My friends have taught me a good motto:If he wanted to, he would.It’s a concept I try to apply to my own lackluster dating life, but I’m now realizing that this concept doesn’t necessarilyapply to Beck. From what I’ve heard tonight, he requires direct communication, and expecting him to read my mind won’t work if I want to have a chance at rebuilding our friendship.
Tentatively, I reach up and squeeze his shoulder. “I’m sorry. It’s a cruel world sometimes.”
Beck presses his lips together and accepts the apology with a nod. “It is, but it’s not your fault.”
“It’s not yours either.”
For the first time, we lapse into a comfortable silence as we look out over the harbor and the boats peacefully bobbing in place.
Beck clears his throat. “So, you want me to call you this week?”
I turn sideways in my seat so he can read my sincerity. “Yes. But only if you want to.”
Beck mirrors my position and his ocean eyes shine with an emotion I can’t quite place. “I do. I want us to be friends again. You were my best friend before.”
“You were mine too.” Taking a fortifying breath, I look at Beck’s kind face and ask the question that’s been weighing on me for years. “Where did you go, Beck? One day we were playing in the backyard, pushing each other on the swing, making up dances, and having fun, and the next day, you were just gone. I went to ask your grandmother where you were, but she said you had to leave early. She wouldn’t give me a reason why you didn’t say goodbye. Every summer I waited for you, hoping to see you one more time.”
Pain flashes across Beck’s face and he lifts his hand toward mine before laying it back in his lap and curling it into a fist,scales glimmering on his knuckles. “I did go back for you. Eventually. I went to see you the day after I graduated.”
I press my hand to my chest, my heart aching all over again as if no time has passed since that morning he disappeared, that missed opportunity at seeing him slicing through me like a sharp knife. “You did? I never knew. I graduated a year early and moved to Youngford to study law, then moved to Cape Easton a couple of years ago.”
Beck swallows audibly. “Would you…?”
“Would I what?” I encourage, trying to stay present in this moment so I can properly crash out at home once I process everything he’s said tonight.
Looking adorably awkward, Beck tucks a strand of moonlit blond hair behind his ear. “Would you want to hang out sometime? Get coffee together? Or lemonade, if it’s still your favorite?”
I smile and twirl a piece of hair around my index finger, feeling like he’s almost asking me out on a date. Beck might not have meant the offer to sound romantic, so in order to avoid any misunderstandings, I refuse to read too much into it and simply take his words at face value. “I’d really like that. We can meet here in the city, or maybe you can show me around Starry Hill?”
Beck’s entire body stills, his eyes rounding as he searches my face. “You want to come back to Starry Hill?” he asks, hope blossoming in his voice.
I nod as a lightness settles in my heart. “Very much. Lucille invited me to visit her next weekend at The Dancing Daisy. We could hang out after, if you’re free?”
“I’m free,” Beck answers quickly, a flurry of glittering scales rushing across his arms. “I’ll come pick you up in the morning and drop you off again when you’re ready to go back.”
“You sure it won’t be a bother to go twice? Maybe I can ask Viggo to do one of the trips?” I suggest.
“Please don’t.” It’s a simple request from Beck, one that’s very easy for me to agree to.
“Okay,” I breathe, hardly containing my smile.
“Okay,” Beck repeats, his eyes grazing across my face like he’s memorizing each one of my features.
“Saturday?” I state more than ask, already wondering how I’m going to get through the week when I have such an exciting weekend filled with a trip to Starry Hill, a visit to a bookshop, and Beck waiting for me at the end of it.
“Saturday,” Beck replies with a brilliant smile that matches my own.
