Because if they hit this out of the park like she planned, the venue’s owners said they could use the space whenever they wanted, so long as they received a cut of the proceeds to the tune of twenty percent.
It was the sweetest deal that came with the sweetest view. That was what got Edie so excited, the fact that while three of the walls were a stark white—the perfect display for artwork—the remaining wall of the rectangular establishment was nothingbut a stretch of windows that framed in the Pacific Ocean like its own painting.
For Edie, that big expanse of blue was the ideal backdrop for her seascape photographs, particularly her work done with her macro lens. She one day hoped to showcase her own exhibit within the space, an opportunity she did not wish to squander simply because two grown men couldn’t get along.
“Will you at least let me buy you lunch?” Cal cast her a brief look across the cab while he merged onto Highway 1, his vehicle picking up speed to join the flow of traffic.
“That sounds precariously close to becoming a date.” Edie made a face.
“I respect your boundaries, Edie. I do. I was just offering to pick up the tab since you did last time. That’s all.”
She breathed out slowly through her mouth. She needed to stop doing this. Stop analyzing every gesture, every conversation.
“I’ll let you buy,” she conceded. “But I’m picking the place.”
“Youdorealizeyou picked the place where we had our first date.” Cal moved his napkin over his mouth, giving Edie a pointed look across the table.
“What?” She nearly choked on her big gulp of ice water. “This is not where we had our first date.”
“It is. Maybe not inside the actual restaurant, but outside of it.” He motioned with the tines of his fork toward the window that looked out on the pier.
Edie glanced over her shoulder, following his movements.
Cal was right.
They’d come here all that time ago to paint part of the mural that adorned the exterior wall of Fin and Flounder. It was the first time Cal had given Edie a real nudge with her creativity. Given her permission to express herself in a way she never had. She knew Cal was the catalyst for this lucrative career she currently found herself in. Fate in the form of a hummingbird landed her on the doorstep of his gallery, and things—both professionally and romantically—took off from there.
“Do you think it’s still there?” Cal cocked a brow. “Our contribution to the mural?”
“Hank?”
He just nodded, his eyes softening at the memory. Goodness, Cal was handsome in such a carefree, almost unruly way. From his shaggy hair that always appeared windswept, to the smatterings of paint that constantly speckled his forearms and clothes. He was a living, breathing visual of the way Edie wanted to live: with abandon and a confidence she’d only recently tapped into.
“We should check out the mural once we’re finished here,” he suggested, maintaining eye contact for so long it made Edie’s heart quicken.
She tugged her eyes away again, immediately feeling the loss of that connection. There was something so magnetic about Cal, this energy she was constantly drawn to.
“Can I ask you something?” He moved his napkin back to his lap. “Something personal?”
“Yes,” she replied without hesitation. Communication was always number one in her book, especially since it was a lack of communication that had led to their breakup in the first place. “Of course.”
“Is the reason you’re so opposed to the thought of this being a date because it’s with me?” he asked boldly. “Or because it’s not with Josh?”
“Cal.” Edie tilted her head. “I’m just not in a place where I’m wanting to date right now.”
“Is that it? Or is it that you don’t want to make a decision on who to date.”
“Maybe a little of that, honestly. You two aren’t making it easy, you know.”
In the way that only Cal could do, he leveled her with just one tender look. “I’m sorry. I know I’ve been putting the pressure on. It’s just that I’ve lost you once, Edie. And I’m not about to let that happen again, not if I can help it. And certainly not to some other guy.”
“Josh isn’t just some other guy. He’s family to Camille and Tabitha. And he’s become a good friend to me.”
“And I’m all for that. For the two of you just beingfriends. But that’s not it entirely, is it?”
Cal wanted her to admit that there was something more. But could she even do that? Truth be told, Edie didn’t know what to make of her feelings lately. They were a roaring tempest, a storm of emotion that she got swept up in each time she thought of the men.
“We’re friends.” She was going to leave it at that.
