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“Tana, you’re the best thing I’ve seen all week,” he says, walking over to me and handing me a single rose. “I saved the prettiest one for you,” he whispers.
“You’re quite the charmer,” I say, taking the rose from him.
“Is it too much?” he asks, a smile playing on his lips.
He’s good at this, and heknowshe is, but I look at my mother’s beaming face and the rose in my hand. “I think it’s just enough.”
“Good.” He leans down and kisses my cheek. My eyes catch his, and all the playfulness is gone. His gaze moves down to my lips, and for a moment I forget we’re in the same room as our parents.
I take a breath and look down. “I should put this in water.”
I walk into the kitchen, where my dad is getting beverages for everyone. He pops the bottle of sparkling wine and pours each of us a glass, then sets them all on a silver tray that he takes into the other room. I put the rose in water and follow after him, finding my place next to Landon.
“A toast,” Dad says, raising his glass. “To family.”
Heat floods my face, and every muscle in my body tightens. Elizabeth places her hand on her chest, and both she and Marshall raise their glasses with an emphatic, “To family!”
“To family,” Landon says, his voice low enough that only I can hear.
I smile and touch my glass to his, but the wine tastes bitter. I wonder if everyone here feels like I do in my dress, like we’re forcing a lie. But I see the happy expressions on my parents’ faces and the laughter that rolls so easily off Elizabeth’s tongue, and I realize I’m the only one overthinking this.
“Are you okay?” Landon asks me when our parents are deep in conversation.
“Yes, I’m sorry,” I say, setting my glass down. “I think I’m just nervous.”
“Why?”
“I’m not sure. I want your parents to like me,” I say, looking around the room. “I don’t want to mess anything up.”
“They already like you,” he assures me. “And they’ll only like you more as our families continue to spend time together.”
“You think so?”
“I do,” he says, finishing his drink. “It isn’t all for show,” he adds, as if reading my mind. “I am truly happy to see you.”
Something in his words eases the tension I’ve been carrying. “Thank you for saying that.”
“You’re welcome.”
We all sit down to dinner, and I’m relieved at how easy the conversation is. My parents and Landon’s seem to enjoy each other’s company, and seeing them together like this reinforces what a good arrangement this is. Not just necessary, not just advantageous, butgood.
“Tana, tell me about yourself. Landon says you love to swim,” Marshall says, looking at me from across the table. His smile is warm, and he sounds like he’s genuinely interested, which I suppose is where Landon gets it from.
“I do,” I say. “I’ve always been drawn to the sea. There’s something about it that calms me.”
Marshall nods. “I was on the swim team all through school. I enjoyed the competition, but practices were my favorite. I’d stay in the pool after my teammates went home and just swim underwater. The way it shuts off the outside world… There’s nothing quite like it.”
“I always say the same thing.”
“Tana loves the ocean,” my dad says, winking at me. “She used to think her mother and I couldn’t see the salt caked all over her. She’s come home many times with seaweed in her hair and her clothes soaking wet.”
“Listen, I never said I was subtle,” I say, and everyone laughs.I laugh, too. “Landon even went in with me the last time he was on the island. I think I could have convinced him to stay in longer had it not been for the currents.”
I don’t realize what I’ve said until my mother snaps her head up and glares at me. My heart races, and I give her a pleading look. I can’t believe I mentioned the currents; it was a total accident.
“What currents?” Marshall asks between bites of his dinner.
“There’s a current that’s been circling our island for years, and sometimes it gets close to the shore. We’ve been watching it carefully and don’t see much reason for concern.” My mother says it with perfect grace, managing to sound casual and decisive at once.
