Some Kind of Wonderful (Puffin Island 2)
“I appreciate the sentiment but it’s awkward for you, me being here—”
“I said, sit down.” Ryan’s tone was polite layered over steel. “You’re not going anywhere. It will upset Cocoa and it will upset me.”
Zach thought about all the things Ryan didn’t know. “Look, you and Brittany have been friends a long time and—”
“You and I have been friends a long time, too. Which is why I’m offering you another beer and a seat at my table.”
“Best to sit,” Alec said mildly. “You know he never gives up. It’s one of his more annoying traits.”
Ryan raised his eyebrows. “I have annoying traits?”
“You want a list?” Alec drained his beer. “Because I could put that together for you, with references.”
Zach felt as if a heavy weight were crushing him. “It’s Emily’s table, too.”
“Which is another reason you’re not leaving. After all the hours she spent in the kitchen, she’d be offended.”
“Maybe not.” He wondered if Brittany had told her friend what had happened. “Seems to me she’s in an impossible position. I don’t want to be the one causing friction.”
“The friction seems to be between Sky and Alec, and if Brittany has a problem with you being here, then she needs to get over it,” Ryan said pleasantly. “You were the one who flew Lizzy and Emily to the hospital that night. And you were the one who bothered to pick up the phone and tell me what had happened. You were a good friend to both of us. And let’s not forget I was best man at your wedding.”
If Zach could have found a way of forgetting, he would have done. “The wedding I screwed up.”
“I share the blame for that. You tried to run and I wouldn’t let you.”
“Another time you’ve been put in a difficult position because of me.”
Ryan shrugged. “Relationships are messy things. You don’t have the monopoly on screwing things up. Alec here will support me on that one.”
Alec stretched out his legs. “I will. The happiest part of my marriage was the divorce.”
“Sit down, Zach.” Ryan jerked his head towards the chair. “While you’re drinking that beer, tell me more about Cessna capabilities. I’m thinking of expanding next summer and offering skippered yacht holidays. We already have the Alice Rose, but at the moment if people want to charter her they have the hassle of a ferry trip. I’m thinking you could fly them direct to her and land on the water. Joint venture. Are you interested?”
“In working with you?” Zach curbed his natural desire to run from anything that looked remotely like a commitment and cautiously sank back down. “I might be.”
“Good. I’ll play with some ideas and then we’ll talk again.”
Zach eyed the kitchen door, which had remained firmly closed. “Are you sure you don’t want me to leave? Seems to me dessert is taking a while longer than it should.”
“It’s always the same when the three of them are together. They’re probably just talking.”
Zach felt heat spread through his body. He suspected he knew exactly what they were talking about.
“I HAD NO IDEA Ryan had invited him for dinner,” Emily hissed behind the closed kitchen door. “We agreed we’d invite our friends. I just didn’t think—”
“It’s fine.” Brittany stacked the dishwasher. Usually she was a clear, methodical thinker, but since Zach had come back into her life, that skill seemed to have deserted her.
“Yes, it’s fine,” Skylar echoed brightly. She still hadn’t mentioned the phone call that had required her to leave the room. “After all, they’re both civilized people and anyway, Brittany has been pretending to be indifferent so this is a perfect way to prove it. Isn’t that right, Brit?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I—actually no, that’s not right.” Giving up the pretense, Brittany plopped onto the kitchen chair. “Things are—complicated.”
Emily abandoned the dirty plates and gave her a worried look. “Has something else happened?”
“You could say that.”
“Another spider? Something else? You finally lost control?”
Brittany gave a moan and covered her face with her hands. “Yes.”