Love Me for Me(73)

“I love you, Uncle Pete,” she said, throwing her arms around his neck.

“Love you too,” he smiled. “Do you mind if I dance with Libby now?”

“Okay,” she said, dropping down onto a towel that Emily had filled with toys.

Pete grabbed Libby’s waist, but he didn’t dance. He leaned in toward her. “Want to walk around a little?” he asked in her ear.

“You’re not going to make me jump into anything are you?” Libby grinned.

“Ha ha.” He took her hand, fingering her duck-game ring. “We’re going to take a walk,” he told the others. “We’ll be back.” Libby noticed Ryan’s grin and the darting glance he gave Emily. She wondered again what Emily had meant by her comment about having heard a lot about her.

“You’re holding my hand a lot tonight,” Libby noted.

“Well, you’re leaving tomorrow. I need to get all my hand-holding in before then,” he kidded. There was so much familiarity in his face. When he looked at her, it was as if they could talk without saying anything. His gaze was so pensive every time he looked at her tonight, and she wondered if he felt as sad about her leaving as she did about leaving him.

Walking along the beach with him, with the sounds of the crowd and the band and the waves, Libby went right back to the smell of chlorine in her hair after a swim meet so long ago, the feel of the wind against her face in his Bronco, the taste of the strawberry wine they’d smuggled onto the beach, the laughter of friends, and the feel of his warm, salty skin as they sat, his arms around her, the moon shining off the bay, the pines towering behind them.

“Pete. I…” She knew that when the night was over, when the sun brought new perspective, she’d have a clearer head, and she would go to New York, but it wouldn’t change what she felt for him. “I’ll miss you, that’s all.”

“I know.” He looked out at the crowd of people walking through the stalls. He turned back to her, his eyes searching hers. The breeze blew her hair back away from her face as she waited for a response. After a long silence, he said, “I’ll miss you too. I just enjoy being with you. So tonight, can we do that—just be together and not think about tomorrow?”

Her chest ached with uncertainty and fear and longing all at once. “Yeah,” she said in nearly a whisper.

“Libby!” her mother’s voice tore through the moment. She was pacing along the sidewalk in short, clipped strides, Jeanie barreling along beside her. “I didn’t think I’d find you in this crowd!” she said from too far away.

“You found us!” Libby said, pulling away from all the thoughts that were slamming the inside of her head. She was thinking about Charlotte’s little curls and what having children there would be like. She was thinking about Pop and how nice it was to see him lucid. She was thinking about Helen’s face as she watched them dancing. But most of all, she was thinking about Pete, his hand still in hers, that contemplative look in his eyes, the way her heart hurt at the idea of leaving. It was all making her head pound with anxiety.

“Good grief!” Jeanie said, slightly out of breath. “Your mama’d have us walkin’ the length of the county lookin’ if we hadn’t found you.” Then, as if just now noticing them, their close proximity, the way Pete had moved his arm around her waist almost protectively, she said, “Where are ya’ll headed?” her eyes darting between the two of them as if she wanted to know more than just the answer to her question.

“We were just taking a walk,” Pete said.

“Lordy, don’t let him near the shore. We know what happened last time,” Jeanie teased.

Pete rolled his eyes. “Libby already made that joke, thank you very much.” The corners of his mouth twitched as he attempted to hide his amusement.

“Why don’t y’all take your walk? We’ll go find somewhere to sit,” Jeanie said. “I’m dyin’ to unload this bag.” She squinted toward the beach. “Hugh end up comin’?”

“Yep,” Libby said. “They’re all here.” And as she said the words, her heart was full. Never before, and probably never again, would everyone be together like that.

She and Pete walked silently through the crowd. Every person there had their own view of that night, but Libby’s was one of reflection. Jeanie’s words kept coming to mind: Not everyone wants to leave this town. There’s a lot of good here, you know. Some people like it enough to spend their whole lives here. She finally understood what Jeanie had meant.