Graham pulled Rennie into a hug, and her heart raced. She shouldn’t be excited by a hug, let alone his touch, but she was. Rennie rested her head against his chest, and she could hear his heart thumping. They held each other tightly, and the slight sway of the houseboat made it seem as if they were dancing. They hadn’t danced in years. The last time was at a frat party in their junior year of college. That was also the last time they had been intimate with each other. Graham met his girlfriend a week later.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” Rennie asked as soon as she saw Graham sitting on the bench outside of her dorm room. She sat down next to him and set her backpack on the ground.
“I met someone.”
“Get out of town, Graham Cracker. Are you serious about her?”
He shrugged. “I like her a lot.”
“Tell me about her,” Rennie prodded.
“We met on the quad. I had to leap over her to catch a football. She screamed, and I thought I hurt her, so I checked on her.”
“Total pickup move. I’ve done it before.” Rennie laughed. Graham did as well.
“It worked. I’ve seen her every night since.”
Rennie’s shoulder bumped Graham. “Are you in love?”
He turned and looked at her so intensely she had to avert her gaze. She swallowed hard and waited for his response. “No, but I like her. I want to see where it goes.”
“Then I’m happy for you, Graham Cracker.”
Later that night, when Graham didn’t call her like he usually would, Rennie cried herself to sleep. Many times, over the years, she had wanted him to pick her. She wanted to be the one he kissed last before he went to sleep at night and the first when he woke. She never considered he would meet someone else, and now that he had, she knew they would never be the same again.
Graham was the first to let go. “Sorry,” he said as he stepped away.
“For what?”
He shook his head slightly and looked at her. “We should eat. Dinner is warming in the oven.”
Rennie wanted to stay and find out what Graham was sorry for, but he had other ideas. Years ago, she would’ve tackled him on his bed, straddled his hips, and tickled him until he told her. They were adults now, living completely different lives, and this time around, she was the one in a committed relationship.
She lagged behind Graham, and as she descended the stairs, she got another look at Graham. He wore an apron with the image of a bare-chested man with chiseled abdominal muscles.
“What is this?” she asked, barely able to control her laughter.
He stood there with his arms held out wide. “What do you think? Does it look like me?”
Rennie shook her head and dabbed at her eyes. “Where did you get this from?”
“Krista and her husband gave it to me for Christmas.”
“It’s priceless,” she told him as she went to the counter. “What can I do to help?”
He nodded toward the bottle of red wine. “Glasses are in the cupboard if you want to pour.” Rennie uncorked the bottle and poured two glasses. She carried them to the table and went back to the kitchen. She helped where he thought he needed it and told him everything smelled amazing.
They sat down, and she held her glass up for a toast. Graham did the same. “To old friends,” he said before she could start.
“Yes, old friends.” They clinked glasses and each took a sip.
They ate dinner with very little chitchat. When they finished, Rennie helped Graham wash dishes and asked if she could make a cup of coffee. With a warm mug in her hand, she went out to the patio and sat down. Graham joined her a few minutes later.
“I could fall in love with this place.”
“The view is beautiful,” he told her. Rennie turned to look at him, only to find him staring at her. She blushed at his compliment.
“Do you ever wonder . . .” She didn’t need to finish the sentence.
“All the time, Ren.”
As of late, she’d wondered too.
The vibe in the car was contemptuous at best. Rennie was an expert at holding a grudge—even though Theo showed up to Cape Harbor, it was two nights after Christmas. She couldn’t believe her eyes when she opened the door to her room. She expected Brooklyn, Brystol, or Graham to be there, but it was Theo. Even though he came with two dozen red and white roses and a teardrop-diamond necklace, he had ruined their holiday. Or his boss had. Rennie didn’t care where she put the blame.
Anger didn’t scratch the surface of what Rennie felt when Theo phoned her on Christmas Eve to let her know he had to work. She called bullshit on his story and demanded to know what the hell was going on, because no one would make their employee work on Christmas, and she couldn’t understand why Theo wouldn’t tell his boss to shove it. This was their second holiday missed because of his job.
Aside from Theo’s absence at Christmas, he had a lot to say about the potential lawsuit against Graham. Renee had always kept her cases to herself, only talking strategy with the partners from her firm, her clients, and the paralegals she often worked with. When Theo snooped through her file, one she had left open on the small table in her hotel room, he suggested she stick to what she knew. Another bout of anger rolled over her. Theo knew nothing about law. He was a numbers guy, always looking for discrepancies. Everything coming out of Theo’s mouth pissed Rennie off, to the point she contemplated canceling their trip.
Rennie was at her tipping point. She was upset about Christmas, his desire to stay in Spokane, and his butting into her business. They were gearing up for a fight, and that was something they had never done. Little disagreements here and there, but never a full-blown argument. They were a cohesive unit, always on the same page, until recently, and she desperately wanted to get back to where they once were.
Rennie toyed with the diamond that nestled in the hollow of her neck as Theo drove toward Whistler. His car rack was filled with skis—apparently, he needed different kinds depending on what the terrain was like—and the back seat held their luggage, which was slightly oversize with the snowsuits. Her suit was white with a royal-blue stripe down the side. Theo had picked it out last year after seeing it in one of the stores he frequented. He had a new suit and had encouraged her to also buy a new one, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. The one she owned had hardly been worn, and it was like brand new.
Once they made it through the border checkpoint, the ride to Whistler was smooth sailing. The talk radio program Theo wanted to listen to filled the silence between him and Rennie. She had zoned out, choosing to watch the scenery as it went by. Traffic was light, and every car they passed or that passed them seemed headed for a similar destination.
“Lots of people are skiing this weekend.”
“A lot of people take vacation around this time. It makes sense with the back-to-back holidays.” She couldn’t help but take a jab at his comment.
“Renee, I know you’re upset—”
“I have a right to be,” she interrupted. “First Thanksgiving, where you don’t even call, and now Christmas. We had plans.”
“You’re right, we did, and then you changed them without even consulting me. How do you think that made me feel?”
“I had a rough week at work; I needed to get away,” she told him.