She nodded. I placed my things on her chair, and we strolled down to the water, hand in hand.
“How’s your day going?” I asked, trying to consciously sedate the mammoth butterflies that had decided to hatch in my belly.
“Good,” she said. “Even better now that you’re here.”
“First day of the new year,” I mused.
“Yup. If the next 364 days turn out as good as this one, it’ll be my best year yet.”
“Same,” I said, the surf splashing gently around my toes.
“So, did you get some good writing done today?”
“Not really. I told you, I’ve been distracted.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. It’s all good.”
She smiled.
“I’m surprised you aren’t on the island today,” I said.
“Right? Me, too. She said she wanted to stay on this side. I thought for sure she’d want to spend our last day over there.”
I grinned at the memory of our time in the spa cove. “It’s definitely a special place.”
Harmony was reading my mind, and I could tell by the gleam in her eye that she was remembering our evening there too. “This whole trip has been special.”
I squeezed her hand. “Hey, I need to ask you something.”
“What’s up?”
I looked down at our hands, how our fingers fit together in a way that was so natural and comfortable that it felt like something was missing if my hands were empty.
God, I was falling in love with this girl.
“Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” I asked.
She laughed, and the sound caught on the breeze and rang in my head like a song. “We eat together every night. I should hope we’d eat together on our last night here.”
“I actually made us a special reservation.”
“Really? Where?”
“It’s in Savaneta, down island the other way—away from all the touristy stuff.”
“So, not in the square?”
“Not tonight.” I beamed at her. “Also, there’s something else.”
“Go on.”
“This one is for just us.”
“Without my mom?” Her forehead adopted a tiny crease between her eyebrows, signaling her disquiet.
“I already asked for her permission.”
