Page 25 of Old Flames

“Come on! Narrate!” Dick demanded.

The waitress returned with mojitos for everyone and another wink for Leo.

Daphne waited until the drinks were served then concluded her story. “She leaped, landed on a pile of stones, and broke her neck. Happy now?”

“What happened to the shipbuilder?” Leo pressed.

“He died a year later,” Daphne said. “Not of guilt or regret. He was just . . . old.”

“Sad,” Ayesha said.

“That’s Key West,” Daphne replied. “It’s not all fun in the sun down here.”

“No spirit-summoning tonight,” Dick announced. “After the ghost tour, we’re touring the bars. It’s Friday night.”

8

After dinner, key lime pie, and more ghost stories, they filed out of the restaurant, into the warm night. Leo stepped off the wooden porch and before he hit the sidewalk, he caught up with Jules. He could never get her alone. She evaded him at every turn. She’d avoided sitting next to him at lunch, earlier at the lecture hall, and now at dinner. There was always a human shield between them. It was time for action.

“Hi.”

She startled, but didn’t scurry away. He slowed his step. Now that he had her, he was in no rush. They walked in silence while everyone chatted around them. He liked this quiet bubble of theirs, liked the idea that they could always find their way to it.

“Would you jump off a roof for love?” she asked, as if the question had been weighing on her mind.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he said. “How about you?”

“Me? I wouldn’t cross the street,” she said. “I’ve never been in love.”

“Never?” Leo repeated. “I don’t believe it.”

“Believe what you want.”

“No one ever drowned in those eyes?”

She rewarded him with a smile. “I’ve watched them go under from the safety of the shore. I’m no fool.”

“They died happy,” Leo said. “I’ll bet you that.”

“Every man chooses his fate!”

Her little self-satisfied smile left him weak. If that was his fate, he’d take it. No complaints.

“Your theory is that Aurora was heartbroken?” he asked.

“She was young. Daphne said she had a crush on a local boy. It’s been known to happen.”

“I don’t think she did it for love,” he said.

“You’re probably right,” she said. “What good was love? Her husband was keeping her captive and had the legal right to do it. It’s not likely this boy could break her out of her prison. She had to break free from both men.”

“The one who kept her captive and the one who held her heart.”

“Smooth talker,” she said. “You have a way with words.”

“I better,” he replied. “That’s how I make my money.”

“JULES! LEO! COME ON!”