Page 28 of Happily Ever After

“He thinks anything that involves you is an adventure,” Blaise said, dropping her cooler bag at her feet. “Adding water just takes it up a notch.”

Brick smiled at that and pushed them off, the engine humming to life as the dock drifted away. “Might want to get him a life vest. They make ’em for dogs.”

She nodded. “I’ll definitely do that.” She’d have some extra money as soon as she got paid for the photo shoot that was coming up. Getting Beau a life vest seemed like a good way to spend a little of it. That and paying Maude for the website. The rest, Blaise would happily deposit.

The sun was already low, the sky dimming slightly now, turning everything along the water a softer shade than it had been an hour earlier.

“I love this time of day, don’t you? It seems so much calmer.”

“Nature’s getting ready to go to bed.”

She nodded. “And some of it’s getting ready to come to life.”

He grunted in the affirmative.

They didn’t go far. Just enough that the sounds of the shore faded and the breeze picked up. Brick cut the engine and let the boat drift, the gentle slap of water against the hull filling the quiet.

A trio of brown pelicans flew overhead, so close she could hear their wings flap as they gained altitude. Beau barked at them, tail wagging for all he was worth but they paid him no attention.

She watched them go, then sat beside Brick on the bench seat. Beau hopped up, wedged himself between them, and settled in, content. Brick reached into the cooler he’d brought and handed her a bottle of water, then took another for himself.

He’d told her he was bringing dinner, but that she could bring something, too, if she wanted.

“I stopped at Publix,” he said. “Figured we could share.”

He pulled out a wrapped sub and set it between them, already cut in half. Blaise laughed softly. “Fine with me. What did you get?”

“Chicken salad. You said you liked that once,” Brick said.

“I did. And I do. Good choice.”

“What did you bring?”

“Nothing fancy.” She opened her bag and laid out a small container of cut-up watermelon and a bag of plain potato chips. “Good enough?”

He gave a short nod. “Good enough.”

A pair of pelicans went over. Beau jumped up and made the birds aware of his presence. Again, he was ignored.

Blaise and Brick both chuckled as they divvied up the sub.

They ate without hurry, passing the bag of chips back and forth, talking about odds and ends. She updated him on the Darcy situation. He told her about a neighbor he’d run into earlier who needed to borrow his Shop-Vac. She mentioned a new restaurant one of the Queen Bees had been to recently.

And both of them brought up Beau’s sudden fascination with pelicans.

The sky deepened as they watched, streaks of orange and pink stretching across the horizon. Blaise leaned back slightly, her shoulder brushing Brick’s. He didn’t move away. In fact, he inched closer and put his arm around her.

“This,” he said after a while, nodding toward the water, “is my favorite time of day.”

“I can see why,” Blaise said. “Those colors are pretty spectacular.”

The air smelled like salt, his aftershave, and something faintly metallic from the boat. It was comfortable and familiar and she knew she was going to miss him when she was in Miami. “Oh, my. I just thought of something.”

“What’s that?”

“Beau.” She’d been so occupied with everything else she’d forgotten he needed looking after. “Will you watch him while I’m in Miami? I’ll only be gone two days.”

He nodded. “Be honored to.”