Page 28 of A New Chapter in Rosewood Beach

Finally, she cleared her throat gently. “What brings you out here again? Are you inspecting another business on the property?”

Terrence shook his head, also clearing his throat. “Actually, I was hoping that we could talk about the other day. About what happened on your way back from Providence.” He looked right into her eyes, and she knew what he was about to ask her. Her heart did a somersault and time seemed to slow down for a few moments. “I wanted to ask you about that kiss.”

For several seconds, it was as though she couldn’t speak. All she could think about was the way her heart was hammering in her chest, and she didn’t even know what she would tell him about the kiss.

“I know we should,” she said finally. “Would—would you like to go somewhere?”

He nodded. “How about the restaurant up there? It’s a nice place. They have a pretty impressive pie menu.”

“Pie sounds lovely,” she said, noticing that she sounded unusually breathless.

They walked up the path to the restaurant together, chatting amiably about casual things. It was as if they had made a silent agreement to wait to speak about the kiss until they were sitting across from each other at the restaurant.

Vivian found the restaurant to be immensely charming. It had big glass windows overlooking the golf course and the tennis courts, and she enjoyed seeing the green of the grounds contrasted with the brilliant blue sky. The restaurant smelled deliciously of savory foods and sugary desserts and her stomach growled in anticipation after so much time spent getting exercise.

A hostess led them to a small table by one of the windows, and their server arrived a few moments later. Both Terrence and Vivian ordered coffee right away, and as soon as their waiter left, they shared a smile across the table.

“We’ll have to see how good this coffee is,” Terrence said with a crooked smile. He and Vivian were both coffee lovers and had bonded over trying out coffees together.

“I expect it’s fantastic, in a place like this.” Vivian looked around the elegant dining room with a smile. “I love places that play jazz music. It always makes me think of my grandmother, and it makes me feel so calm. I would play it at the pub, but I don’t think it’s the right vibe.”

“Oh, I think it could be. After all, it’s your restaurant. You can do whatever you want. Maybe you could play jazz during the quieter parts of the day, when people come there to sit at the counter and work. I’ve done that a few times, as you know.It’s already a pleasant, relaxing experience, and I bet some jazz music would only improve that.”

“You’re right.” She smiled at him, thinking about what a thoughtful, considerate man he was.

“But don’t let me keep you from perusing this pie menu. I’m not sure how I’m going to choose one myself, they have so many options.”

Vivian picked up the smaller pie menu that was resting next to the regular lunch and dinner menu. It was edged in gold, as if the pies listed were somehow of royal quality.

“Mm, banana cream pie, peanut butter and chocolate, lemon meringue, classic apple pie, blueberry and blackberry crumble, raspberry vanilla cheesecake—does cheesecake count as a pie?”

“Apparently it does, these people seem like they’re experts.” He chuckled. “I’m eyeing that French Silk pie. It’s been a minute since I had some French Silk pie. My grandmother used to make a French Silk pie that was just out of this world.”

“Oh, that sounds delicious. It’s also been a long time since I had any French Silk pie. I think I’ll order that as well.”

“Perfect.” As he smiled, the corners of his mustache curved upward in a way she found endearing. “French Silk pie and coffee. What a winning combination.”

She laughed lightly. “It would be even better on a cozy winter evening, with the wind blowing outside. Maybe some snow. In front of the fireplace.”

An odd expression came over Terrence’s face, almost as if he’d had the wind knocked out of him. She wondered all of a sudden if when he’d heard her words, he wanted very much to sit with her in front of a fireplace on a winter evening. She found herself wanting to do those things with him as well—eating pie and drinking coffee and listening to the wind whistle outside.

Here we’re surrounded by other people, she thought, suddenly feeling as though she needed to look away from hisface.But in a situation like that—it would be just the two of us. It would imply that we had more than just a friendship.

Her stomach fluttered when she considered that Terrence might want to be more than just friends with her. She didn’t know what she was about to say to him, but she knew that the idea made her feel both nervous and thrilled.

Was she ready to find love again?

It had been so long since she’d been in a situation like this. She hadn’t had to wonder if a man was interested in her or not in a long time. She’d recently had a crush on a man who turned out to be very unworthy of it, but at the time it had seemed clear that he was interested in her too. He’d done romantic things for her like buy her flowers.

Terrence didn’t do any of those things, but he did support her a great deal. He was always looking out for her and doing things to care for her and make her life run more smoothly. Did he do those things simply because he was her friend, or was there a spark between them?

Their waiter returned and they ordered their slices of pie. Vivian reminded herself that she needed to decide what she was going to say to Terrence very soon. After all, that was why they were there, to have a conversation about what had happened.

Why had she kissed him? Was she falling for him? Was she ready to tell him that, if she was?

Terrence cleared his throat gently and carefully folded his cloth napkin into a perfect triangle before placing it on his lap. Vivian watched him in amusement, feeling charmed by his odd, precise ways.

Their pie slices arrived just a couple of minutes later, and for a while, all thought of their impending conversation flew from Vivian’s mind as she began to eat her slice of pie. The texture of the pie was a combination of a subtly crunchy crust and a filling that was as light and creamy as a chocolate cloud.

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