guys at the reunion. Did you really want to hang out with people from our class?”
Scott laughed. “I didn’t really care, but my wife insisted. She loves the Cove. We live in New York now, but we come down here for a couple of months every winter. When we got the invitation, she said we had to come.”
“I hear that,” Tommy chimed in. “My boyfriend wouldn’t let it go, either. He’s never been here, and so he always thought I was exaggerating about our hometown. He’s in heaven—he signed up for both the golf outingandthe tea.”
“Missy made friends last night at the icebreaker, and they’re taking her on a personalized tour of the Cove.” Scott snorted. “Shouldn’t take long, but she told me not to expect her back here before karaoke.”
“Patrick said I should plan on amusing myself all day, too.” Tommy looked from me to Scott. “Hey, I overheard someone on the committee say that there are still spots open on the dolphin cruise on the intercoastal. Do you guys want to see if we can get in on that?”
To my utter shock, I heard myself saying, “Yeah. That sounds like fun.”
Which was how I ended up spending the day out on the water, catching up with people I had forgotten I once knew.
And it was also why I winced a little as I lifted my arm to knock on Peyton’s door. I had missed a few spots when I was spraying sunscreen on my back, and the sun out on the intercoastal was brutal.
The door swung open, and Peyton stood in front of me. Her dark hair was twisted up in a messy knot on the top of her head, and she wore a short green dress held up by thin straps over her tanned shoulders.
“Hi.” She smiled at me warmly. “Wow, look at you! You look like you got some sun today.”
“Yeah, maybe a little,” I responded, distracted. “But Peyton . . . holy shit. You look incredible. Beautiful.” I could barely speak over the pounding of my heart. “I’d say that you don’t look a day older than you did back in high school, but the truth is that you’re prettier now than you were back then.” I paused, grinning at her. “And back then? You were more gorgeous than anyone else in the Cove.”
“Nash.” She laid one hand over her heart. “That’s the sweetest thing. Thank you.” She nibbled on the corner of her lip. “I was a little worried that this dress was too young for me. But then I thought, what the hell? If people are already talking about me, why not give them something else to chew on?”
My brow knit together. “Why are people talking about you?”
Peyton rolled her eyes. “Because I was pregnant. I skipped out on graduation, left town with my baby daddy and his parents, and didn’t even go to college.”
“Peyton.” I rested one hand on the doorjamb and leaned toward her, my voice low. “I spent today with a lot of our classmates on the dolphin cruise. A couple of people mentioned you, but no one said a word about any of that. All I heard was how great you look and how happy everyone was to see you again.”
“Hmmm.” She nodded absently. “No one said anything to me, either, and I ran into some of the cattiest girls in our class today. Is it possible that no one knew why I took off? I figured after Ryan told Andy and Mike, they blabbed it all over the place.”
“Well, if they did, no one remembers.” I straightened up and offered her my hand. “Are you ready to go? Or have you maybe changed your mind about this torture called karaoke and would rather go out to dinner? Just the two of us?”
Peyton laughed and stepped out into the hallway, closing her door. “Not a chance, buddy. We’re going to the Tide for karaoke. You have a classmate to wine and dine, after all. We have to start working on Jared.”
I groaned. “I’ll be honest, I was praying he’d be on the boat with us today, and I could just talk to him there. But he wasn’t. I guess he opted for the golf outing instead.”
“How lucky for us!” Peyton winked at me. “That means we are obligated to spend this evening at the Rip Tide, singing our hearts out.”
“I’m not singing,” I reminded her tartly. “I’m just there to watch everyone else make fools of themselves.”
Peyton lifted one eyebrow. “I guess we’ll see.”
“Nothing to see. That’s something you can count on.” I paused just inside the lobby door that led outside. “Should I have my car brought around, or would you rather walk?”
“Oh, let’s walk,” Peyton answered. “It’s so pretty out, and this way, we can both relax and have a couple of drinks without worrying about a designated driver.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I held the door open, and we stepped outside into the fading evening light. “So you said yesterday that you hadn’t been back to the Cove since the morning you left, back in 1989. What about, ah, your parents?”
She didn’t answer right away, and when I glanced down at her, I saw the way her face had tightened, the bleak expression in her eyes, and kicked myself for having asked.
“My father died a while back,” she said slowly, finally. “I kept in touch with Jude as much as I could over the years, and she let me know about my dad. My mother is living in a nursing home in Elson now. She told Jude—” Peyton’s voice cracked. “When my father died, my mother told Jude to tell me if I didn’t show up for his funeral that I shouldn’t bother coming back, ever. She said she’d refuse to see me.”
“Jesus, Peyton. I’m so sorry.” I thought of my parents, still healthy and active in their late seventies, living their best lives on the Savannah coast, so happy to be part of my life and Max’s, too. “That’s brutal.”
“It wasn’t exactly a shock after the way they kicked me out, but I thought they’d want to know Charlie. But when I reached out after she was born, they told me not to come home if I wasn’t married.” Peyton shook her head. “I can’t believe they cared more about what people might say than about meeting their only granddaughter, being part of her life.”
