"Yearsof matchmaking experience," Marsali said, the words followed by a wink. "I've learned to size people up very quickly, and the moment Everett walked into your parents' living room, his interest in you was obvious. He could barely take his eyes off of you."
Izzy bit her lip and inhaled, exhaling in a loud rush. "Okay. Okay, so…let's say that's true. That means what? I should go to New York and…and just see what happens? You think it's that easy? What if hedoeswant a divorce?"
"You mean what if he gives you the divorce you've asked him for multiple times?" Amelia asked, frowning.
Izzy felt her face flush nine shades of red. "Don't say it. I heard it. I’m royally messed up in the brain."
Amelia chuckled, as did Marsali.
"Think of the trip as a free vacation. No pressure,” Marsali added. “Simply enjoy yourself. Have fun exploring the city with a gorgeously handsome man. And don’teverdoubt what you bring to the table. You’re Isabel Shipley,artiste!Your paintings are amazing and beautiful and touch people’s lives. They'll live on long after we've all grown old and gone. You're painting a legacy, Izzy. One canvas at a time."
"And when the time is right," Amelia said, "you will catch your big break and look back wondering why you ever doubted yourself."
Izzy blinked away the tears stinging her eyes and held out her arms. The two friends moved forward for a group hug. "How did I ever get so lucky to get you as friends?"
"I have a better question," Marsali said. "Amelia, any possibility of getting a hidden camera from the movie set so we can put it on Izzy and go along for the trip?"
"Tessa! You got a sec?"
Tessa froze at the sound of the deep voice calling her name, her feet seemingly sticking to the wooden planks of the boardwalk and unable to move. She forced herself to breathe deeply before twisting to see her ex-husband approaching her. Her body went hot and then cold before going hot again because Bruce was a massive man. Tall and broad, even now at sixty-three. He kept in shape, worked out, a fact proven by the muscles straining the width of his shirtsleeves.
Bruce looked handsome as ever in his police uniform. He'd spent his life in uniform. First the military, then the reserves, and now as a long-time policeman who'd spent the last thirty, thirty-five years? Protecting the island.
His dark hair had gone gray shortly after Vietnam, just one of the many tolls battle had taken on an eighteen-year-old kid who'd never been away from home until being sent into the jungle.
"Tess," he said, stopping within breathing distance of her.
His cologne teased her senses and she fought back a smile. After all of these years, he was still an Old Spice man. Some things never changed.
"Bougie has to go for a walk," she blurted, hoping to avoid whatever it was that had her ex speaking to her for the first time since their son had become a teenager and contact between the two adults was no longer necessary.
She'd moved on. Remarried a wonderful if somewhat boring man. He'd been stable, though, and a good father to Jack, and the daughter they'd had next before his passing. She'd stayed widowed a year, working nonstop to keep her business going and raise two small children. Husband number three had been a godsend, her rock through the birth of her third and helping her raise all the children until his recent passing.
"I'll join you. I could use some fresh air," he said, moving next to her and lifting a hand in a gesture to start walking the way she'd been going.
She knew it was ridiculous, but she felt as though every eye was on them, even though her searching glances didn't register anyone she immediately recognized. The boardwalk was as busy as ever, with fisherman unloading trucks and carts to head to the pier. A mom and her young son rode their bikes, his tiny training wheels squeaking with every whirl.
An older woman sat bundled up against the chill in the air, sunglasses on as she read from a thick book while facing the ocean.
The silence between them lengthened, and with every second that passed, she became more nervous as to why the sudden contact. She didn't like it, and warning bells were going off in her brain.
"Tessie, Jack called me," Bruce said finally. "He's worried about his mama."
Her lungs seized and her grip tightened on Bougie's leash. "Why?" Her words were tight, her anger barely suppressed.
"Look, Tessie, I don't want to interfere in your life—"
"Then don't."
"I have to. Because I'm concerned, too."
She stopped walking even though Bougie scented something in the bushes nearby and tugged hard to head in that direction. "You—and Jack—need to respect my boundaries. I don't tell either of you who to date."
"And we're not trying to do that to you. It's just—"
"Just what?What?"
For the first time since their awkward conversation began, she felt the full impact of his Bruce’s gaze. It sucked the air from her lungs once more, and butterflies danced in her belly.