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“Ok, how did you pull all of this off?” I twirled an orange around in my glass. “We have our own private patio?”
“I wanted to do something special for you to say thank you. I never would have had the Dunes ready for tomorrow if you didn’t offer to help.”
“Thank you for the thank you, but you know I wanted to help. I didn’t expect anything in return.”
“I know you didn’t, but I wanted to do this. Besides, seeing you in that dress is worth it.”
I blushed. How could he do that to me so easily?
“You’re all booked up through the end of next month. I think the Dunes is going to do great once the word gets out that it’s open again and it has running water.” I laughed. “Plus, throwing an awesome party isn’t going to hurt your reputation with the grads. Everyone is going to love it.”
“I think Pops would be proud I pulled this off.”
“I wish I could have met your grandfather.”
“He was a character, but he gave me everything he had. The man never met a stranger, or at least he didn’t let people be strangers.” Cole paused. “I miss him.”
I reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “He would definitely be proud of what you’ve done with the Dunes. Most people would have given up or sold it at the first offer that came along.”
“I guess I’m stubborn.” He sipped the sangria.
“Stubborn and loyal—those aren’t bad things.”
His eyes darted to the table. “Loyal. Right.”
“Cole, don’t do that. I know what you’re thinking.”
His blue eyes lifted. “And what’s that?”
“You’re thinking about Ryan. You are loyal to him. He’ll understand this.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about your brother tonight.”
“But we have to—”
“No.” His voice was firm.
I sighed.
“Ok. So the Dunes. Do you know what you’re going to do next? Will you finish your engineering program?”
“How do you know about that?” Cole withdrew his hand.
I wasn’t sure if I had touched on a nerve that was better left alone, but I wanted to know what his plans were. “Lots of little birds on the island told me you were in grad school. I want to hear more about it.”
He laughed. “If I go into all the engineering stuff, I think I’ll bore you to death.”
“Try me. I’m a good listener.” I wanted to know the kinds of things that appealed to Cole. He was naturally gifted in fixing things, but I could tell he didn’t like it.
His military career was over. And he was a single dad. He had to have a passion other than motel.
He leaned across the table. “Ok, my concentration is in composite material development.”
He might have well just started speaking in Spanish again. But, I prodded him to continue.
I sipped the sangria. “Composite materials? Ok.”
“I picked up a lot in the Corps. I was cross-trained. So when Amber had Grayson I knew I needed to get back to school. I couldn’t be hired sniper and I didn’t want any of the government contract jobs.”
