WHAT HAD SHE DONE? The suggestion had come out of the blue, but as soon as she’d asked him to dinner, it had seemed the right thing to do. It was, after all, logical. She had to eat. He had to eat. They had business to discuss, so why not do it over dinner?
How about the fact that she’d eaten a huge salmon salad for lunch before leaving Seattle and, if she’d planned to eat anything at all for dinner, it would’ve been a bowl of cereal? But maybe everyone was right about her and Seth. Although there was no way she ever would have wanted Zoe to die, perhaps fate had given her a second chance. As loath as Brianna was to admit it, her feelings for him hadn’t changed.
If anything, having had her share of hit-and-run relationships over the years, she could tell the difference between lust and something deeper. She wasn’t yet prepared to use the L word. But neither was she going to shut off her emotions, as he’d obviously done.
Even if she did fall in love, only to have her feelings continue to be one-sided, the least she could do was try to help him past the pain that he’d admitted he’d become mired in.
“That’s what friends do,” she said as she drove past the storefronts that were looking fresher than when she’d been growing up. There’d been a time, when the logging industry had slowed, that Honeymoon Harbor had fallen into a slump. But thanks to all those who, like the original residents, had stayed, it was on the rebound. And that she was going to be part of it had her putting away her concern about any possible awkwardness with Seth over dinner. As she glanced up into her rearview mirror, she could see herself grinning like a loon.
* * *
QUINN WAS BEHIND the bar, blender whirring as he whipped up a frozen strawberry margarita, when Brianna walked in.
“You’re wearing a date thing,” he greeted her after she’d woven her way through the tables, which were beginning to fill up.
“Shows what you know. It’s a shopping thing. I just got back from Seattle. Mom and I were finding stuff for the house.”
“So I heard. Sounds like you’re determined to do this.”
“Considering how much of a hit my credit card took with order deposits, that would be a yes.” She picked up the menu from a stack at the end of the bar. “You have more than burgers.”
“It’s a pub. Not a burger joint.”
“True.” She glanced around. “I love what you’ve done with it.”
He shrugged. “Seth did the construction, and Mom helped source the tables and decorative stuff, while I worked with a former client, who owns a national chain of steak houses, on the menu.”
“So it wasn’t an impulse.”
“Not at all. I ran the numbers, and worked on the concept for over a year.”
“Unlike me.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You were thinking it.”
“No. And I wasn’t being judgmental or negative. You’re my little sister. Wanting to protect you comes with the job description.”
She flashed him her brightest, most phony smile. One she’d perfected over the years to use with obnoxious guests. “I’m so flattered that you consider me a job.”
He laughed. “Brat.”
“Bossy big brother. Instead of insulting your customers, why don’t you make yourself useful by mixing me up a margarita?”
“Top-shelf?”
“Sure. Why not.” She was, after all, celebrating. And besides, she was going to insist she and Seth go Dutch and she could definitely afford it.
“You got it,” he said, preparing it with real limes, not a mix, which didn’t surprise her since he’d never settle for second best.
Feeling more upbeat than she had in a long time, she was skimming over the menu when her phone chimed. The screen read Harper Construction.
“Hi.” Did she sound breathless? Yeah. She most definitely did. “Just a second. I dropped some stuff when I went digging for my phone in my purse.” And didn’t that lame lie cause her brother to cock a knowing brow? She rummaged around in her bag for a moment, hopefully making enough noise that he’d believe her. “I have a head start on you. Quinn’s mixing me up a margarita as we speak.”
“That’s what I’m calling about.” Seth paused, and she could sense the words she didn’t want to hear coming at her, like the slow-motion bullet Keanu Reeves dodged in The Matrix. “Something’s come up. I’m going to have to take a rain check.”
“Oh. Okay.” She was not going to ask what. “No problem. I have things to catch up with anyway. Like working on this online program to come up with a logo and do website stuff.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. It was just a spur-of-the-moment idea anyway. Not like a date or anything.” This time Quinn rolled his eyes. Which, Brianna thought, was awfully juvenile for a man who’d once been featured on the cover of Seattle Metropolitan magazine as one of the top West Coast fast-track litigators. “I’ve got to go shopping tomorrow. For some clothes for Kelly and Mai’s bachelorette party. My Vegas bikini just isn’t going to cut it on the Pacific Coast.”
She waited for him to laugh at the idea of anyone wearing a bikini on a coast that could require a parka this time of year. But there was only a deep, dark hole of silence.
“Anyway, I’m obviously keeping you from something. So, how about we meet tomorrow. Around two? Or I could just email you the fixtures and stuff Mom and I found. Including the stove.”
“Sounds good.” He sounded distracted. “Let’s meet at the house.”
“I’d like that. I want to measure for furniture anyway. I’m not going to get a lot, but I’m not wild about the idea of sleeping on the floor, either. Mom suggested Treasures.”
“Zoe got stuff there,” he said. “She called it going on an attic safari since the stock’s always changing.”
Okay. She’d gotten the message, loud and clear. It was definitely not a date when a guy made a point of bringing up his deceased wife right after you’d mentioned buying a bed.
“Mom said pretty much the same thing. I’ll check it out before I meet Kylee and Mai for lunch, in case I find anything I might want to figure out how to use in the space.”
“Okay.” He’d gone beyond distracted to wanting to escape this conversation. Which made two of them. “I’ve got an appointment in the morning and don’t know how long that’ll take.”
“Okay, then.” She took a long swallow of the drink Quinn had put down in front of her. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Two p.m. At the house. Bye.” She escaped, just barely, having him hang up on her, by pushing End Call first.
“Still on for dinner?” Quinn asked.
She glanced around, looking for someone, anything she knew. She’d never liked eating alone in a restaurant. Eating alone after being stood up would be even worse. Worse yet would be running away like he’d broken her heart or something.
“Sure.” She skimmed through the menu. “I’ll have the Dungeness crab and shrimp mac and cheese.” She was tempted to order another margarita, maybe one of those bathtub-size ones she’d just seen one of the servers deliver to a table of young women who reminded her of how she, Kylee and Zoe had been when they’d been younger.
All three were laughing and working their way through a platter of grilled clam chips, pretending not to notice the trio of hot guys who’d just strutted in wearing tight navy blue Honeymoon Harbor Fire Department T-shirts.
“Carb loading,” he said. “You’re either about to run a marathon or in need of comfort food.”
“You do know that you’re not the only restaurant in town,” she said. “I could go down the street and get a big bowl of carbonara from Luca’s.”
He lifted his hands in surrender. “One crab and shrimp mac and cheese coming up. You good on the drink?”
Wine would be better with the mac and cheese. But reminding herself that she had a long drive back to the farm, she opted against additional alcohol, ordered soda water with lemon, took the folder from her tote and began leafing through it. As she sent Seth the photos from her phone, the beautiful stand-alone slipper tub, sinks, cabinets and quartz countertops she and her mother had chosen with such care didn’t give her nearly as much pleasure as they had just a few hours ago.
* * *
“WELL, YOU SURE as hell screwed the pooch on that one,” Seth muttered as he stared down at his phone, wishing he could take the damn call back. But then what? Then he’d be out on Mannion’s patio, breathing in the citrusy scent of her hair over the salt breeze, trying not to notice her legs. And all the other parts he had no business even looking at, let alone thinking about. He’d never kissed her. Except for that long-ago Christmas break back when he was twelve, he’d never even pondered the idea.
Correction. Except for that suspended moment at Herons Landing when kissing cousins were mentioned. He hadn’t been the only one hit by a bolt of lust. He’d seen the lightning hit those big blue eyes. He didn’t care what they called it, having a sunset waterfront dinner with her in that summery dress wasn’t a business meal. It was a guy/woman thing. A first date. Which he hadn’t had since his parents had driven Zoe and him to the Olympic Theater to see The Princess Diaries.
The movie about a geeky teenage girl who suddenly discovered she was heir to a European throne wouldn’t have been his first choice. If he was going to be honest, and he was smart enough not to be, it would have been his last. But no way was he going to turn down a chance to spend two hours sitting in the dark beside her, getting a forbidden thrill that one time their hands had brushed while diving into the popcorn barrel at the same time.
So, rather than revert back to the almost-thirteen-year-old he’d once been, he’d chickened out, making up an excuse so lame Bandit wouldn’t have bought it. And now he couldn’t even get his burger, because what if 1) Brianna had stayed there for dinner, or 2) Quinn knew why she’d been there in the first place and that he’d stood her up? Neither scenario was appealing, and even worse was the thought that her brother might cut him off entirely for hurting his little sister’s feelings.
Which was why he’d called into Luca’s for a loaded pizza, which had caused Bandit to whine all the way home, letting him know that there was a piece of pepperoni with his name on it. A piece? He’d considered himself lucky when he got home without the mutt scarfing down the entire thing, box and all. And now here he was, drinking a Captain Jack’s Ale while having a dinner date with his dog and trying not to think about Brianna Mannion. Or tomorrow morning, when he’d agreed to go over to Zoe’s parents’ house and go through her stuff.
And yeah. Wasn’t that going to be a fun time?