The Sweetest Summer(127)
“Because it’s still the same, Evie. For both of us.”
* * *
The warm night was made tolerable by a steady and gentle breeze along Haven Beach. Evie wore the mermaid getup again and complained that she was hot, but she really had no choice. Clancy looked forward to the day when she could simply be herself, and the world could know they were together.
Christina had been pleased to see Evie when they returned to the Safe Haven in time for the clambake, but there was no indication she’d felt deserted by her. Jellybean chattered on about what she had done that day and how much she loved the mermaid’s castle. “She said I can come every day and every night if I want!”
The dinner was fabulous, the way it always was at the clambake. The three of them ate at a small round table on the beach, and Christina snarfed down a mound of shrimp and two large ears of corn. Where she put it, he had no idea. Clancy’s family was especially sweet to Evie and were obviously smitten with her niece, but there was an underlying awkwardness in the evening. Especially with Mona.
He suspected Evie had been right, and they had figured out what was going on. And though he had no doubt he could trust them, he anticipated a few questions as soon as they could get him alone.
Clancy made sure that never happened. Evie stayed at his side all night, and both of them always had an eye on Jellybean. As they danced under the fairy lights, they talked about what a strange concept time was. Both of them agreed that it seemed time had folded in on itself, and the years in between their last clambake and this one had never even existed.
The evening’s only permitted bonfire was under the watchful eye of Deon and a volunteer firefighter. Clancy gave his buddy a quick hello before he joined the girls around the fire. Since it was getting late, Jellybean crawled into his lap and fell asleep, while Evie sat tucked close to his side.
Yeah, he knew Deon was staring at him, and Clancy knew he would have five hundred questions for him the first time he got him alone, and the first one would be “Who the hell was that woman you were with last night at the bonfire?”
He wasn’t sure how he would answer him.
They decided it was time to get Christina to bed, and headed up the beach. As they began to climb the Safe Haven’s private steps, Rowan and Ash stopped them. Jellybean was flopped over Clancy’s shoulder, sound asleep. It felt like she might even be drooling on the back of his shirt.
“You know, she’s welcome to stay here tonight.” Rowan’s voice was kind. Evie thanked her, but took a rain check. When they returned home, Evie got Christina settled and immediately retreated to the bathroom. She came out a few minutes later wrapped in nothing but a towel. She grabbed a T-shirt out of Clancy’s dresser and crawled into his bed.
Some men might get freaked out when a new girlfriend made herself at home like that. Not Clancy. He was thrilled. But then again, she wasn’t exactly a new girlfriend, was she?
Evie fell asleep on his chest. He held her close, in awe that this already felt normal. He dozed off with a smile stuck on his face.
Chapter Seventeen
Richard couldn’t believe someone had the audacity to show up unannounced at his suite, and at this ungodly hour of the morning. He hadn’t had his first cup of coffee or even a shower!
“Just a moment.” He went to the bedroom to trade the comfort of the hotel robe for trousers and a polo shirt, grumbling to himself. Whoever this was had gotten through the front desk. His cardiologist? No. He was the last guy who would want to startle Richard first thing in the morning.
Walt Henson, his lawyer? Possibly, but Walt always called first.
Maybe it was the FBI again. Special Agent in Charge Teresa Apodaca and her buddies had become like family to him this last week. Hey, maybe he could order breakfast from room service for everyone! They could hold a news conference right here, with Richard in his robe! He could stand off to the side like a fool until it was his cue to say, “I remain hopeful.”