“No, thanks.” Peter pulled out a chair at the kitchen table for Vivien, coming around to sit across from her. “It’s good to see you,” he said softly under his breath.
And, just like sixteen-year-old Vivien, her poor heart skipped a proverbial beat. She half-expected him to call her “kid.”
“Tell me about Connor,” she said. “Healing well?”
Holly and Peter shared a look that spoke volumes. Not only did that make Vivien worry about Connor, but the silent connection between this former married couple was…palpable.
Holly set a glass of iced water in front of Vivien and slid the plate of cookies onto the table like she was hosting a book club. Then, to Vivien’s mild horror, she pulled out a chair and joined them.
“Is everything okay with him?” Vivien asked, looking from one to the other.
“He’s absolutely fine,” Holly assured her, a note of exasperation in her voice. “He wants to be healed and whole in no time, and he just doesn’t understand that this requires rest and recovery.”
“He thinks he’s invincible,” Peter added. “And thinks we’re acting like the parents of a five-year-old.”
Vivien kept a sympathetic smile in place, taking in all the subtext. They agreed on the problems with their recuperating son. And they were a “we” again, parents together. Small shift, but seismic to her.
“It’s just one of those things,” Holly said, picking up one of the cookies. “When your kid is hurt, it’s like he’s a child again, right, Pete?”
Petejust gave a tight smile, and Vivien suspected he suddenly heard what the exchange must sound like and wanted it to end.
“So what’s new at the Summer House?” he asked, obviously looking for a change of subject.
She rooted around for a neutral response, landing on the obvious. “Did you hear they’re tearing down Let Go Bridge?”
His eyes widened in surprise.
“What kind of name is that for a bridge?” Holly asked.
“It’s actually named the Left Coast Bridge,” Peter explained. “Between the two jetties just south of Destin Bridge on the, well, left side of town if you’re looking at a map.”
“Oh, I know that bridge,” Holly exclaimed. “We used it years ago to come over from Pensacola. That thing is hideous! Good riddance to bad rubbish.”
It was Peter and Vivien’s turn to exchange a knowing look, proving they both shared at least some level of reverence for the landmark.
“It wasn’t…rubbish,” Vivien said carefully. “It actually meant a lot to us when we were kids. All the teenagers in Destin from the eighties and nineties used to, um, congregate there.”
“It was special,” Peter agreed. “Walking that bridge was…a vibe.” He grinned. “As Connor would say.”
Vivien laughed at the expression, but Holly blinked. “Wait. You…walked on it?”
“Jumped off it,” Vivien admitted.
Holly’s mouth fell open.
“It was a ritual,” Peter explained. “And for some reason, you did it when you were sixteen.”
It pleased Vivien to no end that he remembered that detail.
“Didyou?” Holly asked him.
“Oh, yeah. Everybody did.”
Holly looked miffed that there was something in Peter’s past she didn’t know about. “That’s…wildly unsafe. So unlike you, Pete.”
“It’s not high and the water is calm and perfectly safe there. It was illegal but overlooked by my predecessors with a badge.”
Vivien smiled faintly. “It felt brave at sixteen. We called it the ‘let go’ bridge and everyone jumped at least once. To, you know, let go of…things.”
