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I opened my mouth to explain it to her, but before I could, the hostess stepped over. “Mr. Ramsey, your table is ready.” She gave me a smile that let me know that she knew who I was, even though I wasn’t from around here. I nodded and gestured for Georgia to follow her.
She did—because that was what was expected of her. Georgia always did her best not to draw attention to herself, to blend in and toe the line. But I knew she was dying to ask me that question again. A lesser woman might’ve caused a scene right there in the front of the restaurant.
The hostess showed us to a table in the back in the darkest corner, away from eyes and ears. I wanted to be able to speak to Georgia without having to worry about anyone listening in. I thanked the hostess and pulled Georgia’s chair out for her, pushing it in before I took my own.
“I’m sorry to surprise you this way,” I admitted. “I wasn’t sure if you’d come if you knew it was me you’d be having dinner with.”
She stared at me for a second, as if she wasn’t so sure herself. Eventually, she shook her head. “I’m gonna kill Lucy,” she muttered.
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Don’t be mad at your friend,” I implored her. “She was just trying to help.”
“You’ll recall that it was Lucy that set me up on that cruise ship to begin with, right? She didn’t bother to tell me it was a singles cruise. If she wouldn’t stop sticking her nose into my affairs, perhaps I would be able to go on about my business in peace.”
That wiped the smile from my face. “I’m sorry, Georgia. I should’ve called you.”
She shook her head. “It’s okay. I’m just surprised, that’s all. Why are you here?”
“I needed to speak to you,” I said. My mouth opened to try to get out exactly what it was I wanted her to know, but I didn’t even get a syllable out before the waiter was there to ask us what we wanted to drink.
I ordered a bottle of wine I thought Georgia would like. She nodded, unenthusiastically, making me second-guess myself, but when the waiter left to go retrieve it, she didn’t seem pissed. Only curious as to what the answer to her question was.
“Georgia,” I began, knowing I wouldn’t get too much out before the waiter returned. “I’ve missed you so much these last few days. I thought maybe we needed to clear the air about a few things, and if we did, perhaps we could give this another shot.”
Her eyebrows raised, as if she were shocked to hear me say that. I hoped it was more surprise I was seeing on her face and not horror. Did the thought of going out with me again repulse her?
“I’m not sure what there is to say,” she began. “But if you have something you’d like for me to know, I’m willing to listen.”
In true Georgia fashion, she was being kind, which didn’t surprise me. I only hoped the words I’d been mulling over in my mind for days would be articulated to her in such a way that she could truly understand how much she meant to me, how badly I wanted to be with her.
The waiter brought the wine and poured us both a glass as I reminded Georgia we hadn’t even looked at the menu. He waited for us to make our pasta selections and then left only to return a few seconds later with a basket of bread and some salads. He was beginning to get on my nerves because I couldn’t tell her anything with him constantly interrupting, but I reminded myself he was just doing the best he could to make sure we had excellent service.
“Now, what is it you want me to know?” Georgia picked up a breadstick from the basket and nibbled on it as she waited for me to speak.
“Firstly, I wanted to apologize to you for the way I behaved in Switzerland. I had way too much to drink, and I acted like a fool. I’m very sorry about that, especially if I said or did anything while I was drunk that offended you. In no way would I ever want you to think that I meant you disrespect or even inconvenience. I appreciate how well you took care of me, and I can promise you, I’ll never drink that much again.”
She studied my face for a moment before she nodded. “I accept your apology, Beau. But do you even remember what happened?”
“Honestly, no, not really,” I admitted. “I remember drinking at the bar with you. After that, it gets spotty. I remember a bit of the drive home, something about the shower, and going to bed. I’m so sorry I threw up in front of you, and I’m hopeful that I didn’t actually get any puke on you.”
Though I hadn’t been trying to make her laugh, it made me smile to hear her giggle again. She covered her mouth for a second before shaking her head. “No, you didn’t. But I feel bad for whoever cleaned up your car.”
“Oh, yeah. That would’ve been Sven,” I told her, realizing we hadn’t discussed it before we got inside the vehicle to go to the airport that day.
“Poor guy. God, I hope he doesn’t think it was me who did that,” she said, her eyes wide in mortification.
“Nope, I told him it most definitely wasn’t you, though I didn’t say who it was.” I felt my cheeks warming even thinking about it.
“Thank you for apologizing,” she said, taking a sip of her wine. “I appreciate it. But I do think there’s more we need to talk about.”
“I agree.” I was tempted to ask her what the emergency was that she had to come home for, but when Lucy called me, I found out there hadn’t been one. Georgia had just panicked over the situation with Kaylee and decided to come home. I wanted to hear her concerns from her, though, not just from her friend. “What is it, Georgia? What is it that has you worried about me?”
“Well—” she began, but that was all she managed to say before the waiter was back.
“All right, here we are,” he said, setting Georgia’s dish down in front of her first. “Be careful. The plate is warm. And here we are, sir,” he said as he slid my linguini in front of me. “Can I get you anything else?”
“I think we’re good.” Georgia was smiling, but I could tell she was feeling as frustrated as I was that every time one of us tried to tell the other one something, we were interrupted.
“Very good,” he said with a head nod. “Just let me know if I can bring you anything else.” With that, he disappeared, and I hoped it meant he’d stay away for a bit since there shouldn’t be anything else to bring over for a while.
