He looked back down at Nel. “Sorry, I have to speak to someone.”
“Wait.” She shuffled back in front of him, her bottom lip disappearing between her teeth. “I was wondering if maybe we could set a time and place for that third date?”
He’d thought his not mentioning a third date was communication enough for Nel to get the hint that he wasn’t interested. Hell, she hadn’t messaged him either. “I’m actually really busy right now with this new SAR team.”
Her smile slipped. “Oh. Okay. Um, maybe in a few weeks?”
“I—” He glanced up. She was gone. Shit. “I’m sorry, Nel. I’ll see you later.”
He stepped around the woman and sprinted outside.
Maggie and Polly were already halfway across the grassy area near the gazebo.
“Ethan.”
He ignored Connor from behind him and stepped forward, but his friend grabbed his arm.
“What are you?—”
“Give her time,” Connor interrupted. “She just got back to town and saw you for the first time in years. You guys have a big history. The last thing you want to do is overwhelm her.”
“Talking to her would overwhelm her?”
“In your situation? Yes.” Connor stepped closer. “You’re both here, in Deep River. There’s going to be plenty of time to catch up.”
Ethan swallowed and turned his head to look at her again. And at the exact moment, Maggie glanced behind her, and Ethan swore he saw it.
Need. Longing. And maybe even a bit of regret.
Maggie’s heart raced.It had raced for the entire one-hour town meeting, and it hadn’t stopped now that it was over.
There was so much of Ethan that was exactly the same. The power and strength in his body. The warmth in his voice and eyes. But there were also differences. New shadows in his eyes, like he’d seen things others hadn’t. New laugh lines beside his mouth.
Polly bumped her hip as they passed the gazebo. “You okay?”
“I don’t know. I knew he was here. I knew I’d see him. But actually experiencing it…”
“It’s different,” Polly finished for her. “I might not believe in the power of love and happily ever afters, but you and Ethan always felt like the exception.”
Polly could be the president of the Women Don’t Need a Man Club. In fact, she’d once argued in a high school debate class for a solid thirty minutes all the reasons men benefited from marriage and women didn’t, and she’d only been seventeen at the time.
Maggie sucked in a deep lungful of air. “When I broke up with him, I truly believed he was better off without me.”
“I hate your aunt for making you feel like you weren’t worthy of him.”
“Ilether make me feel that way.”
Somedays, on her worst days, when the world really beat her down, her aunt’s words still whispered inside her. Telling her that she wasn’t good enough. That Ethan deserved better. It was hard to completely erase a voice that had been so loud for the better part of a decade growing up.
“Do you know what I think?” Polly asked.
“That I’m better off on an island than a slave to a man.”
Polly threw her head back and laughed. “You know me too well. Usually, yes. But today, no. Today, I think it’s okay to give yourself some time. And when you feel up to it, you can talk to him. Explain that night.”
“He’s dating someone. You told me that.”
Polly lifted a shoulder. “I’m not saying you lay one on the guy, just…talk. You might even become friends.”
