“We’ll wait,”Heather said.
And that surprised him. He hurried off to check with the second mate, popped into the galley to see if the cook needed anything, then met Heather, Livy, and Austin down by the buffet line. They all grabbed some food and headed to a table by the large windows on the boat.
“This is really great food, Jesse,”Livy complimented him.
“And I expect it to get better with Heather’s mom’s help.”
“Nothing like some healthy competition for the dining business in town,”Livy joked.
“I didn’t mean to take over anything from the cafe,”he was quick to assure her.
“I’m pretty sure there’s room for both of us in Moonbeam. You’re more a leisurely, spend-an-evening place. We’re come in and get a good home-cooked meal.”
Jesse was relieved. The last thing he wanted was any trouble in his life, especially since things were maybe…sort of…kind of…starting to get better between him and Heather.
They ate their meal and chatted about Parker’s Cafe and the upcoming Harbor Festival at the town park on the harbor.
“We’re going to have a booth with food from Sea Glass Cafe at the festival,”Livy said.
“I’ll be busy running hourly boat tours. Then that evening we stay docked but open up our buffet. We’ve already got a lot of reservations for dinner. We’re going to put extra tables on the top deck,”Jesse said.
“Hey, Heather. You should do a booth with some of your prints,”Livy said.“I bet the townsfolk would love to be able to buy some of them. You know, local girl makes it good.”
“I thought I’d just help out at the cafe’s booth, or back at the cafe.”Heather frowned.“And I’m not sure with a few stores in town carrying my work that it would be a good idea to have a booth. I’d like to participate in some way, though.”
“I think the booth is a good idea. You should think about it,”Livy insisted.
“Or, you know…they are doing that fundraiser for the library. Maybe you could put up a few of your originals for auction. I bet they’d bring in a lot of money.”Jesse paused for a second, unsure if he was being too forward or insistent.“You know, if you wanted to.”He had no idea if she’d want to auction her original work.
Heather’s eyes lit up.“That’s a great idea. I could do that. I even have the original illustration I did of the harbor walk and the gazebo by the town park.”
“That’s a great idea,”Livy agreed.“People love your work.”
“Thanks.”Heather shifted uncomfortably in her seat at the praise.
“Your work is really great, Heather.”
She blushed a deep pink—which looked adorable on her.
“Enough about my work.”She tried to look nonchalant and concentrated on taking a sip of her drink.
“I should go check on things, again. I’ll meet you upstairs in a bit?”Jesse rose.
“Sure, we’ll see you up top,”Austin said.
Jesse hurried off to check things, eager to rush back and enjoy more of the evening. But a bit of a crisis in the kitchen, a lost case of wine, and the wind picking up so that he was needed to tie up the boat when it docked kept him away from his guests.
After they docked and the rest of the guests had disembarked, he met his three friends back in the main room of the ship. Friends. Surely he was getting back to being Heather’s friend now, wasn’t he?
Heather admitted she’d had a really nice time tonight on The Destiny. At least once she’d let herself relax. The friendly banter had been nice, and it was always fun to spend time with Livy. There hadn’t been a lot of that the last few months except while they worked at the cafe.
Then there was Jesse. Standing here in the main room of The Destiny looking impossibly handsome. He’d done such a good job with refurbishing the boat, and it was clear that he was proud of it. She could almost—almost—imagine being friends with him again.
“I’m going to walk Livy home,”Austin said.“Jesse, you going to escort Heather home?”
“I don’t—”Heather started to speak.
“Yes, I plan on it.”Jesse paused and looked at her.“If that’s okay?”
