“Thanks a lot.” Anne flopped down on her clothes-covered bed. “Ugh. Do you ever just… hate everything that you own?”
Laurie tilted her head to one side. “No.”
“Right. Of course not. Just… look at you.”
“You’re still beautiful.Heobviously thinks so.”
“He’s only seen me in, like, my super flowy everyday stuff. Big baggy t-shirts or loose linen dresses.”
“You’re kind of proving my point.”
“What if he gets a good look at me and realizes that he’s not attracted to me anymore?”
“Right… because he’s going to besoupset that you went up a few bra sizes.”
“You don’t get it. You look like a flipping model. Just leave me to drown in my dowdy middle-aged wardrobe.” Anne flopped over to bury herself in her clothes.
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“I know,” Anne chirped, sitting up again. “It’s kind of cathartic. You should try it sometime.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Laurie said dryly. She shook her head and plucked a dress from the pile. “Here. Try this one. And get a hold of yourself.”
Laurie walked out, leaving Anne feeling… strangely enough, better than she had before. Somehow, it had helped just to voice her worries and have her sister tell her that she was being ridiculous.
She sighed and went back to her one-woman fashion show.
In the end, she just went down in the cotton sundress that she happened to be wearing when he pulled up to the house five minutes early. It was patterned like a china plate, with blue on white. It wasn’t the nicest or most flattering thing that she owned, but it was cute and comfortable enough for a casual lunch date.
Casual, she thought again.As if.
There was nothingcasualabout going on a date with her eldest daughter’s father, however much they might both try to pretend otherwise. She didn’t want to put any undue pressure on… whatever this was between them. But at the same time, his enmeshment in her family made it impossible to feel relaxed about the implications of starting something up with him again.
One way or another, Noah was a part of her life. If that old spark wasn’t there anymore, she hoped that they could at least find their way back to the easy friendship that they had shared as kids.
She did a quick mirror check, then looked away from her reflection before her eyes could linger too long on the lines on her forehead or the age spots that got darker with every trip to the beach.
At least her dark red hair was more or less the same. She left it loose, floating around her shoulders as she hurried barefoot down the stairs.
“Hi.” Noah was inside already, looking up at her with a dazed sort of smile.
Anne felt a sudden vertigo, complete with the knowledge that she could fall completely and immediately in love with this man she had known all her life.
Had she ever really fallenoutof love with him?
She stumbled, tripped over the hem of her dress, and nearly fell down the last few stairs. Noah stepped forward and steadied her with a hand under her elbow. She regained her footing and smiled up at him in a self-conscious sort of way.
He was gorgeous, even more so now than when they were young.
His deep brown eyes held hers, and all of her petty worries drained away.
He had that effect on her. He always had.
Through everything that had happened, all of the trauma and turmoil, all her stubborn insistence in building a life on the mainland… her deepest feelings had never really changed. She had just locked them away – and with them, a huge part of her true self.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked.
She cleared her throat and stepped back. “Yep. Just need shoes. They’re on the lanai.”
