Like him, she was wearing jeans, and as he started toward her he noticed the way her turquoise blouse deepened the color of her eyes. Lost in thought, she started when she recognized him.
“Hey,” she said, breaking into a smile. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Dawson stepped onto the porch, watching as she ran a hand over her neat ponytail. “I wanted to grab some water before our meeting.”
“No coffee?” Amanda gestured behind her. “It’s the best in town.”
“I had some at breakfast.”
“Did you go to Irvin’s? Tuck used to swear by the place.”
“No. I just ate at the place where I’m staying. Breakfast comes with the room and all, and Alice had everything ready.”
“Alice?”
“Just some swimsuit supermodel who happens to own the place. No reason for you to be jealous.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure. How was your morning?”
“Good. Went for a nice run and had a chance to take in the changes around here.”
“And?”
“It’s like stepping into a time warp. I feel like Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future.”
“It’s one of Oriental’s charms. When you’re here, it’s easy to pretend the rest of the world doesn’t exist and that all your problems will simply float away.”
“You sound like a commercial for the Chamber of Commerce.”
“That’s one of my charms.”
“Among many others, I’m sure.”
As he said it, she was struck again by the intensity of his gaze. She wasn’t used to being scrutinized this way—on the contrary, she often felt virtually invisible as she went through the well-worn circuit of her daily routines. Before she could dwell on her self-consciousness, he nodded at the door. “I’m going to get that bottle of water, if that’s okay.”
He went inside, and from her vantage point Amanda noted the way the pretty twenty-something cashier tried not to stare at him as he walked toward the refrigerator case. When Dawson neared the back of the store, the clerk checked her appearance in the mirror behind the counter, then greeted him with a friendly smile at the register. Amanda turned away quickly, before he caught her watching.
A minute later, Dawson emerged, still trying to end his exchange with the clerk. Amanda forced herself to keep a straight face, and by unspoken agreement they moved off the porch, eventually wandering toward a spot with a better view of the marina.
“The girl at the counter was flirting with you,” she observed.
“She’s just friendly.”
“She made it pretty obvious.”
He shrugged as he unscrewed the cap of his bottle. “I didn’t really notice.”
“How could you not notice?”
“I was thinking about something else.”
By the way he said it, she knew there was more, and she waited. He squinted out at the line of boats bobbing in the marina.
“I saw Abee this morning,” he finally said. “When I was out for my run.”
Amanda stiffened at the sound of his name. “Are you sure it was him?”
“He’s my cousin, remember?”
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“That’s good, right?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
Amanda tensed. “What does that mean?”
He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he took a sip of water, and she could almost hear the wheels turning in his mind. “I guess it means I stay out of sight as much as possible. Other than that, I guess I’ll play things as they come.”
“Maybe they won’t do anything.”
“Maybe,” he agreed. “So far, so good, right?” He screwed the cap back on the bottle, changing the subject. “What do you think Mr. Tanner’s going to tell us? He was pretty mysterious when we talked on the phone. He wouldn’t tell me anything about the funeral.”
“He didn’t say much to me, either. My mom and I were talking about the very same thing this morning.”
“Yeah? How’s your mom doing?”
“She was a bit upset that she missed her bridge game last night. But to make up for it, she was nice enough to coerce me into having dinner at a friend’s house tonight.”
He smiled. “So… that means you’re free until dinner?”
“Why? What did you have in mind?”
“I don’t know. Let’s find out what Mr. Tanner has to say first. Which reminds me that we should probably get going. His office is just down the block.”
After Amanda secured the lid on her coffee, they started down the sidewalk, moving from one patch of shade to the next.