“B
ecause I’ll be heading to Austin first?”
She nodded, unwilling to ding the confidence of first love. It was fierce and passionate, she knew that. She’d married hers. But time and separation could take a toll, and she didn’t want either of them to feel bad if it didn’t last. The memories they made this summer were special, no matter what.
“Thanks for letting me be part of your family, Mrs. Buchanan. With my dad deployed and my brother…having a life, it’s been nice.”
She reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “We tend to nag, get in each other’s business, tell each other what to do now and then. And we have little to no respect for personal space and quiet time. Fair warning.”
“Sounds perfect to me,” he murmured, his gaze following Honor as she steered Jack’s stroller along the water’s edge. With a grin, he pushed up and ran down the beach to join them.
Honor smiled at him, tilting her head back for the kiss Owen gave her. It was quite a kiss. Intimate. Too intimate for a mother to watch, so she stared at her ice cream, running her tongue along the cone to catch the drips before they landed on her bare legs. A slight tilt of the cone and the scoop rolled off and splatted into her lap.
She squealed and jumped up to wipe the cold stickiness from her legs. “Oh, great.”
“You okay?” Graham was there, his concern vanishing when he saw the smear of green running along her leg. “Ice cream incident?”
She laughed, awkward. Nick was close. The day was going so well; she didn’t want to jeopardize it. But she couldn’t exactly ignore him. She didn’t want to. “You could say that.” With the ever-useful pack of wipes, she managed to make her legs mostly ice cream–free, babbling, “The mosquitoes will love me.”
He smiled then. Oh, how she loved that smile. The real one that made the corners of his eyes crease.
And he stared at her, hard. “I have this.” He held up a ticket. “For six thirty.” He pointed at his watch. “Which is in five minutes. If you want to ride with me.” He never looked away.
“Ride?” she managed, a little breathless.
“Paddleboat.” He’d moved closer. “Will you go with me, Felicity?”
She shook her head. “I can’t, Graham.”
“Nick gave me the ticket.” Another step nearer. It knocked the air from her lungs. “For us.”
“He did?” She’d seen them talking earlier. No matter how Nick felt about her and Graham’s relationship, she’d hoped he’d consider Graham an ally. He needed a man in his life. And she couldn’t think of a better role model for her son than Graham. But she’d never in a million years thought they’d been talking about her.
“How about it?” he asked.
Her gaze darted around, searching for any excuse to turn him down. She needed one, desperately. Because she really wanted to go with him.
“I’ve got the fire,” Charity called out. “Honor’s got Jack—and Owen, too, from the looks of it.”
“Diana? Nick?” she asked, combing the shop fronts.
“Getting their faces painted.” Graham stared at the ticket. “You can say no, Felicity. It’s a choice.”
Her heart pounded wildly when she faced him. “I don’t want to say no, Graham. I want to go with you. I want to spend time with you. I want…” She could touch him now; his heat and scent surrounded her. She wanted to touch him—but she didn’t.
“What do you want, Felicity?” he whispered.
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I made Nick a promise. After everything he’s been through, I can’t break it. No matter what happened between us—or what I want.”
He was smiling broadly.
“Why are you smiling?” What was there to smile about? She was in love with the one man she’d sworn off.
“Your unwavering loyalty to your family.” His hand cupped her cheek, sending an alarming shudder down her spine. “It’s one of the things I love about you.”
She blinked, his words jarring her. “What?”
Both hands now, cradling her face. “I love you.”