“Good scary.” She rises on her toes and kisses me. “The best kind of scary.”
When the song ends, I walk her back to the table and Milo immediately stands.
“My turn,” he says, offering his hand. “I believe I’m owed a dance for five hundred dollars.”
Tessa laughs and takes his hand.
I watch them go—watch Milo pull her close, watch him whisper something that makes her throw her head back laughing. He’s good at this. Making her feel special. Making her feel wanted.
“You did good,” Elijah says from beside me.
“Thanks.”
“Twelve hundred dollars though.”
“Don’t start.”
He almost-smiles. “I’m just saying. That’s a lot of lobster dinners.”
“Worth it.”
“Yeah.” He watches Tessa and Milo on the dance floor. “It really was.”
When Milo brings her back, Elijah stands without a word. Offers his hand. Tessa takes it, and I watch them walk to the dance floor together—the quiet woodworker and the woman he’s loved for three years.
He holds her differently than Milo did. Closer. More protective. Like he’s afraid she’ll disappear if he lets go.
Milo slides into the seat next to me. “Look at him. Our boy’s growing up.”
“He’s the same age as us.”
“He’s an old soul. It counts.”
We watch in comfortable silence as Elijah and Tessa sway together. She’s looking up at him, saying something. He’s looking down at her, listening. Whatever she says makes him smile—a real smile, not his usual almost-smile.
Movement catches my eye near the bar. Cara Donovan is standing alone, her three bachelors nowhere in sight. Her back is to the room, shoulders hunched.
I glance at their dinner table. Empty now. Theo, Lucas, and Nate must have left.
And Cara... Cara looks like she’s trying not to cry.
Whatever she came back hoping to fix, it’s only gotten worse.
Milo follows my gaze. “That bad?”
“Looks like they ditched her.”
“Ouch.” He shakes his head. “Ten years is a long time. Can’t just waltz back into town and expect everything to be the same.”
“Guess they’re not ready to forgive whatever happened.”
“Would you be?”
I don’t have an answer for that.
I turn my attention back to the dance floor, where Elijah is walking Tessa back toward us. She’s smiling, her cheeks flushed, her eyes bright.
“My turn again?” I ask.
