THE FOLLOWING MORNING, Luci was working at her computer when Cody arrived. “Are you okay?” he asked after they’d exchanged greetings.
Luci yawned. “Tired. Didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“What was that about?” He lowered his voice and added, “Or shouldn’t I ask?”
“No secret. I forgot a deadline for the printer and was up late finishing the brochures.”
“You shoulda called me.”
“Nothing you could do, Cody.”
“Oh, I don’t know. Keep the coffee hot. Hold your hand.” He grinned. “That’s what friends are for, aren’t they?”
“Thanks for the offer, but it’s done now and delivered this morning. Your photos are great, by the way. Take a look at the printouts on Tessa’s table.”
He walked over and picked up the new brochures. “Not like you to forget a deadline, Luci,” he said as he flipped through the pages.
“Yeah, well, I’ve had a lot on my mind. That’s my excuse, anyway. Not that Glen would buy it.”
Cody looked up. “He give you a bad time?”
She waved her hand. “Oh, the usual.”
He put down the brochures and went to look out the window. “Are you sorry you went with me on Saturday?” he asked in a low tone.
“No, Cody, not sorry. None of this is your fault.”
“Did you get the photos I sent you from our trip?”
“I did.”
“Did you, ah, do anything with them? Not that you had to or anything...”
“If you mean, did I write any captions, okay, I might have written a few.”
He turned and shot her a smile. “Hey, great. Can I see?”
“I’ll email them to you.”
“Okay.” He looked around. “Where’s your assistant, by the way?”
“She went to the post office on an errand for Marge.”
“I hope she’s back by lunchtime.”
Luci shook her head. “I’m not going out to lunch today. I want to get started on the PR for the clambake the chamber puts on in September.”
“It’s just one party after another around here,” he said. Then he sobered and looked out the window again. “I’ll have to miss that.”
“You’re leaving soon?”
“I signed on for the summer, remember? The regular photographer will be returning soon. He’ll be your go-to guy for the clambake photos.”
Luci’s throat tightened. At the beginning of the summer, she hadn’t wanted to work with Cody. Now, she couldn’t imagine working without him.
“Do you know where you’re going?” she asked.
“Not sure. My buddies and I are still working on a few possibilities.”
“Your buddies?”
“Yeah, Dex and Shar. I told you about them.”
“Oh, right. But you haven’t mentioned them for a while, and I forgot about them.”
“We’ve been keeping in touch. In fact, they should be here—” he consulted his wristwatch “—just about now.”
Marge appeared in the doorway. “Two people here to see you, Cody.” She stood aside and a man and a woman burst into the room. The woman ran straight to Cody and threw her arms around him. “We found you!” she said.
“Hello, Shar.” Cody pulled her into an embrace, and they exchanged a kiss on the cheek.
Then Cody let go of Shar and extended a hand to the man. “Hey, Dex.”
“Thought we’d never get here.” Dex pumped Cody’s hand.
One arm around each of their shoulders, Cody said, “Luci, Marge, meet my best buddies ever—Sharlene Williams and Dexter Hunter. Better known as Shar and Dex.”
Marge nodded and fluttered her fingers. “Pleased to meet you. Now I’d better get back to my desk.” She turned and disappeared down the hall.
Luci stood and approached the newcomers. “Hello. I’ve heard about you both.”
“We’ve heard about you, too,” Shar said, as she and Luci shook hands. A blonde with big brown eyes and full lips, Shar looked cool and casual in jeans and a sleeveless shirt.
Dex had thick black hair and a neatly trimmed beard. “So this is Luci,” he said, clasping her extended hand in both of his. “Your pictures don’t do you justice.”
Luci raised her eyebrows. “My pictures?”
“The ones he carries.” Dex motioned toward Cody while still looking at her.
Luci peeked around Dex’s broad shoulder and said, “You carry my picture around?”
Cody grinned. “Yours and about a hundred others. My phone has a lot of storage.”
Shar pulled away from Cody and gazed around. “Well, look at you, Mr. Cody Jarvis. Pret-ty fancy digs, I’d say.” She twirled toward the window. “A view and everything.”
Cody rested his hands on his hips. “Aw, this is Luci’s office. I just drop in now and then.”
“You’ve been shooting for this outfit all summer?” Dex directed his question to Cody, but he still hadn’t stopped looking at Luci.
“Yeah, I have,” Cody said. “It hasn’t been so bad. Made a few bucks.”
“Now, you’re ready to roll again.” Shar returned to his side.
“Will be in a week, tops. A few things I need to finish up here.”
“Can we continue this fascinating discussion over some food?” Dex patted his stomach. “Breakfast was a long time ago.”
“How was the B and B?” Cody asked. “They’re staying at The Gables,” he said to Luci.
“Pret-ty fancy,” Shar said. “At least my room is.”
“Beats sleeping in the van.” Dex grinned.
Shar nodded. “Oh, yeah.”
“So, come on,” Dex said, “show me some of that seafood you’re supposed to be famous for.”
“He’s from Denver,” Cody said.
Dex gave Luci a wink. “Yep, just an old farm boy.”
“And Shar is from Omaha,” Cody added.
“Not a farm girl, though,” Shar said. “We lived in the city, and my dad worked for one of the neighborhood newspapers.”
“So that’s how you got into the biz,” Cody said. “I never knew that. And here I thought I knew everything about you.”
Shar batted her eyelashes. “Oh, honey, there’s a lot you don’t know.”
Dex cleared his throat. “Okay, you two. Enough, already.” He held out his arm to Luci. “May I escort you to lunch?”
Luci shook her head. “No, thanks. I have a lot of work to do.”
Dex’s mouth turned down. “Was it something I said?”
Luci laughed. “No, not at all.”
“Dinner tonight, then. And no excuses.” He raised his forefinger.
“All right.”
“We’ll pick you up at seven.”
Dex ambled over to join Cody and Shar, who had linked her arm through Cody’s. Dex took Shar’s other arm, and the three of them walked to the door together.
“Gotta show you my new lens,” Dex was saying. “And Shar’s shooting with a new setup, too.”
“We have a lot to catch up on,” Shar said.
Luci’s throat tightened. They were like the Three Musketeers, and she couldn’t help envying their camaraderie.
She’d barely turned back to her computer when Tessa breezed in. “Who was that with Cody?” she asked.
“Some photographer friends of his are visiting.”
“Duh. I saw their cameras. I mean, who was the guy?”
“His name is Dexter.”
“He’s cute.”
“And way too old for you,” Luci said in a stern tone.
Tessa glared. “What are you now, my mother?”
Luci gritted her teeth. “I found some more files that need sorting. They’re on your table.”
“Bor-ring.”
Luci sighed. It was going to be a long afternoon.
* * *
LUCI CHECKED OVER the clothes in her closet, wondering what to wear to dinner tonight. Even though a nap had refreshed her, she wished she was staying home instead of going out with Cody and his friends. But, since she’d refused lunch, she’d better join them for dinner.
What to wear, though? She finally decided to dress down and pulled out a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.
When her doorbell rang, she ran to open the door, expecting to see Cody. But Dex stood there. He still wore jeans but had changed his T-shirt for a long-sleeved sports shirt. Rolled-up sleeves revealed his muscular arms and a stand-up collar framed his square-jawed face.
“Your chariot awaits, madam.” He made a sweeping gesture toward the driveway.
A glance over his shoulder revealed not Cody’s black SUV, as she had expected, but a dark red SUV.
“Where are Cody and Shar?” she asked.
“They’re on a film hunt.”
“Film? Who uses film anymore?”
“Lots of us pros do. The old ways are still good ways.” He led her out to his car. Like Cody’s, the back was converted to hold gear in locked boxes fastened to the floor.
“So, tell me about Luci,” Dex said as they drove off.
“What do you already know about me? That will save us some time.”
“Hmm, I know you were an intern for the local rag—the Herald, right—when Cody worked there.”
“That’s right. Later, we were at the University of Washington at the same time, but he graduated a couple years ahead of me. We hadn’t seen each other for about a year when he showed up this summer.”
Dex turned onto Main Street. “Okay, that tells me about you and him, but what about you?”
She shrugged. “Hometown girl. Close family. Like to write, like to walk the beach.” She stopped and laughed self-consciously. “That sounds like one of those personals ads.”
“Is it? Are you looking to get hooked up with someone?”
“Well, sure. At some point in my life. Isn’t everyone?” Before he could answer, she went on, “But, anyway, my life must sound boring, compared to yours.”
“Not to worry, Luci,” he said softly. “You’re far from being boring.”
Uncomfortable with his intimate tone, she turned to look out the window. When she realized they were almost at the end of Main Street, she said, “Where are we going?”
“We’re meeting Cody and Shar at Toby’s Bar and Grill. Ah, why the frown? Not an okay place?”
“No, it’s fine. I just thought Cody would take you two to someplace a little more—”
“More fancy-shmancy? Nah. We’re the loud-music-and-beer type.”
When they pulled into the parking lot, she spotted Cody’s SUV. “Looks like they’re here.”
Toby’s was packed, including the counter, the booths along the walls and the tables in the middle. Waitresses with trays held aloft pushed their way through the crowd, and Toby, a big guy who was both owner and bartender, stood behind the bar mixing drinks.
Luci stood on tiptoe and peered into the bar’s dim interior. “How’re we ever going to find them in this crowd?”
“There they are, in a booth over in the corner.” Dex grabbed Luci’s hand and pushed them through the crowd.
Cody and Shar sat on the same side of the booth, a pitcher of beer and glasses on the table. “You’re finally here,” Cody said. “Good thing, too. If I had to listen to any more stories from this one, I’d croak.”
Shar leaned back and punched his shoulder. “Hey, you love my stories. Quit complaining.”
Dexter stood aside and let Luci slip into the booth.
“Speaking of stories, don’t believe anything this guy tells you,” Cody said. “He’s full of it.”
Dex grabbed the pitcher and poured two glasses of beer. He handed one to Luci. “Here’s to new adventures,” he said, raising his glass.
“New adventures,” Cody and Shar said in unison.
They all clinked their glasses together and then drank.
“Did you find the film you were looking for?” Luci asked.
Shar rolled her eyes. “Finally. You’d think the drugstore, right? But no. And not the gas station, either.”
“So where?” Luci asked.
“Max’s grocery store,” Cody said. “By the checkout stand.”
Luci sipped her beer. “You didn’t bring extra?”
“Oh, yeah.” Shar fingered the paper coaster under her glass. “It’s at the B and B. Didn’t want to run all the way back there for it.”
Cody sipped his beer and then caught Luci’s eye. “Lookin’ good, Luci.”
“Thanks. You, too, Cody.”
As they continued to gaze at each other, the background noise faded away, and she was aware only of Cody. Warmth flooded her and her heartbeat quickened. Then Dex cleared his throat and said, “Hey, is it time to order a pizza yet?” and the spell was broken.
Shar laughed and tugged Cody’s arm. “Leave it to Dex to keep us on the food track.”
“I could go for a pizza.” Cody pulled the menu card from the metal holder.
“Get one with the works,” Dex said. “That ought to make everybody happy.”
After the waitress took their order and brought another pitcher of beer, the talk turned to their visit to the lighthouse. The pictures they took were, according to Shar, “Pret-ty good.”
“Screen Shot might be interested,” Cody said, and Shar and Dex nodded.
“That’s one of the outfits we sell to,” Dex told Luci.
“Ah,” she said.
“What’d you use for your surf shots?” Cody asked, launching a discussion filled with technical terms that might as well have been in a foreign language. But Luci smiled politely and asked a question now and then. She was glad when the pizza came—eating gave her something to do.
“I’m stuffed,” Dex said after a while, sitting back and patting his stomach. “Now I need some exercise. How ’bout a dance, Miss Luci?”
Catching Cody’s frown, she smiled and said, “Sure, Dex.”
The dance floor was so crowded they could barely move. “Good thing it’s a slow tune,” Dex said as the band played a blues number. The singer, a woman wearing a long, slinky gown that looked too fancy for the establishment, poured her heart into the lyrics of a love song—not the kind of song for a dance with a near stranger. But Dex was a perfect gentleman, holding her gently and keeping a respectable distance between them.
After a while, his breath warm in her ear, Dex said, “We’re probably boring you to death, right? We tend to get carried away, sometimes.”
“Ah, no. It’s all very interesting.”
“You’re sweet to say so.”
They danced two more numbers, and then the band struck up a fast song. They looked at each other and both shook their heads. “Too dangerous in this crowd,” he yelled. “Don’t want you getting poked in the eye with some dude’s elbow.”
When they returned to the table, Cody and Shar were deep in conversation.
“Where are the cameras?” Dex asked as they slipped into the booth.
“Not to worry,” Cody said. “I took them out and locked them up. Now we can all dance without worry. So, how about it, Luci?”
“That’s a war zone out there,” Dex warned.
“We’ll wait for a slow one,” Cody said.
When a slow tune came up, Cody took Luci’s hand and led her to the dance floor. Being in his arms was different from dancing with Dex, maybe because Cody was familiar and Dex was still a stranger. No, it was more than that, and she knew it. They danced without speaking, which allowed her to focus on just being in his arms. It seemed like forever since they’d danced at Sylvie and Ben’s wedding.
When the song ended, she expected to return to the table, but he drew her off the dance floor and into a hallway leading to the back door.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“I want to talk to you for a minute.”
As they stepped outside, the cool air washed over her. It was refreshing after the stuffy bar. Darkness had fallen, and the stars peeked out from behind a light cloud cover. Grasping her shoulders, he leaned her back against the building’s brick wall. She gazed up at him. His eyes were dark and serious.
“What’s this all about?” she asked.
“About you and Dex.”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
“Why are you flirting with him?”
Luci’s jaw dropped. When she’d recovered, she said, “Am I hearing right? You think I’m flirting with Dex?”
“Not think—know. And he’s flirting back. But you’d never leave Willow Beach to be with a freelancer. And he couldn’t stay. You’d only be hurt in the end.”
Luci pulled away from him and planted her hands on her hips. “You are something else, Cody.”
“What do you mean?”
“First, you try to match me up with Ben, and that didn’t work. Now, you want me to stay away from Dex. When will you stop trying to run my love life?”
“We’re...friends. Don’t friends look out for each other?”
“They do. But you’ll be leaving in what? A few more days? A week? You going to look out for me then?”
A noisy group burst through the back door. Cody grasped Luci’s hand and pulled her out of their way. The others waved and continued on to the parking lot. He waited until their voices faded into the distance and then said, “You’re right, I won’t be able to look out for you then.”
She almost blurted out, But that won’t stop you from going, will it? Thankfully, she clamped her jaw shut before the words could escape and went back inside.
* * *
LATER, AFTER THEY left Toby’s, Luci settled back in the seat of Dex’s car and exhaled a relieved breath. Soon she’d be home. Right now, there was no place she’d rather be. Home and alone.
But Dex suddenly turned off Main Street onto a side road.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“To the beach, of course.”
“Why?”
“To look at the ocean—and the stars. To see how their light glitters on the water.”
“Oh, you want to take some pictures.”
“Maybe.”
At the end of the road, Dex pulled off into the parking area. He cut the engine and turned to her, raising his arm as though to encircle her shoulders.
She put up her hand. “No, Dex. I need to go home.”
He drew back and laid his arm on the console between them. “In a while? Let’s sit here a couple minutes and look at the ocean.”
“All right. As long as we’re just looking.” She adopted a teasing tone.
When he grinned and said, “Right, just looking,” her tension eased. He was an okay guy, if a little full of himself.
“I like it here,” he said after a while. “I think I could live here.”
“Permanently?”
“Yeah. If I had someone. The right someone.”
His gaze left the scene out the window and landed on her.
“Sometimes,” she said, “the right someone is hard to find.”
“You’re telling me.”
“And even if you thought you’d found the right person, after a while you’d want to be moving on. You’d miss the excitement of—of the rest of the world.” She made a sweeping gesture.
He blew out a breath. “You’re right. Here you are, meeting me only today and already you know me so well.”
“Because you’re just like Cody. You’re soul brothers.”
“And Shar?”
“Soul sister. Although I think she wants more than that with Cody.” She glanced at him to measure his response.
He shook his head. “They’re just good buds. She’s got the hots for some guy back home. And it’s obvious that Cody’s interests lie elsewhere.”
She drew back and studied him. “What are you saying?”
“Come on, you know how he feels about you. He’s got it bad.”
Luci stared. “He’s told you that?”
Dex waved a hand. “Doesn’t have to. It’s obvious.”
“But he’s of the same mind you are. A ‘travelin’ man,’ he calls himself.”
“So? You can pack a suitcase, can’t you?”
She shook her head. “Uh-uh. My roots are here. My family. My job. Everything I want, and everything I’ve worked and planned for.” She added in a low voice, “Besides, he hasn’t asked me.”
Dex gave her a long, sober look. “Maybe he just doesn’t want to hear you say no.”