“I’m sure things will improve now that we’re not in Portland.”
“Why would they?”I smirked.“Because Coral Cove is full of normal, balanced people just waiting to be with us?”
He snorted.“You must already be drunk if you think that.”
We both laughed.
“Besides,” he murmured.“What is normal?I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who would qualify.Everyone has little quirks.Secrets.Shit they won’t admit to.”
“Oh, my,” I teased.“You sound like a jaded bastard.”
He smiled.“Not really.I just think normal is overrated.”
The third beer was probably a mistake, but neither of us was driving, and the conversation had found a natural, if odd, current that neither of us seemed willing to swim out of.
“Do you have family back in Portland?”Declan asked, pushing his last fry into his mouth.
“Nope.I’m an only child, and my parents are both gone.My mom died when I was nineteen.Car accident.My dad went about two years later.Heart attack, technically, but I think he just missed her.”I folded the corner of my cocktail napkin distractedly.“So it’s just me.Has been for a while, so it feels natural.”
Declan was quiet for a moment.“I’m sorry.”
“It is what it is.What about you?”
“My parents are in New York.Retired.My dad was an electrician, my mom taught third grade for about a thousand years.They’re great.Worry about me too much.”A half-smile.“I’ve got a brother, George.He’s older.He’s a psychologist, lives in Brooklyn.Married, with two kids.”
“A psychologist,” I said.“That must make Thanksgiving interesting.”
“You’re not wrong.We’ve had some very enlightening family discussions over the years.He’s the reason I—” Declan stopped.Picked up his beer.Set it down again.“He’s the reason I’m trying to be more honest with myself.About what I want.”
There was something underneath those words.Something he wasn’t saying or maybe wasn’t ready to say.At least, not to me.
“George sounds like a good brother,” I said.“Not that I’d know, having been an only child.But he sounds great.”
“He is.”Declan’s voice was soft.“He’s the best person I know.”
We sat with that for a minute.The bar was thinning out.Tess was wiping down tables, and Craig was still sitting at the bar, apparently waiting for her to get off her shift.Now and then she’d walk by him and wink, caressing his arm.After seeing her flirt all night with Gil, I had to wonder how she kept up the act of being happily married.It was obvious to anyone who paid attention she was miserable.But then again, it was safer if she did keep up the act, considering Craig’s temper.
“I should head out,” Declan said at last, pulling out his wallet.He tossed down some money on the receipt Tess had placed in front of him.
I did the same with mine.
He stood and pulled on his jacket just as I did the same thing.We were closer than either of us meant to be, and we bumped into each other.I could smell his warm skin mingled with his cologne, and my heart beat faster.Our eyes met, and I swear I saw arousal in his brown depths.But then he just nodded casually, turned, and left the restaurant.
I stayed behind to give Declan time to exit the restaurant.I wouldn’t have cared if we walked out together, but had a feeling it would make Declan uncomfortable.So I sat back on my bar stool and drained what was left in my beer mug.It occurred to me that I hadn’t even tried to ask him about Eddie’s case.That had to be a first.Not that he’d have told me anything, but the fact I didn’t even try was new.
That was probably just because we’d had a lot of other things to talk about.We didn’t know much about each other, so there had been plenty to learn.While I’d found him attractive from the beginning, I’d assumed we wouldn’t have anything in common.But that wasn’t the case.We shared a similar sense of humor, and our lives had followed a similar trajectory.At least, similar enough that we’d both ended up in the same small town.
Of course, mostly I’d enjoyed myself because Declan had been very different from the first time we’d met.That morning on the dock, Declan had been frosty.Focused.Tonight, he’d been funny and even warm at times.I’d learned more about Declan Hale in the last two hours than I’d learned about any other guy in the six months I’d been in Coral Cove.How sad was that?
But I needed to remember, no matter how enjoyable I found Declan’s company, he was most likely straight.Chasing after straight guys didn’t end well.Or at least, it never had for me.
* * *
The next afternoon, I ran into Tess Barlow at the Tidewater Market.
I was in the produce section, trying to decide if the avocados were worth the gamble.They were hard as rocks, which at the Tidewater meant they were either three days from ripe or three days past the point of no return.I was squeezing one with zero confidence when I heard someone say, “Those ones are hopeless.They just came in.Try the ones at the back.Harry never rotates the produce like he should.”
I turned to find Tess standing near me with a basket over her arm.She looked like she’d just come from a shift at the Anchor.Her hair was pulled back, and she wore a flannel shirt over her work tank top.She was naturally pretty even without much makeup, and her gaze was interested and warm.That was possibly why she was such a great bartender.She made you feel special.
