“More like kicked to the curb, knowing you, but go on.”
She truly did see who he was. “I wanted what my parents had. A family. A wife, a soul mate to come home to, to raise my own family with. Someone who understands how important Remi is, and that she and her family will always be a high priority in my life. Someone who won’t resent my passion for work or my need to be who I am, quirks and all. My father used to say that the best part of his day was coming home, and every year that passed, I buried those hopes deeper. I feel guilty even bringing it up.”
She put her hand on his and said, “I think you put that guilt on yourself, which I completely understand because it’s a lot like the guilt I felt for wanting things of my own when I needed to be helping my mom. Aiden, that’s totally normal.”
“Yeah, I know, but I just . . .” He patted his chest over his heart with his fist, feeling the stab of guilt, and said, “I don’t want Remi to ever hear that. I don’t want her thinking that taking care of her cost me anything.”
“But you know Remi is a bright woman. She sent you here. She’s pushing you to get your own life, to have the things she knows you’re missing out on. Whether you put it out there to her or not, she knows what you gave up, Aiden. She loves you, and when someone loves you, they see all of you, not just the parts you want them to see.”
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “But it feels wrong to say it out loud.”
“That’s because you’re an admirable man with a huge heart who doesn’t want to ever hurt his sister. I was thinking about how Deirdra and I were winging it for all those years, doing the best we could. We didn’t have people to tell us if we were doing the right things or going about them in the right way. We had Shelley, but she was careful not to build up what we did for our mom too much, because although she knew Deirdra would take off as soon as she could, I think she worried that I’d never leave the island to start a life of my own if she made me feel like I was doing the right thing in too big a way. It doesn’t sound like you had anyone to tell you what a great job you were doing with Remi, either, and I know how much I second-guessed myself. I bet you did the same. Those are the things that create more guilt. It’s an awful cycle, and at some point we have to break it. Maybe talking about it, getting it out of your system, is the right way to do that.” She cracked a smile and said, “Unburden yourself, AA. It does a body good.”
And there it was, her uncanny ability to look past the clouds and find the light in everything and everyone around her. “You’re a wise woman, Abigail DM.” He leaned in for a kiss. “Want to know the other dream I put on hold?”
“Definitely.”
“Boating.”
“What kind of boats do you like?”
“Powerboats, sailboats. You name it, I love them. We grew up taking vacations on Cape Cod, and my father would always rent a boat. We’d go fishing and waterskiing. I loved being out on the water. When I moved to California to run my father’s LA office, I thought I’d get a boat one day and spend every Sunday on it. I even had dreams of taking a month off and sailing somewhere. Anywhere. But I threw myself into work and never had the time. Then we lost my parents, and . . .” He shrugged.
“You buried your dreams so Remi could have hers.”
“That, and I wanted to keep my father’s reputation intact, to honor him at work as well. To this day I’ve never handed off any of his clients to my staff. I work with them, and they trust me to be there if they hit a crisis or need a shoulder to lean on, the same way they trusted my father. Boating got lost somewhere between Remi’s dance and acting lessons and, later, auditions, traveling, filming, and my finance career.”
“But now you have time for it,” she exclaimed. “It’s not too late to make either of your dreams come true. Do you still want a family?” She held his gaze, hope and wonder threading their way between them.
“Very much, but it’s complicated. My work schedule is all consuming.”
“Then that’s something maybe you can work on over time. But you’re in the perfect place to go boating. Let’s put that on our list. Take out your phone.”
He pulled out his phone and added go boating to the list.
“We had a dinghy when we were growing up,” Abby said. “My dad taught me to sail on Lover’s Cove, which is about a mile down from the Bistro. It was where he and my mom shared their first kiss and the one place we didn’t have to worry about sharks. His dinghy is still in the garage. We’ll have to get the sail fixed, and maybe a few other minor things, but we could use that.”
A dinghy. She was so fucking cute and real, she made him wish he couldn’t buy a fleet of luxury liners.
“Actually, I don’t know what kind of shape the dinghy is in. We haven’t used it since we were kids,” she said. “But my friend Brant Remington is a boatbuilder, and he rents out all sorts of boats at Rock Harbor Marina, on the other side of the island. I bet we could rent a little sailboat from him. The boats there are much cheaper than the ones the Silver House rents out.”
“Brant Remington. Got it,” he said as he entered Brant’s name in his phone. “Did you make out with him, too?”
“No, but he’s super cute, so . . .”
“I’ll give you super cute.” He hooked his arm around her, pulling her into a hard, fast kiss.
“I wouldn’t want you to think you’ve got me all sewn up as a sure thing,” she said with a flicker of a tease in her eyes. “There are plenty of guys on this island who I have yet to lock lips with, and now that I’m going to be here full-time . . .”
“I’d better up my game.” He pushed to his feet, navigated to the playlists on his phone, and queued up “Maybe We Will.” He set the phone on the table and took Abby’s hand, bringing her into his arms, swaying to the sounds of Noah Schnacky singing about getting to know each other and becoming more than friends and their late-night dance turning into their last first kiss, maybe even leading to forever. He whisper-sang about not thinking about the bad things that could happen and taking their time. Every word came straight from his heart, and the wanting look in Abby’s eyes told him that each and every word landed on hers.
When the song ended and “Yours” by Russell Dickerson came on, he said, “I’m not always the best at expressing my feelings, but this song is for you, Abs.”
“I love this song,” she whispered.
They danced beneath the stars, surrounded by the sounds of nature and the scent of something rich and deep blooming between them. He kissed her slow and sweet, his breath becoming hers as he intensified the kiss, getting so lost in her, he no longer felt the cool breeze on his skin or heard the beat of the music. There were only the sounds of their kisses, the feel of her soft hands on the back of his neck, and her body moving sensually against his, and a resurgence of dreams Aiden wanted to explore.
He didn’t know how many songs they danced to and couldn’t repeat a single word of any but the first two, but by the time their lips finally parted, they were both breathless. Neither said a word as Aiden retrieved his hat and sweater and they followed the twinkling lanterns back the way they’d come, guided by emotions bigger than either of them.