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“That’s great,” I told her. “I knew you would. Have you signed up for any more classes yet?”
The smile slid off her face and she shook her head. I didn’t understand why she hadn’t, since she’d been so excited when I first encouraged her. Did she not want to accept anything from me?
“Let’s go out to celebrate,” I said, brushing off that new worry.
It was best to be out in public whenever my brothers did something especially illegal, to have a solid alibi. Plus, I wanted to show her how special she was to me. She definitely was, there was no denying it, and despite my anxiety over how things might go down tonight, I had high hopes for our future. I might tell her how I felt over dinner, even go so far as to drop the L word if it seemed right. If I hadn’t completely fallen for my wife, I was well on my way. As much as things were up in the air, we still had that chemistry from the old days. She fascinated me and the thought of spending the rest of my life with her no longer seemed like the prison sentence it originally did.
At first I thought I’d take her to a place we went to before, a lifetime ago, but decided it was better not to dwell on the past. Sometimes I still didn’t think she was over the fact I broke up with her. I picked a swanky spot with an ocean view and a famous swordfish dish, knowing how much she enjoyed seafood. It was nice to see her getting some color on her skin again, and it rankled badly that she had been so scared of her father finding her that she rarely ever used to leave her apartment. She asked me to drive past it on one of my days off last week, and I thought it was a deplorable dump, but she seemed to have fond memories of it. If only I had known the full truth back then, things might have turned out differently. I suppose I could say the same for her on her side of it, and ultimately only the future mattered now.
She came down the stairs in a silky, rose colored dress that skimmed her calves in sheer layers and exposed her slender shoulders. Her golden hair, now shot through with lighter strands, was piled on top of her head in a messy bun I couldn’t wait to tug out of its pins later.
Her radiant smile lit up my heart. Yes, the L word was definitely on the table.
We were seated out on the terrace under gently swirling ceiling fans and we both ordered the silliest cocktails on the menu. Hers was bright blue with an umbrella and a big wedge of watermelon stuck to the rim of the glass, mine was an acidic yellow with an entire skewer of pineapple chunks stuck in it.
“I hope this tastes better than it looks,” I said, almost scared to give it a try. It was sickly sweet but potent and we exchanged glasses halfway through.
We were pleasantly tipsy by the time our appetizer arrived and I opted out of any more drinking for the night. Even though I wasn’t part of the operation, I wanted to be on guard until I heard from my brothers that everything had gone without a hitch.
She must have been feeling pretty good too, since she let me feed her the ham and pineapple wrapped shrimp. Watching her smile as she accepted the bites went a long way to help me relax. The way she licked her lips and motioned for more stirred up lusty imaginings I couldn’t wait to get home and make reality.
“I do love watching you eat,” I said.
“Weirdo,” she replied, making me laugh.
I probably was, but it was all for her, all because of her. She definitely put me slightly off kilter, but I didn’t mind at all.
As we waited for the main course, we both lapsed into companionable silence, hypnotized by the waves rolling in and out. After a while, she tapped my arm and I turned to see her looking questioningly at me.
“Sorry, did you say something? I was in another world.”
She smiled ruefully. “That’s what I figured. I just asked if you ever thought about getting on a boat and heading out to sea.”
“All the damn time.” I laughed but saw the way she looked out at the waves and grew serious. “Not for good. Just for a day trip. Or a weekend.”
She nodded. “Or forever.”
“I thought you loved it here.”
“It’s not the place,” she sighed.
“Everything will turn out fine,” I assured her, hoping it was true.
I almost told her that her father would be out of her life within the next few days, but she would surely question me for specifics and I wanted to keep her from worrying if she knew the shipment was happening tonight. I suspected she knew more than she let on, only because she had stopped hounding me. Those suspicions were correct when she asked if I was worried.
“About what?” I asked, feigning ignorance.
“Fine,” she said, swallowing the last sip of her electric drink. “Keep your secrets.”
I didn’t know how to respond without a fight, and only looked at her as she went back to watching the waves. Right as our main courses arrived, my phone rang, nearly buzzing off the table beside my plate. Kira froze, glaring at it as if it were her mortal enemy.
I turned it over to see it was Ivan and with an apologetic glance, answered it.
“Change of plans,” he said. “You’re needed tonight.”
Keeping my eyes on Kira and my tone neutral, I said, “Impossible. You know that.”
“We’re short a man. It’s an important lookout spot.”
