“Next time, we hike in our suits and leave our clothes down here.”
Next time.“Yeah.” He lay there for several minutes, just holding her. Then he got to his feet and climbed into his wet trunks and soggy sneakers. “Still worth it,” he said with a wink.
“Totally.” She tugged her bikini bottom back on and reached for her sneakers.
“You stay here.” He picked up her pink towel and draped it over her shoulders. “I’ll be right back.”
* * *
Four hours later, Emma was seated at a table surrounded by her friends, halfway through her second beer, and today was definitely right up there asbest day ever. She plucked a nacho from the half-demolished platter on the table in front of her, earning a heated look from Ryan as she licked cheese sauce from her finger.
“So have you started packing yet?” Carly asked, snagging a nacho for herself.
Emma shook her head. “I’ve been too busy this week with the memorial, but next week, work will start winding down for me.” She caught Ryan watching her intently. Maybe she’d said too much earlier. She wasn’t even sure where it had come from because she was still committed to moving to Georgia. Her emotions had gotten the better of her for a few minutes there after they jumped, but she wasn’t giving up on her dream.
Ryan was right. She had to go for at least a semester. Even if she didn’t finish her degree, she’d learn valuable skills she could use in her future business. And chances were, once she got there, she’d find the enthusiasm to stay.
The one part she was no longer sure about was what happened after graduation. She’d planned to stay in Georgia, but if Ryan was willing to make a go of a long-distance relationship, she’d happily move back to Haven after she graduated. In fact, even if they broke up, she might come back here after she earned her degree.
Because the people she loved most in the world were sitting around this table with her tonight, and she couldn’t imagine leaving them all behind forever. They were her family, and Haven was her home.
“Hi, guys. Sorry I’m late.”
Emma looked up to see Jessica standing beside their table. “You’re not late. We’re still on appetizers. I’m so glad you could come.” She motioned toward the only empty seat at the table…right next to Mark.
Ouch. That was awkward, but no way around it now.
Mark glanced at Jessica, his eyes dark and unreadable.
Hers weren’t. They flashed with anger, but she sat, casting a warm smile at Emma.
Sorry, Emma mouthed to her. Jess and Mark hadn’t exactly been on speaking terms since he dumped her in high school, but that was ten years ago now. It seemed like enough time had passed that they could handle being civil to each other here tonight.
Jessica shook her head, letting Emma know it was okay. “So I hear you’re leaving us next week?”
Emma nodded. “Lucas and Mary are retiring so I’m going to take the chance to get my degree, maybe open my own landscape design firm when I graduate.”
“That’s great,” Jessica said, pointedly not looking at the tall, silent, scarred man beside her.
“We need to squeeze in another girls’ night out before you go,” Gabby said from across the table. “Jessica, would you like to join us?”
“Yeah, sure. I’d love to.” Jessica’s beer arrived, and she took a long sip.
Emma sighed into her own beer. “We finally have this awesome girls’ night out group, and now I’m leaving.”
“You’ll meet new people,” Gabby said. “You told me yourself you’re a social butterfly.”
Yeah, but this was the first time she’d had such a group ofclosefriends. “You’re right. I’ll make new friends. And I’ll be back to visit so often you guys will get sick of me.”
“Not sure that could ever happen,” Gabby said with a grin.
Their food arrived, and conversation became more scattered as they ate. Ryan and Ethan were talking about a big group of zip-liners they were taking out the following morning while Gabby shared wedding details with Emma, Carly, and Jessica between bites of her shepherd’s pie.
Emma soaked it all up, the big table full of friends laughing and talking. Jessica had her hands in the air, telling Carly a story Emma hadn’t caught the beginning of, but it involved someone walking in on a guy jerking off in one of the spring-fed hot tubs at the spa, and Carly was laughing so hard that tears leaked from her eyes.
“And then he was like—” Jessica flung an arm up to imitate the guy, and her elbow caught the handle of her beer mug, sending it flying. Jess’s beer shattered on the tile floor with a crash that silenced conversation across the restaurant.
All eyes were on their table.
