Surfside Sisters(68)
But when she turned away, she was surprised to find she was tearing up. She wiped her eyes before Sebastian could see her, but obviously he detected her mood because he put a strong, sustaining arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. “Now it’s time for a cool mojito and some nachos.”
Keely swept her hand over her shirt. “I’m covered in dog hair.”
“Brush it off,” Sebastian said sensibly. “Anyway, half the people on the island are tracking sand in on their clothes. No big deal.”
They went to Cru, a restaurant down on Straight Wharf, where they sat inside, looking out at small fishing boats gliding in to tie up at the dock. Once they’d ordered their drinks, Sebastian took out his phone and studied it.
“Something important?” Keely asked.
“Very important. I just double-checked. The new Star Wars movie is on at seven on the big screen. If we eat fast, we can make it.”
Keely leaned back in her chair. “So this date we’re having includes a movie, too?”
Sebastian gave her a sleepy-eye look. “This date we’re having can go on all night if you want.”
Keely laughed. “Still the same old Sebastian.”
Reaching over, he took her hand. “Not the same old Sebastian at all. I think you’ll find I’m the new, improved model.”
He drew his thumb in a delicate swirl on her palm, such a soft touch to cause such an explosion of longing in Keely’s body. She didn’t pull away. She’d been waiting for this moment all her life. She didn’t want to ruin it by being simply too afraid to go into the moment, to really be there. She was almost thirty, after all. She wasn’t an ingénue.
She smiled back at him, slowly. “I always enjoy sampling what’s new and improved.”
“Excuse me,” the waiter said.
They had to unlink their hands in order for the waiter to set the drinks on the table.
Was it the alcohol? She had only two drinks. Was it the afternoon of running and playing with Missy, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine, the sense of freedom, letting go of words, letting herself give in to a completely sensual part of herself? Maybe it was the delicious sweet mussels she ate, carefully picking the meat out of the iridescent shells, like a jeweler teasing out a pearl. The tangy taste of the sea. The thick soft bread she used to soak up the broth. The laughter of others around her. The slow fade of the bright blue sky to a dreamy lavender. The boats sliding so deftly into a slip.
Whatever it was, Keely and Sebastian lingered at the restaurant, talking about their pasts in New York and Sweden, their odd lives of writing and scrimshawing, the need for isolation and the need for fellowship.
“Do you still have feelings for Tommy?” Sebastian asked.
Keely smiled. “Honestly, no. The last time I even set eyes on him was over a year ago, at Bartlett’s. He and Isabelle were such a couple, so happy together. I moved to New York, and so much in my life changed. I’ve changed. I love my work and I know I’m fortunate to be able to do what I love. Tommy, at least the Tommy I knew, would have been impatient with me spending so much time in isolation.”
She hesitated, wondering how much Isabelle had told him. “You know Isabelle and I aren’t speaking?”
Sebastian nodded.
“But you called me anyway.”
“It doesn’t matter what you and Isabelle do. I want to see you.”
“Is that true?”
“Of course it’s true.”
“It’s just that your family is so…entwined. Like I have to please everyone, Donna and your father and Isabelle, before I can”—she sought the perfect word—“please you.”
“I can understand why it seems that way. When we were kids, it’s true, our family was like bees in our own hive. But we’re older now, and separate. I live above my print shop. Isabelle and Tommy and Brittany live in the apartment above the garage. It’s true they see Mom every day, usually so she’ll take care of Brittany while Isabelle goes off on errands.”
“Sebastian, I miss Isabelle so much. I’d love to be friends with her again.”
“You probably will be. Maybe it will just take time.”
Keely bit her lower lip lightly, thinking. “I should tell you, Sebastian, I’m seeing someone in the city. Gray Anderpohl. He’s…nice. I…like him.”
“Are you committed to him?”
“No. And he’ll always need to live in New York. While I…I thought I could be a New Yorker, but I’m afraid I’m crazy about this island.” Keely looked at Sebastian. “And then there’s you.” Bravely, she asked, “What are we doing here, Sebastian? I mean…”
“I know what you mean. And I know what we’re doing. What I hope we’re doing. What I’ve been wanting to do for a very long time.”
He paid the check and pulled out her chair. He took her hand as they walked out of the restaurant and up the wharf to his Jeep. He drove to the apartment above his print shop. They went inside and up the wooden stairs. They entered the apartment. He shut the door, and before she could speak, he had his arms around her and his mouth on hers. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him back with all the hunger and desire she’d been holding in all her life. Sebastian picked her up and carried her to his bed.