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He pulled a phone from his pocket. Except on second glance it wasn’t a phone at all. It was phone-shaped, with rounded edges, but instead of the whole face being a touchscreen, there was a small screen at the top with the rest of the front being dominated by a circular control wheel.
“Is that an iPod?” Harper asked, reaching out to touch the wheel. “God, I haven’t seen one in years.”
“Do you recognize it?” he asked Caitie. “It’s the one you gave me that Christmas.” He pressed the button in the middle of the wheel, and the screen came to life, the menu forming in dark letters.
“It still works?” she asked, the corner of her mouth lifting up.
“I took good care of it,” he said. “It meant a lot to me. I still have the playlist you made, too. Look, here.” He pressed another button, and a list of tracks came up on the screen. Just seeing the song titles formed a lump in Caitie’s throat. She’d chosen one song from each CD in her collection, loading them onto her dad’s computer. It had taken more than an hour to burn them into a playlist and download it onto the iPod.
“Those are beautiful songs.”
“I played them constantly when we first went to Boston,” Daniel told her. “They got me through some dark days.” He pulled some earbuds from his pocket. “Do you want to listen to one? I’ll share my headphones with you.”
“I’d love to.”
They took an earbud each, and Daniel pressed play. Almost at once, Hallelujah came on – the Jeff Buckley version – and the soulful pitch of his voice took her breath away.
A tear rolled down her cheek. When she looked at Daniel, she could see his eyes were watery, too. As they listened to the haunting tune together, she gave him a half-smile, and he took her hand in his, squeezing it tightly.
She wasn’t sure what made her turn her head. A need to include the second brother? To feel if seeing him still hurt? Taking the last mouthful of her champagne, she swallowed it down, shifting her eyes to where Breck was still leaning against the table.
He was looking at her with the strangest expression on his face, his brows dipped with an intense, deep stare. She gazed back, unable to pull her eyes from his. Every part of her body was leaning toward him, needing to touch, to connect, to feel.
As the music continued in her ear, she felt a deep ache forming in her chest. It was painful and beautiful, but more than anything, it felt real.
14
“Do you have plans for tomorrow?” Rachel asked Breck after dinner, when everybody was clearing up. “I don’t have work until next week. I thought maybe we should work on our first dance.” She grinned at him. “I’m desperate to see your moves.”
Breck blinked. He’d been too busy watching Caitie as she carried the dirty plates into the kitchen to notice Rachel walking up to him. There was something hypnotic about the way Caitie’s hips swung in those tight-cut pants. “Sorry, what?”
Rachel bit her lip. “It doesn’t matter.”
He felt like a dick. “I’m sorry. It’s been a long day. I’m all ears now, what was it you said?”
“I was wondering if you’d like to come to my place tomorrow.” Her face was pink. “Maybe grab something to eat and… ah… practice our dance.”
Thank god he had a built in excuse, he felt bad enough already. “Sorry, I can’t. I promised to take Daniel surfing in the morning, and Dad and I have to visit with some customers.” He tried to ignore the hurt expression on her face.
“Oh. No problem.” She attempted a
smile. “It was only a suggestion.”
“You could come, too,” Daniel suggested. How long had he been standing there? He had a smirk on his face as though he’d been listening for a while. “Do you surf?”
“No. I like watching though.” Rachel’s smile returned. “Breck’s a great surfer.”
Daniel raised his eyebrows. “Do you watch him a lot?” he asked, shooting Breck an amused glance.
“A few times. Sometimes I go with Ember when Lucas and Breck go out. It’s fun to watch when they catch a wave.”
“Then you should definitely come,” Daniel said. “Shouldn’t she, Breck?”
Breck shot his brother a dark look.
“What time are you going?” she asked him, not noticing his expression. “Early?”
It wasn’t Daniel’s fault he couldn’t find a kind way to get Rachel to back off. Still, from the corner of his eye Breck could see his brother smirking. Noticing his scrutiny, Daniel made a silly face. Breck squeezed his eyes shut, wishing Rachel wasn’t such a close friend of Lucas and Ember’s. Maybe then it would be easier to say no.
