26

The next two weeks were busy and blissful. Leo and Tia and their crew fell into a harmonious rhythm after several slightly stressful dinner cruises. Fortunately, they were “special offer” cruises that Julie had booked for a reduced fare, and the guests had been gracious and understanding, promising to come back again after they got all the kinks worked out.

By the end of the fourth dinner cruise, Tia felt like the kinks were mostly out. By the fifth cruise, she felt the kitchen staff and wait-staff were working together like a well-oiled machine. Or nearly. Although it was hard and intense work, it was rewarding to see the happy guests at the end of a cruise. The tips were good, which in turn brought out the best performances from her staff. They were on their way!

Tia chatted on the phone with her dad once a week, usually on Saturday mornings. She eventually hinted to him that she might’ve found romance. She was hesitant to say too much, worried she might put a jinx on it. But she could tell Dad was happy to hear this news. She suspected it might even encourage him to get his wedding date with Deanna nailed down. At least she hoped so. Sometimes it seemed the only thing holding him back was his concern for her, as if he was unwilling to be happily committed unless she was.

In their time off during the non-cruise days of Monday and Tuesday, Leo remained attentive and interested. So much so that Tia felt mixed emotions. On one hand, she loved it, but on the other hand, she was slightly concerned over what other people might think. After all, he’d barely broken things off with Natalie. She didn’t want to be perceived as “the other woman.” For that reason she was trying to keep their activities limited to chores around the boat or just hanging around the waterfront—including a lot of fishing from Leo’s little rowboat, which was surprisingly fun.

“Let’s spend the day in the city today,” Leo said on Monday morning as they sat together on the deck, having coffee and the sticky cinnamon rolls that Leo had supplied.

“The city?” Immediately Tia imagined crossing paths with Natalie or someone else from the law firm, and despite the unlikelihood of this, it made her uneasy.

“I know you wanted to continue your tour of Golden Gate Park, and it’s supposed to be a gorgeous day today,” he said enticingly. “What about the Embarcadero? You said you wanted to see the new restaurants there.”

“I do. That sounds wonderful,” she confessed.

“Then let’s do it.”

“I don’t know.” She took a slow sip of coffee.

“Why not?”

“It probably sounds silly, but it’s been such a short time since the breakup with you and Natalie,” she admitted, “that it just makes me uncomfortable.”

“It’s been more than three weeks,” Leo pointed out.

“I know . . . but according to Melinda, your father is still getting over it. How would it look to him if he knew you were already, uh, kind of involved with someone else?”

Leo shrugged. “I’m not sure I care.”

“Well, I do.”

“Just so you know, my mom is already aware that I’m ‘involved with someone else.’” He grinned. “And she’s all for it. Apparently you made a super impression on her that day you borrowed her kitchen.”

“You mom is a delight.”

“When do I get to take you home for dinner? I mean a dinner you don’t cook.”

Tia sighed as she twisted her claddagh ring. She still had the heart pointing away from her and suddenly realized that its meaning no longer applied to her. Her heart, as far as she was concerned, was taken. She slipped off the ring, turned it around, and was just putting it on when he stopped her.

“What’re you doing?”

“Just turning it around.”

“Why?”

“Just because.” She grinned at him.

“Because it was upside down?” He held out his hand. “Can I see it for a minute?”

“Sure.” She handed the ring over, letting him examine it and even slip it onto his pinky finger, although he could only get it halfway down.

“Pretty.” He handed it back to her, watching as she slipped it on with the heart’s tip pointing toward her now.

“Anyway, call me prudent, but I just think maybe we should give our relationship another week or so before we go public,” she told him. “A month sounds appropriate.”

“Since Nat and I were only engaged about that long, a month should be sufficient, eh?”

She nodded. “I think so.”

“When the month is up, where would you like to go?”

She thought about this. “I’d really like to wander around Fisherman’s Wharf.”

“It’s a date.” He grinned. “In the meantime, I can’t complain about this.” He waved out to the bay. “Want to go fishing again today?”

“Absolutely.” She laughed. “You’ve got me hooked.”

“What a girl!”

“Well, that fish we caught last week was pretty fabulous,” she reminded him. “In fact, it gave me an idea. We should talk to Julie about offering fishing dinner cruises. The guests could reel in their suppers.”

“Brilliant!” He stood and stretched. “Guess I’ll go get the gear ready.”

She picked up their coffee cups. “I’ll go get myself ready.”

On Saturday morning, as Tia was receiving a food order for that evening’s cruise, she spotted a figure in the distance, striding down the dock toward the boat. Tia peered curiously at the woman in the light blue dress and suddenly realized it was Natalie. Tempted to duck back into the dining room as if she hadn’t seen her, Tia froze in place. Why was she here? As badly as she wanted to make herself scarce, she knew that hiding was childish. She made a meek wave. What did Natalie want? Probably Leo. Fortunately, he hadn’t arrived yet.

The last time Tia had seen Natalie, she’d been enraged at Leo, and she’d pretty much accused Tia of stealing her fiancé. Really, Natalie hadn’t been too far from the truth, although Tia would insist no stealing had been involved.

“Hey Tia,” Natalie called out. “Got a minute?”

“Uh . . . yeah.” Tia asked the delivery guy to put the boxes in the galley as she went down the gangplank to stand in front of Natalie. “What’s up?”

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you,” Natalie said a bit sullenly.

“Well, here I am.” Tia braced herself, almost wishing she’d stayed on the boat.

“I’ve been rethinking some things I said to you a few weeks ago. It’s no secret that I was extremely agitated that night—you know, after getting so seasick and everything. Anyway, I’m afraid I insinuated that you were the reason Leo and I broke up.” She made a weak smile. “I realize that was wrong, Tia. I’d like to apologize.”

Tia blinked in surprise. “Really?”

“Yes. That was very inappropriate and immature on my part. I’m truly sorry.”

“You were distraught and upset,” Tia said gently. “I can understand.”

“Maybe so, but it didn’t give me the right to lash out at you like that.”

Tia felt torn now. On one hand, she wanted to just forgive Natalie, forget it, and move on . . . but on the other hand, what would Natalie think when she discovered that Tia and Leo actually were starting a relationship? It wasn’t as if they could keep this news from her. Especially considering that Leo’s mom and sister were already in the loop.

“I hope you’ll accept my apology.”

“Of course.” Tia bit her lip, nodding.

“Thank you.” Natalie looked around the boat, almost as if she hoped to spy Leo.

“He’s not here yet,” Tia said. “At least I don’t think so. I haven’t seen him.”

“Oh, well, I sort of wanted to apologize to him too.”

“Uh . . . right.” Tia took in a deep breath. “Actually, I’m glad you’re here, Natalie. I, uh, I have something to tell you too.”

“What?” Natalie’s brow creased as she pushed her sunglasses on top of her head, studying Tia with unblinking blue eyes.

Tia wished she’d had some time to prepare her words. This wasn’t easy to say—and was something that could be easily taken wrong. “Well, it has to do with Leo,” she began. “And me.”

Natalie stiffened a bit.

“You need to know that I never did anything wrong. Nothing I regret. Not while you and Leo were together. But the truth is, I was interested in him—”

“What?”

“Just hear me out, please, Natalie. I’m not sure if you remember this or not, but I was at the sailing camp with you and Leo ten years ago.”

“Yeah. I didn’t recall you at first, but Leo told me about that.”

“I doubt he mentioned that he kissed me.”

“Leo kissed you?” Natalie looked shocked.

“On the sailing trip. I was only sixteen at the time. It was my first kiss—it kind of rocked my world—and I always remembered it. So when Leo picked me up at the airport last month, well, I was totally stunned. I had no idea that he was my aunt’s boat captain or that she even knew him. I couldn’t believe our paths had crossed again. I mean, it was ten years later, so I was pretty ecstatic.” Tia sighed. “Then I found out he was engaged, and I was devastated. When I met you at dinner and I saw you were so beautiful, so perfect, I realized it was hopeless. Leo was taken.”

“But if we hadn’t been—”

“Listen to me, Natalie. Even though I was brokenhearted, I swear to you, I never did anything to steal Leo from you. Not intentionally, anyway. I tried to distance myself the whole time. But both you guys kept drawing me in, trying to make me a friend when all I wanted was to set some boundaries. Let me tell you, it wasn’t easy being around you guys all that time either. I was pretty miserable.”

“Seriously?” Natalie just stared at her.

“I didn’t really want to tell you,” Tia confessed. “But I think you have the right to know. And I hope you won’t hold it against me.”

“Wow.” Natalie slowly shook her head. “I had no idea.”

Tia made an uneasy smile. “I hope we can still be friends.”

“Friends? You still want to be my friend?” Natalie stared curiously at Tia.

Tia had actually given this a lot of thought. Because Leo’s and Natalie’s families were such close friends, she’d hoped that somehow she’d be able to restore her friendship with Natalie. “I know it might take some time, but I still hope we can be friends.”

“I do too,” Leo called as he came down the gangplank to join them. Tia hadn’t realized he was already here. He must’ve come on the rowboat today.

“Leo.” Natalie scowled at him. “Were you listening to everything?”

“I only heard part of it, Nat. But I agree with Tia. I’d like to preserve our friendship too.”

Natalie shrugged. “Yes, that would be the grown-up thing to do. I am trying to take the high road . . . to be an adult.”

“Natalie came here to apologize to me,” Tia explained to Leo.

“As long as you’re here, I might as well apologize to you too, Leo,” Natalie said in a slightly stilted way. “I’m sorry for the way I deceived you. That was wrong. And I’m sorry for getting so angry at you that night . . . for making you look like a jerk just because I was seasick and you needed to stay with the boat. I realize that wasn’t fair. Please forgive me.”

“I do forgive you,” he said eagerly. “I hope you’ll forgive me too.”

“For what?” she asked curiously.

“For getting engaged when I obviously wasn’t ready.”

“Oh . . .” She nodded with a knowing expression.

“That was a stupid move on my part, Natalie. I don’t even have a good excuse. Except that I just wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“Well, don’t forget how I pressured you.” She made a sheepish smile.

“Anyway, I’m really sorry for hurting you. I hope we can still be friends again someday.”

She sighed. “Yeah . . . so do I.”

They all just stood there for a long minute, then Tia stretched her arms out toward both of them. “Group hug?” she said hopefully. There on the dock, the three of them actually hugged. Who’da thought?

When Natalie stepped back, she tilted her head to one side, pointing an accusatory finger at the two of them. “Tell the truth—are you guys a couple now?”

“Not exactly,” Tia said. “I mean, I wanted to wait until—”

“Yes, we’re a couple,” Leo declared as he slipped an arm around Tia’s waist. “No point in beating around the bush about it.”

“I just didn’t want to rush things,” Tia explained to Natalie. “For your sake, you know?”

“It’s okay.” Natalie held up her hands. “It’s probably time for everyone to move on.” She glanced at her watch. “Including me.” She gave a big bright smile as she smoothed a windblown strand of blonde hair away from her eyes. “Later, kids.” Just like that, she turned and strode back up the dock, looking just as poised and graceful as if she were walking down a red carpet or fashion runway. The delivery guy who was just coming down the gangplank let out a low, appreciative whistle as he watched her.

“She really is beautiful,” Tia said quietly as the delivery guy got into his truck.

“Not as beautiful as you,” Leo whispered in Tia’s ear.

“What?” Tia asked doubtfully.

“I mean it.” He leaned over to kiss her. “You have no idea how gorgeous you are, do you?” He gently tugged her ponytail. “Just one more thing I totally love about you.”

She smiled. “Thanks.”