"Wait, how long have you been watching me?" Callie asked.
"I had just come to shore to get some coffee.”
"Don't you have a butler to do that for you?"
"Yeah, but he was busy shining the family coat of arms, so I figured I'd take care of it myself. Or was he stuffing my fireplace with hundred dollar bills? I can’t remember. If only my scribe were here to remind me.”
"I get it. You're being sarcastic," Callie said.
"Oh, is that what that was?" Logan asked. He gave Callie a gentle nudge with his elbow. "I do have a staff on the boat, a few people, just enough to keep it clean and afloat. Nothing over the top. I make my own coffee. Usually that means that I buy my own coffee. Come on, I’ll show you a place.”
"You're still talking about your yacht, right? That's over the top enough on its own. I’m sure you could find a place to store one bag of beans so you didn’t have to come all the way into town to get a cup of coffee”
“Well, the guesthouse has an espresso maker, and I don’t see you using it right now.”
“Point made,” Callie said.
"So you still haven't told me who the old folks are."
"Why don't you tell me?"
"Are you here on a secret assignment to keep them from causing some slow-moving scandal?"
"And if I were?" Callie asked.
"I'd tell you to let them lead their lives. They don't look like they're going to cause anyone any harm."
"They were on my flight," Callie said. "I gave up my seat so they could sit next to each other."
"How chivalrous of you."
"It was nothing," Callie said. "I hope I'm like them some day."
"Old? I mean you've already got the walking-impossibly-slow part down. Why don't you just go up to them and say hi?"
"I don't know. I guess I didn't want to interfere in their moment. Don't they look happy?"
"Yeah, I suppose they do. I don't know how anyone could be that happy about being awake at this hour."
"Aren't you?"
"Yeah, but that's different. I never went to sleep. This is just the very bright ending of a very long night."
"Oh?" Callie asked. "So your date went well?"
"Something like that," Logan replied. He flashed that smile that Callie had already grown to like so much. She wondered if he had said that solely to get a rise out of her. He seemed to enjoy her reaction more than anything else.
"Is that why you're all alone now?"
"I'm not alone. I'm with you. And soon we'll be with your grandparents over there."
"Don't!" Callie said quickly. She half shouted at him.
"Then come get some coffee with me."
"First it's coffee. Then it's dinner and drinks. Soon, everyone in Newport will think we're an item."
"I could ruffle up your hair and kiss you before we go into the coffee shop. That would probably be quicker," Logan replied.
Callie batted her eyelashes at Logan and said in her sweetest damsel-in-distress voice, "Oh, what can a poor, innocent girl like me do to resist such charm?"
"You think I'm charming?" Logan asked.
"It's called sarcasm," Callie said. She grabbed his arm and motioned to the coffee shop. "Come on, rich boy. Your coffee's on me."
"You still haven't told me why you're following the old folks," Logan said as they walked across the street and headed into the coffee shop. "Let me guess. You followed them up from DC. He looks too nice to be a politician. Maybe he's a judge, and she is his mistress. No, wait, that's too easy. I'm sure it's better than that. Maybe she's the judge, and he's her sister's husband. Am I getting close here? If you're not actually working right now, there must be something truly interesting about them to make you follow them around."
"There is," Callie said. "They're in love, truly in love, and have been for decades."
Logan raised an eyebrow. "They're in love? That's what makes them so interesting? No high-level political intrigue?"
"They both just retired. He was an accountant for the Congressional Budget Office. She worked for a law firm. Did you see way they look at each other? They're so in love. You do my job for any amount of time, and you stop believing that things can work out. It's just nice to know that they can."
"What about your sister and what's his name?" Logan asked.
"Ethan?"
"I know his name. I'm just still sore that he took my father's company."
"Ethan and Amy are in love. But they're still newlyweds. They waited so long to admit their feelings to each other, and now they're living the dream. I'm sure they'll last, but I just deal with so many clients with broken, loveless marriages. Like I said, seeing Henry and Evelyn just gives me hope. Forty five years of marriage, can you imagine? They saved up for this trip for years, the honeymoon they never had."