Daisy smiled. ‘That’s true.’
‘And you can’t beat this view.’
They were sitting on the same side of the table so they could look out over the water and it really was a beautiful view. Deep blue sea met rocky coastline met pale blue sky. Even the seagulls swooping overhead looked idyllic.
‘Yeah, it’s pretty good,’ Daisy agreed with a sigh. ‘I’m not sure anyone is paying much attention to us over here, though.’
Elliot looked around the beach. There were a few families with small kids set up in the sand, a game of beach volleyball happening down by the nets, a couple of very brave young women in bathing suits, sunbathing, despite the fact that it wasn’tthatwarm, and a few sleek black seals swimming out in the water. No one seemed the slightest bit interested in them.
‘Should I stand on the table and start shouting a love poem or something?’
Daisy giggled. ‘Would you?’
‘Uh…’
She laughed harder. ‘I’m just kidding.’
‘Okay, good. I’m not much of a poet.’
She turned on the bench, so she was facing him. ‘What were you like as a kid?’
‘More things you think we should know about each other in case it comes up around other people?’
‘No,’ she took a sip of her Coke, the straw tucked between her lips. ‘I genuinely want to know.’
Elliot turned, too, so their knees were touching. ‘I was painfully shy, actually.’
‘Painfully?’
He nodded. ‘There was an entire year in elementary school when I just didn’t speak. Refused. That got me sent to therapy.’
‘Did therapy help?’
‘A little. I just never liked the feeling of being the center of attention. Even if the attention was just the teacher calling on me in class. It made me feel all hot and panicked.’
‘Oh, God, Elliot!’ Daisy’s eyes had gone wide in horror making Elliot feel like a seagull was about to land on him or something.
‘What?!’ He waved a hand over his head to protect himself.
‘No, nothing’s there.’ She grabbed his hand and sandwiched it between hers. ‘I just feel horrible.’
‘About what?’ he asked, still not able to figure out what she was so upset about.
‘I’ve been making youperformand be the center of attention all over town! You stood up at a town meeting for me!’
‘Of course, I did.’
She shook her head, her hair flying wildly around her shoulders. She’d never put it back up, and Elliot realized he was still wearing her hair tie around his wrist. He liked seeing it there—a little piece of her on his body.
‘No, Elliot. Notof courseyou did. You were the only person in this damn town that stood up for me, and I didn’t know that it was basically your worst fear!’
He tucked her hair behind her ear and she stilled, her eyes going wide.
‘Daisy, I’m not eight years old anymore. I can talk in front of people. Is it my favorite thing? No. But I can do it. I present designs to clients all the time. It’s really okay. I’m not doing anything I don’t want to do.’
At some point, he’d gone from tucking her loose hair back to cupping the side of her face. Her eyes fluttered closed as she leaned into his touch.
‘Okay,’ her voice was breathy when she finally spoke again. ‘But you have to tell me if this goes too far.’
