Page 51 of A Heart to Find
She smiled over the top of her glass, but fought the irritation that stewed inside her.
She loved the idea of a winter beach date with all the other couples.
So what if they all looked in love and happy and relieved to have found their matches, while she struggled to accept what was happening in her own life.
A small band played on a pavilion nearby, sending soft notes of classical music over the beach. Keira swayed gently to the music as she sipped her wine, her nerves firing up every time Jared placed his hand on her lower back to guide her through the crowd of people.
Megan and Matt made their way over to Keira and Jared, waving over people’s heads to catch their attention. Keira had never been more excited to see anyone. Their companionship broke up some of the tension that had settled uncomfortably between her and Jared since the episode at the meditation.
“They’re doing foot massages on the other side of the bonfire. Let’s get over there before all these people realize!”
Jared grimaced, but Keira followed Megan as she led the way.
They grabbed the last four seats. Matt offered to pull one pair of chairs over to the other set so they could sit together. Jared went along to help, but he sent a look to Keira that had her wondering what he was thinking. He didn’t seem his easygoing self, and he didn’t seem nearly as happy as he had for most of the time since they’d reunited.
Something was bothering him. She was afraid to know what.
Once they settled into their seats, Keira and Megan eagerly slipped out of their shoes, wiggling their toes to show off their fresh polish. Jared had to be coaxed by one of the masseuses, and Matt shrugged and then kicked his sneaker so far it almost landed in the fire. Megan laughed uproariously, and Keira finished her second drink in one long sip.
Another couple sat on Jared’s other side, and they were extremely talkative. Keira leaned forward a little to try to be polite and engage in conversation, but they talked right over her. She gave up after a few minutes of straining her neck to lean in that direction. Jared nodded politely, but every time he tried to say anything to Keira, the other couple dragged him back into their conversation. How he could keep up with anything they were saying was beyond Keira, but he seemed to be doing okay, even as their foot massages ended and the crowds around the fire increased.
The bonfire died down, and no one added to it to keep it going.
Keira shivered a little at the loss of the blazing heat.
“Here, take this.” Jared hurried out of his jacket and, against her protests, tucked it over her shoulders.
“You’ll freeze!”
He grinned. “I promise I won’t.”
Megan leaned over to inform them that she had heard they were putting the bonfire out so they’d have unrestricted views of the stars.
Keira couldn’t argue with that advantage. And when water was poured over the last of the flames, the sizzling of the hot coals combined with the soft, atmospheric music gave her a different kind of chill.
After saying a quick goodbye to her friends, who planned to slip away to a quieter part of the beach to enjoy the stars, Keira leaned back in her chair and allowed all thoughts to drift off into the night sky. She imagined the stars to be her loving grandparents winking in greeting. Smiling to herself, she closed her eyes to see their faces.
But the only face she saw was that of the man sitting quietly in the seat next to her, his pinky finger sending sparks as it edged closer to hers on the arm of the side-by-side Adirondack chairs.
She couldn’t pull away, even as his pinky finger rested on top of hers.
“This is nice,” he whispered in her ear.
Chills again. Raging chills.
She swallowed hard and nodded emphatically. Too emphatically if his knowing grin was any indication.
Her only saving grace was knowing the moonlight was hopefully not bright enough for him to see the panicked look on her face.
His scent mingled with the ocean air as he leaned closer to her. Every hair on her body stood up in high alert.
Caution! Caution!
But she drifted closer to him anyway.
She was no longer in control of herself. She was under a spell, and she didn’t know how to turn it around.
An announcement from someone using the band’s microphone cut into the quiet of the night.
