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Drying off his face and arms, Danny squinted against the afternoon sunlight. “It’s complicated.”
“Isn’t it always?” Jack dropped into a wrought-iron deck lounger with fat ivory-colored cushions.
Clearly, Danny wasn’t getting out of this conversation too easily. The lawn buzzed with catering staff and people assembling an outdoor tent, tables and chairs, but they seemed to have finished prepping the pool area, so this part of the property was quieter.
“She sought me out for the first time in five years, and she wants to keep things...uncomplicated.”
“Ouch.”
“Tell me about it.” Danny shoved aside the cushion on another lounger so he wouldn’t soak the thing through. Sitting directly on the wrought iron, he laid the towel over his knees.
“But she’s here, right? You’ve got an opportunity to change her mind.” Jack lifted the lid on a cooler built into a wooden cart between them and revealed an assortment of imported beers on ice that must be for the party due to start in a couple of hours.
Danny scooped up a longneck microbrew bottled locally. He used the bottle opener built into the drink cart and took a long swallow.
“And risk pushing too hard? She could be out of here before you even say your vows if she starts feeling pressured.” He’d gotten the message loud and clear from her this morning when she’d said “I’ll be fine” not once, but twice. Obviously, she was already warning him not to get too close.
“So don’t push. Don’t pressure. Duh.” Jack opened his bottle and took a swig. “Can’t you be...fun? Low-key?”
“Laid-back,” he muttered, remembering what she’d said when he’d gotten off the ship earlier that week. You look kind of dashing in white...and not at all like the laid-back rock ’n’ roll dude I met five years ago.
“Exactly.” Jack lifted his beer in mock salute. “Take her out for a sail. Hit up some open microphone nights at the local clubs so you can jam with your guitar and just have fun. I remember she really liked hearing you play.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Danny mused, wondering if he even knew how to be low-key anymore.
“Hey, I’m getting married to an incredible woman next week, dude. I must be doing something right.” He grinned like he’d won the freaking lottery and Danny was glad for the guy.
Jack had gone without Alicia for almost as long as Danny had missed Stephanie.
“I’m happy for you.” Leaning across the space between them, he clinked his bottle against Jack’s in a makeshift toast. “Seriously. You deserve this.”
“Thanks.” Jack’s expression grew serious again. “But you know, I might not be here now if not for some very savvy advice you gave me a year ago, sitting on the back porch of the house. You remember?”
Danny nodded. Jack had been flipping out after giving Alicia the deed to the bed-and-breakfast. He’d returned to Chatham without making a commitment to her, unsure where he stood with her since she’d been hurt that he bought the inn without telling her.
“I told you not to let her slip away.” Hell, Danny even remembered what he’d been thinking at the time he doled out that brilliant piece of wisdom. He’d figured if he ever had a second chance with Stephanie, he sure as hell would hold tight with both hands.
“Exactly. It was good advice then. It’s good advice now.” Jack turned in his chair as a small band of musicians started tuning up their instruments for the party. “Crap. We’d better go get dressed for this thing. Especially you. You’re the man of the hour.”
“I suppose I am.” Shoving to his feet, Danny knew he didn’t dare be late after his parents went to this much trouble to welcome him home. He would find his suit and try to enjoy the party.
Maybe tonight would help show Stephanie he could still lighten up and just have fun. He could introduce her to the family. Surprise her with a few moves on the dance floor. Play a tune with the band if the chamber orchestra was willing to share a stage.
Everything would be fine just as long as he could forget the clock ticking in his head. And the fear that if he didn’t make every second count with her now, he might never have a second chance.
10
“I’M SO NERVOUS,” Stephanie whispered in his ear as they walked across the lawn toward the homecoming party.
“You belong here,” he told her firmly. “My family has all been eager to meet you for years. I guarantee you’re going to get more of a hero’s welcome than me.”
“That’s what makes me nervous.” She stopped in midstride on a cobblestone path winding down from the main house to the lawn that led to the beach. “What if I don’t live up to their expectations? Or what if they resent the fact that I’ve been MIA from your life for years?”
