Lighthouse Road (Cedar Cove #1)(42)

“What are you doing these days?” Mary asked.

Justine shrugged. “I’m working at First National.” She’d graduated from college with a degree in history; unfortunately, this hadn’t translated into an employable skill.

“I hear you’re the manager,” Seth said.

“I am.” It surprised her he knew that. He wasn’t a customer.

Ill at ease, Justine claimed a chair across from Mary, tucked her hands under her thighs and made polite conversation with the small group, declining a cup of coffee. She wasn’t sure when the strained atmosphere shifted into comfortable exchange, but it did. Soon she found herself laughing with these people who were little more than familiar strangers.

Once the schedule of events had been decided and committees formed, the meeting was over. Justine left at the same time as Seth.

“Have you eaten?” he asked, to her astonishment. He dangled his car keys as he waited for her reply.

Justine realized this was more than a mere inquiry; it was an invitation. “No, as a matter of fact, I haven’t.” Warren had suggested she phone when she was finished with her meeting—he’d said he might be able to take her out for a drink—but she was in no hurry to do so. “Would you like some company?” she asked.

“Sure.”

As Justine had discovered early in the evening, Seth wasn’t at all the way she remembered him. It hadn’t taken her long to see that her view of him as an empty-headed jock was completely off-base. He had a sharp wit and the most wonderful, hearty laugh. She’d liked his ideas for the reunion, which revealed imagination combined with practicality.

They drove in separate cars to D.D.’s on the Cove, a fashionable seafood restaurant on the pier, close to the marina. The restaurant had opened that summer, and Justine had gone there for lunch but never dinner.

Since it was already past eight, they were seated right away. A prime table, too, by one of the windows overlooking the harbor, where they could see the lights from the Bremerton shipyard blinking across the cove. Justine glanced quickly at the menu and made her choice.

“It’s hard to believe we graduated ten years ago, isn’t it?” she said. “Nobody looks that different. Well, except for Mary…”

“I have mixed feelings about the reunion,” Seth confessed.

“Why?” she asked with some puzzlement.

“If I go at all, I’ll probably end up going alone. It kind of wrecks my image, you know?” He grinned, and Justine couldn’t keep from smiling.

“You certainly had girls buzzing around you while we were in school,” she told him.

“Except the one I really wanted.” His deep-blue eyes held hers.

“Who are you kidding? You could’ve dated anyone.”

“Not you,” he said, still watching her.

“Me?” she said in shock. “You wanted to date me?”

This had to be a joke, and not a funny one. She was about to say so when it suddenly occurred to her that he might be serious.

“What do you mean?” she asked in a weak voice.

“I had the biggest crush on you.”

“Not once did you ask me out,” she reminded him.

“Would you have gone with me if I had?”

Justine didn’t know.

“You saw me as a big dunce, and I don’t blame you. Whenever I was around you, I got so flustered I couldn’t speak. Anytime you were in the vicinity, I was in trouble. I couldn’t say or do anything right. Then I’d feel like such an idiot I’d beat myself up about it for weeks afterward.”

“I didn’t have a clue,” Justine said faintly, shaking her head.

“Thank God,” he said with a chuckle. He returned his attention to the menu, as if he intended to say nothing more on this subject.

The waitress came with a basket of warm bread, promptly took their order and left. Justine reached for a slice of sourdough. Apparently Seth’s “crush” had long since faded.

“I’ll probably be attending the reunion alone, too,” she murmured.

“You?” He made that sound entirely implausible. “I thought you and that Saget fellow are an item.”

“We are…sort of.” She wasn’t sure how to explain her relationship with Warren and decided it was best not to try.

“You’re dating other guys?”

Justine didn’t think she wanted Seth to know she was available. His confession had a curious effect on her—it left her with the almost overwhelming urge to laugh. All through high school, she’d felt tall and awkward, on the very fringes of the popular crowd. She’d been too smart and serious for social success as defined in high school.

Seth tore off a piece of bread and smiled sadly. “It’s all right. You don’t need to answer that. I’ve made you uncomfortable, haven’t I?”

“That’s not it,” she reassured him. “I don’t know what to say. I never dreamed…You could’ve gone out with any girl you wanted!” She shook her head again. “I didn’t date much in high school. It was a bad time for me.”

“Because of Jordan?”

So few people mentioned her twin’s name that it stunned her to hear it spoken. She waited for the shock to dissipate before answering. “Partly. We were close, you know, and well, nothing was the same after he died.”