Andie and Shane skipped the hotdog stand this time. Instead, they headed farther down the beach, hand in hand. Shane had brought a six-pack of beer, like he used to do when they were in high school.
“I forgot how nice it was here,” Andie murmured as she settled on a long slab of flat rock, the one she always used to sit on when they came here before, and gazed out at the ocean.
It was still as gorgeous as she remembered. Right here, so close to the ocean, the sound of the waves splashing against the rocks was soothing. The sharp salt air cleansing. She closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath.
“You haven’t been here since you came back?” Shane popped the top off the beer and handed it to her then carefully slid the top into his pocket so as not to litter. “I come all the time.”
Andie took a sip from the bottle and looked at him. He was staring out to the sea, pensive. She imagined him coming here to “their place” alone. Did he think about her when he was here? Another thought occurred to her. Had he brought his ex-wife here? Did she know that this had been her and Shane’s “spot”?
“I haven’t spent nearly enough time on the beach since I’ve been here. I rushed home because Jane said Mom was getting worse, and I was busy with getting her settled, then Jane needed help at the inn, and I wanted to stay for that. And then… well…” She shrugged. “Suddenly Lobster Bay seemed like a better fit for me than New York, and the next thing I knew I was buying an antiques shop.”
“So you’ll be staying then?”
“I bought the antiques store and apartment in town, so yeah, I’m staying put.” Side-eyeing him, she was able to see surprise register on his face. “You thought I was leaving again?”
From his expression, she could see he had. Was that why he hadn’t bothered to make any special effort to reconnect with her? Because he thought she would up and leave again?
She couldn’t blame him really. But if his fear of her taking off again was why he’d been so hesitant with her, would it all change now? Since he knew she was staying, would he be different than he had been these past weeks?
Andie finally admitted to herself she had been secretly hoping to rekindle what they’d had before. He’d been so distant, but…
Was it possible he wanted to be with her too? Andie had asked herself all these questions before, but right now, seeing the questions and something more in his eyes when he looked at her, she felt a tiny ray of hope that she would finally know the answers tonight.
Shane watched Andie carefully. She sounded like she’d made up her mind to stay. She had bought the shop and the apartment that went with it, but what if she was only temporarily satisfied with her decision? She could just as easily sell it.
He still had feelings for her—the kind that ran deep and never really went away—but he didn’t want to get excited just yet. He was still skeptical, and who wouldn’t be after how she’d left him thirty years ago?
But what he was feeling for her again... now... was too raw to let him jump headfirst into anything that might not last. As odd as it might seem, he was still looking for forever. Andie was too special for just a fling.
“I wasn’t sure,” he admitted. “Back in high school you seemed like you wanted something bigger. You had ambitions that couldn’t be realized in Lobster Bay.”
Eyeing her carefully, he asked, “Did you satisfy those ambitions?”
Andie looked out to sea and took a sip of her beer. He’d always liked the way she did that, daintily, not a chug like a guy. Her nose wrinkled slightly from the tickle of the carbonation, and he couldn’t help but smile.
For a second, she’d looked just like the girl he had known thirty years ago, and in an instant all those old feelings came rushing back.
Shane resisted the urge to reach for her, to brush that stray lock of her long hair behind her ear, and lean in to snuggle her close. She wasn’t his to do those things with anymore… or was she? When she looked back at him, something in her eyes told him she might be.
“That’s a good question. I’m not sure I even knew what I was looking for back then. And maybe, whatever it was, it isn’t as important to me now.”
“You just came off a big job with the Thompson estate. Maybe that’s satisfied you for a while, but Lobster Bay is a small town,” he cautioned. “There isn’t a lot of opportunity here career-wise.”
Andie leaned back a bit, propping on her elbows to look up at him. Her eyes sparkled with... something. “Maybe there comes a point in one’s life when a career is less important. And maybe I’ve decided there’s a lot more here for me that will make me a lot happier than any career ever could.”
Her eyes shuttered for a moment, but then she glanced back up at him, a bit of a challenge mixed with complete and utter contentment in her eyes. She snuggled closer to him, just like she used to back when they were younger. His arm went around her almost without him thinking about it. “Like what?”
Her arm came up until her fingers touched his neck, then she tangled them in his hair.
“Great scenery. Good beer. And best friends.” She looked at him then, her hazel eyes filled with hope, sincerity, and a lifetime of promise. And that was when he leaned over and kissed her.