‘But what if?—’
He opened the door. And then he spent so long staring at me that I thought for sure I’d been right, and he didn’t like it.
‘You hate it,’ I said. ‘I can change.’
‘Don’t you dare. You look stunning. I can’t believe I get to walk into that room tonight with you on my arm. I’m the luckiest man in Pine Harbor. In the world, in fact.’
‘Every woman in that room is going to hate me for having taken you off the market,’ I countered, looking him up and down. ‘How do you manage to look just as sexy in a tuxedo as you do in oilskins or jeans?’
He grinned. ‘Just luck, I guess.’ He held out his hand. ‘Ready?’
I took a deep breath in, held it for a second to steady my nerves, then breathed it out again slowly. ‘No. But let’s do it anyway.’
44
JONAH
The ballroom of the hotel had been turned into a Christmas Eve winter wonderland. Normally a formal space, it had been transformed for the night into a dreamy, wintry space. Its standard tones of gray, silver and white had been replaced with rich reds, deep greens and glittering golds. The chandelier’s light had been softened, the ceiling draped with sheer white, see-through cloths, thousands of small white lights threaded into the material so it seemed as if we were underneath the stars. Around the walls, the mirrored panels reflected the light. Tall Christmas trees were strung with thousands of fairy lights, and dusted with fake snow. Around the dance floor, tables were set with beautiful Christmas linen. In the center of the tables were tall white roses and winter greenery with lights in vases, surrounded at the base by snow-frosted pinecones.
We moved through the room together, Mae’s hand tucked through the crook of my arm. Outwardly, she appeared composed. Only the way she held on to my arm tightly betrayed her nerves, and only to me. I introduced her to friends, relatives, board members and regular, long-time guests of the hotel.
‘This is incredible,’ Mae breathed as we walked away from a group of people, her eyes alight with wonder.
‘Not nearly as incredible as you,’ I told her, aware it sounded cheesy, but not caring. I had been coming to these formals since I was a child, but I had never,never, enjoyed being there as much as I enjoyed being there with her. I was aware that, all around the room, eyes were on us. And not just because Mae was the most beautiful woman there. People were curious. They knew who I was, but Mae was still largely unknown, although I knew the rumor mill would have already begun working.
‘Jonah.’
I turned to see Anna and Myles.
‘Hey.’ I kissed my sister on the cheek and slapped Myles’s hand. ‘Where’s Isabelle?’
‘Over at the bar getting a drink,’ Anna replied, then rolled her eyes. ‘She’s a baby, Jonah. She’s at home with a babysitter. Obviously.’
She turned to Mae. ‘Your glass is almost empty. Should we get another drink? This is the first time I’ve touched alcohol since Izzy was born, and I’ve pumped enough breast milk to last several days. Not to mention Myles and I have a room upstairs for the night. Let’s get drunk.’
‘Uh.’ Mae looked at me.
‘Just go with her,’ I told her. ‘She’s such a lightweight she’ll be drunk after two wines and ready for her bed.’
Anna shrugged. ‘He’s not wrong. Hey.’ She winked at her husband. ‘This might be the night baby number two gets conceived.’
I groaned. ‘Too much information, man. I don’t want to think about my sister and my best friend getting it on.’
‘Lucky you don’t know what we did in the bathroom at your twenty-first then.’ Anna grinned, tucking her arm through Mae’s. ‘Come on. Let’s leave the men to talk about boring stuff.’
I watched them head to the bar. The crowd parted to let them through, and more than a few heads turned to watch after them. I felt a swell of pride that Mae was here with me.
‘I heard about what happened on the boat,’ Myles said, taking a swig of the whiskey in his hand. ‘It must have been terrifying.’
‘It was about the most scared I’ve ever been,’ I admitted.
‘You had us all worried. Your sister even prayed, you know that?’
I stared at him, surprised. ‘She did?’
He nodded. ‘In all the years I’ve known her, I have never known her to express any interest in religion. But that night, she prayed.’
I rubbed a hand over my face wearily. ‘I hate that I worried everyone.’
