Page 29 of A New Chapter in Rosewood Beach

Terrence shook his head as he ate his slice. “Just wonderful,” he murmured, once he had swallowed his first mouthful.

Vivian found herself distracted by all the little details about him as they continued to eat. His shirt was perfectly ironed and perfectly clean. He had a pen tucked into the front pocket of his shirt, and the watch on his left wrist was ticking faintly. She noticed that the strap on the watch looked new and didn’t have any marks or tears, but she knew that the metal watch itself was an antique, because Terrence had told her so once.

She’d already noticed these things about him in days past, but when they were first becoming friends, she’d found his persnickety ways a little off-putting. Now, she found his quirks of cleanliness and precision endearing. She had become increasingly fond of him, and now all the little details of his appearance and his mannerisms delighted her, as if each one was something that she treasured.

As she realized just how fond of him she was, her emotions gave a lurch, as if she was stopping herself just before falling off a cliff.

Stay focused, Vivian,she told herself.You’ve already taken up tennis. That’s a big change in your life already. Just because I had an awakening experience on that winding road, it doesn’t mean that I need to rush into a bunch of new things.

She was looking down at her pie as she thought this, feeling her heart beat faster. When she looked up, she saw Terrence watching her. He looked concerned—nervous perhaps—but he was smiling at her encouragingly.

“Vivian,” he said softly. “I’d like to talk about that kiss we shared the other day.”

She felt herself blush as he said it. She hadn’t expected him to get right to the point like that.

“Yes.” She cleared her throat gently. “The kiss. I—well, I didn’t plan it or anything like that. I was almost as surprised as you were.”

The corners of Terrence’s mustache curved upward in a slow smile. “But why did it happen?”

Vivian felt as though it was hard to breathe for a moment. She knew that he was asking her if she had romantic feelings for him or not.

“Well, I—I was overcome with thankfulness. It was so good of you to come and rescue me like that.” She paused, realizing that she needed to confess more. Thankfulness was not enough of a reason to kiss someone on the mouth. “And I…” She took a deep breath. “I do have to admit that there were some other feelings involved as well.”

“Mm. Yes. Could you elaborate?” It was clear that Terrence was trying to tread lightly, obviously not wanting to make any assumptions about what she meant. She understood where he was coming from, but she wished that she didn’t have to elaborate.

“Well.” She smoothed her fingertips across her napkin, which was still resting on the table. “Earlier that day—and even before that—I’d spent a lot of time thinking about how I knew what my life was going to look like in the future. Many years ahead—all my years ahead. It was as if I could see my life stretching out in front of me, with no surprises or excitement. And it was a good life—I love my family so much, you know—but I couldn’t help being disappointed by the idea. I still want to live a life that’s my own, if you know what I mean. Not just a life that only revolves around my children. That’s why I started playing tennis.”

Terrence nodded, but he was frowning a little, and she could tell that he was confused. She didn’t blame him—she’d been rambling a great deal and not really getting to the point.

“It was that incident on the road that opened my eyes,” she continued slowly, her eyes on her napkin. “It made me realize that I still have so much life to live and that there were so many other possibilities stretching out in front of me. I just needed to make different choices with my life.” She looked up at Terrence and swallowed.

His expression was difficult to read. He wasn’t smiling, and although he was looking right into her eyes, he appeared more nervous than ever. “Are you saying that I am one of those other possibilities?”

She clasped her hands together, suddenly afraid that she had gone too far. He didn’t appear to be happy about the idea of her being interested in him romantically, so perhaps he simply wanted to remain friends. Perhaps the whole point of this conversation for him was to make sure that she didn’t have any kind of romantic intentions toward him.

“Well, we agreed to just be friends, of course,” she said, watching his face but unable to make eye contact. “We’re very good friends. I hope we always are.”

“Is… is that what you want?”

She looked right into his eyes then, feeling as though her whole core was doing somersault after somersault. “I have to admit,” she said carefully, not wanting to lie to him, especially about something so important, “that I have grown extremely fond of you throughout the course of our friendship. That whole experience on the road shook me up, so to speak, and it opened my mind… and my heart… .to the possibility of more.”

Terrence still wasn’t smiling, and he nodded slowly. “Thank you for telling me that. I will need some time to digest that information.”

Vivian froze, feeling stunned. She wasn’t sure if he had just told her that he wasn’t interested in her romantically or not, but she couldn’t understand why he wasn’t smiling. She knew thathe was a kind-hearted man who didn’t mean to behave coldly toward her, but his reaction was so stiff and unfeeling that it made her sure he couldn’t possibly want to be more than friends with her.

A pit of rejection formed in her stomach, but she forced a smile onto her face. “Well, thank you for talking with me, Terrence. And thank you again for coming out to rescue me after the accident.” She rummaged in her purse and pulled out some cash. “I should go, but I’ll leave this for the bill.”

“Let me pay.” Terrence shook his head.

“Oh, no, I insist.” She smiled again, but it was getting harder to fake a cheerful attitude. “I’ll see you soon. Thank you again for the recommendation—this was excellent pie.”

He nodded, and she gave him one more smile before turning around and leaving the restaurant. She did her best to keep a neutral expression on her face as she walked down the sunny path to the parking lot. It wasn’t until she was in her car that she allowed herself to react to what had just happened.

She sat very still for a few minutes with her hands covering her face. She felt disappointed and embarrassed. Perhaps she shouldn’t have taken the risk of telling him how she really felt. He was so difficult to read—what was he thinking about all this? Had she just made a fool of herself, misreading his kindness toward her as something more than friendship?

I should never have kissed him,she thought with a sigh as she started her car engine.It was impulsive and reckless, and now maybe our friendship is damaged?—

As she started to drive away, however, a smile came over her face as she remembered the kiss. She wasn’t sorry she had done it. After all, she was developing romantic feelings for Terrence, and she wanted to be the kind of person who was brave enough to confess things like that. Especially now that she was on a path toward choosing more excitement and adventure in her life.

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