He pretended to be scared, backing away with his hands raised defensively as Keoki launched into a melancholy version of “Private Eyes.”
“What did you think?” Hildy asked Jefferson.
“It was very good.” He was running with the assumption that they were no longer talking about the music. “The pork was extremely tender.”
“Not about the food, JJ. Respectfully, you’re probably the least gourmet person here. Although you’re right about the pork.” Hildy nodded at Lillibet, who was laughing with another of Keoki’s brothers. There seemed to be an infinite supply of them.
“She’s in her element.” If the full belly, dark beer, and gentle breeze were lulling him to sleep, awareness of Libby kept him on the alert. The chance of catching her eye, or a fleeting smile, was a constant hum at the back of his mind. She was part of the slip-through-your-defenses magic of this place, as pleasing to his senses as the rest of the scene.
Hildy’s gaze sharpened. “I was talking about how I handled my uncle. Got him on the defensive. That’s how I soften himup so he’s in a more receptive frame of mind. To give me what I want,” she added when Jefferson looked at her blankly. “But I guess you were too busy thinking about someone else to notice my sick moves.”
“Hildy.”
“Jefferson.” She mimicked his long-suffering tone. “I know you’re super-sad and lonely right now, but life is long, Emo Oldster. For some of us more than others, but still. You never know what the future holds.”
This time he knew exactly what she meant, even without the head tip in Lillibet’s direction. Or the wink.
“I know what it doesn’t hold.”
She scraped up more of the coconut filling. “What?”
“Breaking up a marriage.”
“Hmm.”
Jefferson sighed. “Yes, Hildy?”
“At any point today I could have said,Hey, Lillibet, where’s Jefferson?and she would have been able to answer without even thinking about it. Same goes for you.”
“That’s beside the point.”
“Then I guess you have no interest in coming to work for me and seeing if your paths cross again one day. Like if someone were to put you and Lillibet on the same assignment. In a remote location. With lots of alone time.”
“We barely know each other,” he said, sidestepping the question.
“When you know, you know. That’s the kind of guy you are.”
“You barely know me, either,” Jefferson reminded her.
“Are you really going to sit there and nitpick my brilliant insight into your life? This is quality life coaching.”
“Should I write you a check?”
“How modern of you, JJ. Will you send it to me via the United States Postal Service? With a stamp and everything?”
A flash of blue caught his attention, his brain instantly cataloging the shade of almost-lavender as Libby’s skirt.
“You obviously like her,” Hildy said, watching him watch Libby disappear into the house with a serving bowl in each hand.
It wasn’t technically a question, so he kept his mouth shut.
“That’s the essential fact, right?” She grabbed his beer and took a sip. “I see you as a person who doesn’t overcomplicate things. You call ’em like you see ’em.”
He reclaimed his beer before she could finish it. “Maybe I don’t make things complicated enough.”
“Said absolutely no one ever. Why would you want to do that?”
“To learn from my mistakes.”
