Luke leaned back in his chair. “So, what’ve you been up to the last couple of decades?”
Sylvie laughed. Had it really been twenty years? She paused, trying to figure out how to sum up her life without making it sound depressing. “Well, what haven’t I done? I worked at Sweet Stays, got married, earned a hospitality certification online, got divorced, kept working at Sweet Stays, founded a local kite festival, retired the kite festival because it was a huge pain in the rear, renovated the inn’s back gardens so we could host weddings, turned thirty, worked at Sweet Stays—there’s a theme, if you can’t tell.”
He was smiling and nodding, but there was something quietly sad behind his eyes. “Yeah, well, you were always thehardest-working person I knew.” His voice softened. “I was really sorry to hear about your dad. And Brett.”
Her eyes welled up instantly, and she waved a hand at him when she saw his face fall.
“Sylv, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said quickly, sounding concerned.
“No, no,” she replied, wiping her eyes with the cloth napkin that had been folded on her plate. “Don’t be sorry. It’s not that. It’s been years.”
“Yeah. Grief’s a strange beast. And that accident was a shame. I wouldn’t blame you.”
“Thanks, but no. It’s not them.” She gestured awkwardly at her face. “It’s my mom. She died. Recently.”
His expression shifted, all warmth and sympathy, and he started to rise from his seat.
“No,” she said quickly, holding up a hand. “If you hug me, I’ll start crying and ruin everyone’s breakfast.”
He paused, then gave a quiet nod. “Fair. But just so you know, you get a free pass to cry. Forget everyone else’s toast.”
Despite herself, she laughed. He always could pull that off—disarm her just when she thought she couldn’t breathe. “Thank you. But honestly, I’ve cried enough lately. Would be nice to go one day without.”
Their eyes met across the table. He gave her a small smile, one that clearly said,Change your mind if you want. The offer stands. Screw the toast.
“Well, I’m really killing it here,” he said, grinning. “Five minutes in and I’ve already made you cry. Might as well go for the full emotional sweep. How’s that divorce going? Did I know the guy? Should he be thrown in a river?”
“Oh my God!” she exclaimed, laughing. “Stop it. You did not make me cry—”
“Well…” Luke tilted his hand from side to side. “Kind of did, but—”
“The divorce was great, thanks for asking,” she cut in, playing along. “It was years ago. No river necessary. Kenny moved to town for senior year, and we got married right after graduation. Then he figured out he didn’t want small-town life in South Carolina with a wife he barely knew, so he left. Stuck around maybe two years longer than he should’ve, but…them’s the breaks.”
Luke shook his head, face serious now. “What an idiot. He had you, and let you go? That’s on him.”
The way he looked at her—intense, direct—made her stomach twist. Was that an apology buried in there? A subtle reflection on their own past?
“What about you?” she asked, pushing the moment aside.
“Let’s see…” he said, cracking a half-smile. “College. Internships. Law school. More internships. Got a job. Worked hundred-hour weeks. Married the only woman I ever saw outside of work.”
Her heart sank a little, irrationally disappointed.
He shrugged nonchalantly. “The funny thing about marrying someone just because they’re the only one around is that when you stop working together—and can’t talk about it anymore because of confidentiality—you realize you’ve got nothing else to say.”
“Oh, that’s awful. I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “Honestly? The worst part was the bill. We weren’t heartbroken, just tired. Five years married. Eighteen-hundred-something days. We figured out we only spent about seven hundred of those in the same city, let alone the same house.”
Sylvie stared, mouth open. “Wait, what? How does that even happen?”
“It’s ridiculous, I know,” he said. “We both traveled a lot. Always missing each other by a day or two. One year, she got posted to D.C. for four months. We knew it was over when we bumped into each other at the Dallas airport, and neither of us had told the other we were going.”
How was he saying this so calmly? But he was. And somehow, despite it all, she found herself smiling.
“Well. Look at us,” she said, laughing. “We’re doing great, aren’t we?”
Luke flashed her a grin. “Hey, we’re sitting in a five-star hotel, waiting for an award-winning breakfast, overlooking some of the best beaches in the world. Caribbean twist of fate bringing us back together after twenty years? I’ll take it.”
