Three Months Later
“Did you know it was going to rain today?” Leah paused at the entrance to the country club’s restaurant.
Like she often did, she’d met Gavin at Pine Ridge for a friendly round of golf followed by a late dinner. They hadn’t even made it out to the first tee when the rain started. She may enjoy golf but by no means did she enjoy it enough to play in the rain. Thankfully, they managed to get back to the clubhouse before the true downpour started, so while she’d gotten a little wet, it didn’t appear as though she’d taken a shower in her clothes.
Gavin shook his head and held open the door for her. “Last I checked the storm wasn’t supposed to start until much later this evening.” A crack of thunder rumbled outside, and then a bolt of lightning lit up the suddenly dark sky. “Looks like someone really got it wrong this time.”
Predicting the weather in New England was always an iffy thing, especially when it came to bad weather. Leah just hoped the meteorologist had it right about this weekend. Her parents were throwing their annual Fourth of July bash. If weather similar to tonight’s rolled in on Saturday, everything would have to be moved inside, and Mom hated when her plans changed at the last minute—a trait they both shared.
“Ms. Sherbrooke, Mr. Kincaid, it is so nice to see you both again this evening,” the hostess greeted when they approached.
Regardless of the individual manning the hostess desk, he or she always recognized club members and addressed them by name. Considering the size of the country club, Leah found it rather remarkable.
“Would you prefer a table by a window or upstairs this evening?” the hostess asked.
“Either is fine,” she replied.
The hostess led them through the dining room to a small table tucked away near a back corner. It was a table perfectly positioned for a romantic dinner for two, and Leah suspected the hostess assumed they were a couple rather than friends sharing a meal, especially since tonight wasn’t the first time she’d seen them in here together.
Okay, perhaps that wasn’t completely true. They weren’t just friends, but good friends. Something she still found not so much odd but unique. Except for her two older brothers and numerous male cousins, she’d never had a close, platonic relationship with a guy. That wasn’t to say she didn’t have friends of the opposite sex, but those friends always remained more superficial. Her friendship with Gavin was far from that.
She hadn’t expected to see or hear from Gavin again after she walked out of Harry and Gavin’s condo. But the following afternoon, he called to ask how she was doing, and they’d ended up talking for almost an hour. Three days after their phone chat, she’d been restless. Rather than meet up with friends and again be on the receiving end of their looks of pity, she’d called Gavin and invited him to lunch. To this day she still couldn’t say why she’d called him instead of visiting her cousin Callie, who only lived a few miles away and was usually too busy chasing after her young son to offer up looks of pity. Whatever the reason, she didn’t regret her decision. Since then they’d engaged in countless conversations both in person and on the phone, gone for dinner numerous times, and played several rounds of golf at the country club they both belonged to.
“How was Gray’s wedding last weekend?” Gavin inquired once they were both seated and the hostess was gone.
“Beautiful, and thankfully the weather cooperated.”
The entire family had held its breath in the days leading up to her cousin Gray’s and Kiera’s wedding as meteorologists tracked a storm moving up over the Atlantic from the Caribbean. Thankfully, it had stalled somewhere off the coast of North Carolina, allowing the wedding to be held on the lawns of Cliff House in Newport as planned. The following day, though, the skies had opened up and dumped plenty of rain on southern New England before moving back out over the ocean.
“Brett even made it,” she added, referring to her eldest brother. “I really didn’t think he would. He missed both Trent’s and Derek’s weddings last year.” As an officer in the United States Army, unfortunately Brett usually missed most family events. “And Curt and his girlfriend left before the ceremony even started. She had some kind of emergency at home. I have no idea what it was. Curt didn’t share any details, and we haven’t talked since.”
Across the table, Gavin opened the menu the hostess had left him. “Is he still living up in New Hampshire or did you finally convince him to move back to Boston?”
“Still up there, and since his girlfriend lives next door, I don’t see him moving anytime soon. He put his apartment in Boston on the market.”
She’d tried talking some sense into Curt, but he’d refused to budge. Instead he invited her up to visit his latest project and the quaint—his word, not hers—town of Pelham, New Hampshire—something she had every intention of doing soon. Since they’d left so suddenly, she hadn’t had much of a chance to get to know her older brother’s new girlfriend and she wanted to rectify that. However, from the little she’d spoken with Taylor, she’d gotten the impression the woman was unlike any of Curt’s past girlfriends. And since he’d brought her to not only Gray’s wedding but also to a family-only gathering at their cousin’s home a few weeks earlier, he was serious about Taylor Walker in a way he’d never been serious about a woman before.
Leah opened her own menu, although she already had a decent idea of what she wanted for dinner. “What about you? How was your week?” She scanned the list of entrées, noting the changes the restaurant had made since her last visit a week and a half ago.
“Hot.”
At the sound of the single word in his smoky voice, a fluttering sensation that had nothing to do with being hungry sprang up in her belly.
“You were in Mississippi, right?” She set her menu aside so she could look at him, only to discover his dark, almost magnetic eyes focused solely on her and not his menu.
Gavin nodded, his gaze never leaving her face. “Jackson. Honestly, I don’t know how people live down there in the summer. It gets hot and humid around here, but nothing compared to down there.”
Their waitress appeared to take their dinner order, putting a temporary hold on their conversation. While he seemed oblivious to the fact, it didn’t escape Leah that the woman was eyeing Gavin much the way a tigress eyed her prey just before she pounced.
An emotion bordering on jealousy slithered its way through her thoughts, and Leah cleared her throat. “I’ve changed my mind,” she said once Gavin finished giving the woman his dinner selection, forcing her to look her way.
The tigress masquerading as a waitress turned her attention to Leah, but judging by her expression, she wasn’t at all happy about it.
“Instead of the gorgonzola crusted filet, I’ll have the seared tuna with gingered rice, please.”
“Certainly,” the waitress said with a slight nod as she took a step back. “And I’ll bring out your appetizer as soon as it is ready.”
“Almost went with the tuna myself,” Gavin commented once they were alone. “But the porterhouse sounded too good today.”