He smothered the blackcurrant scone—warm and with a crusty sugar top—with nectarine jam and clotted cream. “What would be your perfect birthday, then?”
She held up her cup in acheersgesture. “Something exactly like this.”
A leaf fell in her tea, causing her to burst out laughing. Nico watched her and was glad.
* * *
Valerie looked in the bag he handed her. “My swimsuit?” She glanced around at the trees surrounding them. “We can swim here?”
“Not here, but there.” He pointed down the path.
For their final stop, he’d taken Valerie to a secluded swimming hole that had her gasping in delight. The only downside to its perfection was the rocky bottom, so he handed her some swim shoes, then shook out a huge blanket. “I can hold this around you if you want to change and go swimming, but we can also sit here and enjoy the view.” He anticipated her question. “No water snakes here.”
“Then swimming, of course!” She snatched the bag. “Get that blanket ready. No peeking.”
“Got it.”
She winked at him and his heart melted. “You can peek a little,” she said.
It was a bit of a struggle to get changed, but soon they were floating in the clear water. “It’s warmer than I thought,” she said dreamily as she swam up. Her hair was wet and slicked back, and the sun illuminated that perfect skin and lightened her brown eyes to bronze. She stood up and pounced on him, but he was expecting it and lifted her up to make her laugh. Never had he been happier about keeping up his gym routine than in this moment, so he could feel his fingers gripping into her skin as he cradled her close. She raised her face and he took a moment to admire her and be grateful for his luck. Her body was pressed against him and he had to wonder if it was her birthday or his.
“Look, kids, I told you!” A dad’s excited voice came from the path, and startled, Nico lost his footing and sent them both into the water.
* * *
As they drove home in the late afternoon, Valerie insisted they put the windows down to feel the breeze. “This day couldn’t have been any better,” she said. “Thank you.”
Nico wiped a bug off his face. “I’m glad.” What he didn’t tell her was that it wasn’t over yet. She’d find out soon.
“When you think about your year on your birthday, do you do resolutions? Like January take two?”
“They’re not so much resolutions as directions,” he said. “I’m going to be a year older no matter what, so I might as well accomplish something with the time.”
“I’ve been thinking about what I want,” she said. “When I left Toronto, part of me thought closing Ad Astra was inevitable. I only said I was on a break to avoid making the hard decision.” She made a face. “Weak, I know.”
“What about now?”
She leaned her head against the window. “I love doing celebrations of life. I know it sounds morbid, but it’s fulfilling to help people honor their loved ones.”
Nico didn’t see the problem, so there had to be something he was missing. “Okay?”
“I screwed up Malcolm’s and I can’t get away from that. Maybe Alexis is onto something by shifting to bachelorettes.”
He glanced over to find her frowning. “You can’t keep beating yourself up over a mistake.”
“It was a big mistake.”
“If it prevents you from moving forward, then you’re never letting it end.” He thought about next steps. “You can start to rebuild outside the city if you need to.”
“Nico.”
“You might need to rebrand, but that’s doable.”
“Nico!”
“Roger said he would help. What?”
She gave him a severe look. “I was venting, not asking for advice. I know all this.”
