The waiter came to the table, set two glasses of water down, and introduced himself as Mike. He told them the specials, all of which made Rennie’s mouth water. Afterward, he took their drink orders—vodka and tonic for her, and a local IPA for Graham.
“What’s her name?” Rennie asked as soon as Mike left.
“Who?” Graham picked up the glass in front of him and took a sip.
“The woman who introduced you to this place. There has to be a story behind it.”
Graham fiddled with the glass, and his eyes wandered everywhere but to Rennie. His lips went into a thin line, and it looked as if he was biting the inside of his cheek.
“She must’ve been some woman.”
He smiled or smirked; she couldn’t be sure. Graham sat up straight and leaned slightly toward Rennie. “It’s tough to date in Cape Harbor. I either grew up with them, they’re about ten years younger than me, or they know so much about Grady that they think I’m the same way.”
“So, you came here to look for women?”
“No,” he said. “I came here because I got sick of people telling me how sorry they were about Austin and Grady. Sure, I may have met a few women, but none of them ever became more than a one-night or weekend thing.”
“Graham, are you seriously telling me you haven’t had a real relationship since you moved back?”
“That’s what I’m telling you.”
Rennie sat there, stunned, and before she could ask him to elaborate, the waiter returned with their drinks and asked if they were ready to order. Rennie motioned for Graham to order first. As he said he would, he ordered the steak, which came with mashed potatoes, a vegetable medley, and a house salad. Rennie ordered the same and handed her menu to the waiter.
“What happened to being able to order for yourself?” Graham asked. He had called her out on her earlier rant on how she wanted someone to accept her independence.
“Your order sounded good.”
“Liar,” he said as he picked up his pint of beer. “You never read the menu because you were too busy grilling me about my lackluster love life.”
“Which I don’t get, Graham. I remember the first time I saw you. B brought me to some party. It was my first time in Cape Harbor, and Bowie suggested I sit down and play spin the bottle with him. I think he had a little crush or thought we’d hook up or something. You and Grady were there but not sitting next to each other. Brooklyn had told me all about the Chamberlain twins beforehand, so I knew who you were. The game leader called out seven minutes in heaven, spun the bottle, and it landed on you. I watched the old Pepsi bottle spin and spin on the board, and when it landed on me . . .” She sat back and smiled. “Girls were pissed, but I didn’t care, because I was heading into the closet with this really hot guy.” Graham blushed as Rennie recounted the way they met.
“I remember that night clearly.”
“You were my first kiss. Hell, you were my first everything, and there was a time when my mother thought we were going to get married.”
“Really?”
“Yeah . . .” Rennie paused when the waiter came to the table with their salads. She and Graham both took their napkins and placed them on their laps and picked up their forks. He dug in immediately, but she waited. She wanted to finish telling him about her mom. “When we went off to college, she told me to be careful, that she always heard the women were a bit wild down there because so much sun made them do crazy things. I remember laughing her off and thinking she had no idea about her daughter. I couldn’t wait to party. But as she was helping me pack, she put her hand on mine and said, ‘Graham is a good guy and is going to be a great man.’ At first, I had no idea what she was talking about until I told her about Theo. Her first question was, ‘Whatever happened to Graham? I always liked him.’ So, what did happen?”
Graham put his fork down, finished chewing, and used his napkin to wipe his lips. “Nothing happened. I fell in love with someone, Austin died, and then she left me because I felt I had a duty to come home and help Grady and my dad. It was like some perverse life cycle I couldn’t control.”
They were only halfway through their salads when dinner arrived. Graham seemed lost in thought each time Rennie would glance at him. They made small talk, mostly about the area they were in and how long they were going to stay.
“My vacation is over on the third,” she told him. She needed to talk to distract herself from her thoughts.