Warren’s wife had dyed-blonde hair, streaked in a way that was intended to appear natural.
Hair he’d buried his hands in.
She also had painted pink lips, which he’d kissed a thousand times before.
“Claudia.”
“Hi, Jack.” Her voice was as soft as he remembered. Her eyelashes—or rather, her eyelash extensions—fluttered. “How are you?”
He stared at her, scarcely able to believe she was here. “You’re married?”
She seemed taken aback by the question, but those pink lips curved in a smile. “Yes, for two months now.”
Two months. Jesus. The two of them had only broken up a couple of years ago, and she hadn’t mentioned being engaged when he’d seen her a few months back.
“Congratulations.” The word tasted bitter. “No wonder I didn’t recognize your name on the manifest.”
“Oh, you didn’t know,” Warren said, drawing his attention. The man was nodding like everything made sense now, but nothing made sense to Jack.
“Why would I?” He shrugged and turned his back, masking his turmoil. “We don’t talk.”
That was the way he preferred it. Why would he have anything to say to the woman who’d effectively told more than a hundred thousand people that he wasn’t up to her standards, and broken his heart in the process? He pretended to check something on his phone while he struggled for composure, then pocketed it and glanced from one member of his group to another, skimming over Claudia.
“Hi, all. Great to see you here. Are you ready to spot some dolphins?”
The response was a resounding yes, despite the curious glances between Jack, Claudia, and Warren. The sixth member of the expedition joined them, and Jack began his usual spiel about water safety, followed by a disclaimer with regards to whether they would actually see dolphins. He said all the right things because he’d said them hundreds of times before, but inside he was a seething mass of emotions.
Why was Claudia here? It couldn’t be a coincidence. Had she tracked him down on purpose? Was she flaunting her ring to show him what he’d missed out on? What he could have had if only he’d swallowed his pride and changed an integral part of himself? Peering over at her, he didn’t think she looked like a woman with vindictive plans. She looked happy, hanging on her fashion-conscious husband’s arm, and murmuring in his ear.
She looked like a woman in love.
Jack led the group to his boat and helped them aboard one by one, holding onto Claudia’s arm as briefly as possible then releasing her as though she’d singed him. Hurt flickered in her mint green eyes, and he pretended not to see. Where did she get off giving him that wounded puppy look anyway?
When they were all aboard, he explained how the morning would go, and invited questions. There were none, so he left the group to outfit themselves with life jackets, disconnected the boat from the dock, checked everyone had geared up correctly, and started the engine. For the next half hour, he steered the boat through the bay, to the spot where the school of dolphins could usually be found at this time of day. His guests leaned over the sides, scanning the water to check for sleek gray fins or snouts.
Claudia rose and came over to him, perching in the empty co-captain’s seat. “Hey,” she said, her tone gentle. “It’s good to see you again.”
He grunted something unintelligible.
Undaunted, she continued, “I’m pleased everything has worked out for you. I know you always wanted to be out and about doing something like this, rather than stuck in the shop all day.” She tucked a blonde lock behind her ear and laughed self-consciously. “I should never have tried to turn you into a city man. Even a fool could see you weren’t cut out for it.”
He shrugged, simultaneously annoyed by her tone and disarmed by her candor. They’d never been particularly open with each other, and perhaps that had contributed to the horrible way their relationship had ended. She’d wanted him to change and tried to prod him along rather than coming out and saying it, and he’d resented every subtle dig she made and viewed her veiled comments as emotional manipulation. Their relationship had been a series of silences interspersed with moments of passion and screaming fights.
“We should have talked more,” he said.
“Yeah.” Her gaze darted over to her husband. “We should have.”
“Does he make you happy?” He wasn’t sure why he asked, but he didn’t take the question back. Perhaps it would be nice to know that it was possible for someone who had failed in a relationship as spectacularly as she had to be part of a healthy one now.
She smiled. Possibly the most genuine one he’d ever seen from her. “We are. I just…” She trailed off.
“What?” he prompted.
She turned to look out over the water, her cheeks pink despite the cool wind. “Sometimes I can’t believe he really wants me. I wake up and think ‘how can this amazing guy really have chosen me, out of all the women he could have had?’”
Jack flinched. While she hadn’t meant it as an insult, it flat-out sucked to hear how much more she thought of Warren than she had of him. But besides injuring his pride, it didn’t hurt the way he would have expected. Maybe that was because he no longer loved her. In fact, except for the lingering resentment, he didn’t care about her one way or the other. Claudia had found what she’d been searching for, and that didn’t bother him in the least.
Someone called out, and he turned in time to see the dorsal fin of a dolphin break the surface. Another followed. And another. They circled around the boat, curious.
“Wow,” Claudia breathed. “They’re beautiful.” She glanced up at him. “I can see why you love it out here.”
He didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to.
The dolphins frolicked beneath the water, surfacing occasionally to investigate their audience, or perform for them. Cameras snapped, and Jack sat back and enjoyed their excitement. This was why he loved what he did.
Claudia hurried over to Warren, who handed her a camera. She leaned over the edge of the boat and snapped photographs of the dolphins while her husband held onto her waist, anchoring her. They worked as a team. A unit. When she finished, he took the camera and photographed her against the backdrop of the ocean, pausing while she changed positions as smoothly as a model at a photo shoot. Then he tucked the camera away and together they posed for a selfie with the dolphins behind them, using a cell phone on a selfie stick. They looked ridiculous, but in all the time he’d known her, Claudia had never smiled like she was now.
But then, this was what she’d always wanted, wasn’t it? A man who was content to escort her around, humor her obsessive need to photograph everything, and be a suitably stylish companion to brag about to her followers. She had it all now, and it looked good on her. The tension that used to stiffen her shoulders wasn’t there, nor was the sharp edge in her voice. He couldn’t help but wonder, had he caused those things? Had he made her as miserable as she’d made him? It had never occurred to him before that perhaps he wasn’t the only one who’d suffered in their relationship.
The truth struck him like an anvil: Claudia may not have been a good fit for him, but he hadn’t been good for her, either. Yes, she’d screwed up and that had been the final nail in the coffin, but at the heart of the matter, they simply hadn’t been suited to each other. One of them would have called a halt to things sooner or later.