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an, only to find herself suddenly attracted to another man who was all too much like the men she’d left behind, the ones she’d thought too ordinary to interest her. And she was even less certain than she’d been before that she wanted to become intimately involved with Damien.
Now this was a moral dilemma!
“So, what’s your decision?” Reed asked from across the table.
Celia blinked at him over her menu, wondering if the man could read her mind. “I…er…beg your pardon?”
He nodded toward his own menu. “Have you decided what you want for dinner?”
“Dinner. Oh, yes, of course. I’ll—um—I’ll have…” She glanced down at the menu and read off the first entrée that caught her eye. “Baked snapper.”
“Sounds good,” Reed said, closing his own menu. “I’ll have that, too.”
They placed their orders, selected a wine, were served salads and bread. A noticeable silence fell between them when they were alone again. Celia found her eyes turning once again toward the inviting expanse of moon-washed beach. She could so easily imagine herself walking hand in hand along that beach in that soft moonlight. Problem was, she couldn’t seem to decide whose hand she’d most like to be holding.
“You’ve gotten very quiet,” Reed commented, reclaiming her attention. “Tired?”
“A little,” she admitted. “I was just noticing how beautiful the beach looks tonight.”
He followed her gaze. “It is nice. Would you like to take a walk after dinner?”
She almost choked on a bite of bread. “Maybe,” she murmured after taking a quick sip of wine.
“Tell me more about yourself, Celia. All I know is that you live in Percy, Arkansas, and you work in a bank. Have you always lived in Percy?”
“Since I was a toddler,” she replied, sternly telling herself to stop being foolish and just talk to the man. “I was born in Little Rock, but then my dad had a chance to go to work for a small counseling center in Percy. He’s a psychologist,” she added.
“You said you have an older sister?”
“Rachel. She’s eight years older than I am, very serious and responsible, but we’ve always been close. When I was just finishing my junior year of high school, my dad took another job in St. Louis. I couldn’t bear to move away before my senior year, so I stayed in Percy with Rachel and her first husband, Ray, and their baby daughter, Paige. It worked out great.”
“She still lives in Percy?”
“Yes. Ray died in a car accident a few years ago, leaving her with two small children to raise, Paige and Aaron. She’s had a rough time, but she’s getting married again soon and she’s very happy about it. His name’s Seth Fletcher, he’s an attorney, and he’s crazy about Rachel. I’m thrilled for her.”
“Do you have any other siblings?”
“A brother, Cody. He’s five years older than I am. He’s single, and part owner of a country-western dinner and dance club in Percy. He’s a real joker, always cutting up and doing impulsive things to make the rest of us laugh. You’d like him. Everyone does.”
Reed studied her face in the candlelight from their flowers-and-tapers centerpiece. “And what about you? Are you more like Rachel or Cody?”
“That should be obvious,” she answered wryly. “As much as I’d love to be more like Cody, I seem to be more like Rachel all the time. I mean, Cody would have found lots of things to do here alone. He’d already know everyone, probably would have organized beach parties and volleyball games and exchanged addresses and phone numbers with all the other guests. Rachel, on the other hand, would have taken long walks alone on the beach and read a good book or two—which is basically what I’ve been doing.”
Reed chuckled. “Not quite. You did kidnap me this afternoon, and you hardly know me. That sounds more like Cody.”
“True,” Celia said, brightening. “Rachel never would have done anything like that. Of course, Rachel wouldn’t be here in the first place. She was really opposed to me—” Suddenly realizing what she was about to reveal, she stumbled and fell silent, reaching quickly for her wineglass again.
Reed had lifted an eyebrow. “Rachel didn’t want you to come?” he prodded gently, a bit too casually.
Celia shrugged. “She doesn’t particularly like Damien,” she admitted.
Reed definitely looked interested now. “How come?”
Shaking her head, Celia tried to downplay the admission. “It’s silly, really. Rachel’s never even met Damien. For some reason, they’ve never been in the same place at the same time.” She didn’t bother to add that she’d invited Damien to meet her family on more than one occasion; Damien had always politely declined, adding ruefully that family gatherings always made him nervous. “She’s simply been reading too many juicy scandal sheets. I keep telling her they’re exaggerated, but you know how overprotective older sisters can be. Brothers, too. Cody’s almost as bad as Rachel.”
“No, I really don’t know about older siblings. I was an only child.”
“Your parents’ pride and joy, I’d bet,” Celia teased, relieved to turn the conversation away from herself.
