“You looked deep in thought just then. You okay?”
“Yep,” she lied. She didn’t want to bring him down, nor did she want to remove that adorable smile on his face.
“It’s nice out today,” he said over the waves as he took a step up beside her. She smiled when she realized he didn’t have on any shoes. She turned around instinctively to look and smiled wider to find that he’d lined his shoes up right next to hers in the sand. “We didn’t visit this particular spot of the beach as a child, but I did go to a beach down the road, and I remember swimming all day. When I came in that night, after I’d had a bath and settled down under my covers, I could still feel the rocking of the waves in my bed.”
“I know that feeling.”
“It rocked me to sleep,” he said, his eyes reminiscent.
She wanted him to look at her, to tell her something else about his past—anything—because standing there with him was making her crazy. She didn’t want to think about it, but she remembered the feel of his lips on hers, the warmth of the sun on their faces, and the sound of the waves as he’d kissed her at Bodie Island. She didn’t have to try hard to bring that feeling right back up to the surface. She knew why she was feeling this way about him right then. It was because he was talking about the beach he’d experienced as a child, how he would swim all day. It made her feel a closeness to him again, a bond. The fact that he had loved the water and being at this beach—just like she had—showed her he hadn’t always been set on changing the Outer Banks, that he had once enjoyed its simplicity as much as her, he’d just forgotten, and it gave her hope she could make him remember.
“What did you want to show me?” he asked.
She turned to him, facing the wind so that her hair wouldn’t blow into her face. “Hungry?”
“It’s a little early, but I could eat.”
“Perfect. Let’s get in the car. I want you to drive me down Beach Road toward the village of Duck.”
“Okay.” He looked at her suspiciously, but he had a smile playing at his lips.
As they got in his car, she waited for him to get settled and then she said, “If you’re insistent on building up the Outer Banks, then I would like you to take me to a few of my favorite places just in case they aren’t here when I get a chance to come back. It’ll be my treat.”
“Absolutely not.”
He pulled onto Beach Road, and she looked at him disbelievingly. If he didn’t like the current beach vibe, that was one thing, but he could at least humor her. Was there some reason why he wouldn’t take her? “What do you mean, ‘absolutely not’?”
“You’re not paying. I am.”
She smiled, relieved beyond belief. She was so glad that Jake agreed to take her out today. She knew that she probably couldn’t change his mind about building, but she could at least show him her side. He grew up there, so his view was clouded because he couldn’t see what was in front of him through the eyes of a new visitor. She wanted him to see the charm that she could see. This was her chance to show him.
“Fine. Pay if you want to,’” she teased. “Do you know where Sunset Grille is?”
“Of course.”
“I want to go there.”
They drove, making small talk, and all she wanted to ask him was what he’d decided about trying to buy those restaurants. Which ones were they? Were they any of her favorites? What was he planning to build there? Finally, when there was a lull, she asked, “Was your meeting this morning successful?”
“They’re gonna sleep on it. I told them I’d give them until next week. Then, I’m moving on and my offer will no longer stand. When potential sellers think they have something big to lose, sometimes, the time factor will push things in my favor.”
Just talking about it made her uncomfortable, and she was sorry she’d even asked. Jake had put those restaurant owners in a terrible position because they knew what they’d be doing by selling. They knew that they’d be a part of the problem the minute they sold, yet Jake had probably given them such an enticing offer that they could see their future right in front of them. But could they retire wealthy and live with themselves if they knew what he wanted to do with their restaurants? Would they be able to sell, knowing that all the history, all the memories and the stories that could be told about their restaurants would be lost? She looked out the window, watching the beach emerge between the cottages as they drove. When they finally pulled in to the parking lot, she was more than ready to get out and visit one of her favorite places. She’d come there for dinner as a kid with her mom and Nan.
They crossed the road and she took a minute to look at the gorgeous restaurant in front of her. The exterior was wooden, the different extensions painted in pastels—blue, yellow, and turquoise, with pink trim. Palm trees circled it all the way around to the enormous deck that stretched out over the Currituck Sound, a body of water that was separated from the Atlantic by the Outer Banks themselves. Faith loved swimming in the Sound as a kid because she could walk out for miles and still be knee deep, and the waves were tiny ripples that didn’t knock her over like the waves of the Atlantic did.
They walked inside and met the hostess. “Can we sit outside today?” Faith asked. She’d never sat outside in the bar area before. Until now, she hadn’t been old enough during her visits. The hostess nodded and grabbed two menus before leading them out to the deck.
A long tiki bar sat under a covered porch that stretched the length of the building, Hawaiian-like grass and party lights hanging from the ceiling at the edge to separate it from the wide decking on the other side. People were sitting on stools, having afternoon cocktails—big, colorful drinks with crazy glasses, and all kinds of festive fruit and trinkets dangling from them. The warm breeze rustled the grass over the bar, and the gentle lapping of the Sound could be heard just beyond the quiet conversations of the people seated at tables on the deck. They arrived at a table for two, and the hostess put their menus down.
“Someone will be right with you,” she said before walking away.
Faith looked out over the water as Caribbean-style music played, her eyes coming to rest on the long pier that stretched into the Sound. Along the pier were benches painted bright green and a gazebo at the end, painted in matching pastels.
“I’m not driving,” she said, “so I’m getting one of those crazy drinks.”
“If that’s what you want.” He was looking around too; she’d caught him. He focused on her face and made eye contact as if to ask what she was thinking.
In her mind, she told him to figure it out for himself, and she wondered if he could read her like he had. There had been times when he could, but ever since she’d found out about his plans for the Outer Banks, he hadn’t tried. The sun was high, casting its rays on the ripples in the water, and, with the soft breeze coming off the Sound, their little lunch date was almost romantic.
