Page 39 of When Summer Returns

“You don’t have to hover,” she said without looking up. “I told you, I’m fine.”

“I know you are,” he replied, matching her tone. “I just noticed something when that guy approached you.”

Her hands stilled momentarily before resuming their task. “It was nothing.”

“Was it?”

She met his gaze then, her green eyes challenging him to press further. The silent standoff lasted several seconds before Miguel’s arrival broke the tension.

“Twenty minutes to the band’s first set,” he announced, seemingly oblivious to the undercurrents. “And table twelve wants to know if the paella has peanuts because apparently someone remembered they might be allergic halfway through eating it.”

“I’ll handle it,” Luke said, recognizing the reprieve for what it was. “Take over for Jessie for a few minutes.”

He moved away, aware that whatever ground they’d gained during their dance the previous night might have been lost. One step forward, two steps back—the continuous rhythm of their complicated reunion.

* * *

The last customers departed well after midnight, leaving behind the particular quiet that followed hours of noise and activity. Staff moved through familiar closing routines—Tasha counting the evening’s receipts, the kitchen crew scrubbing down stations, Miguel inventorying the bar while whistling an off-key rendition of the band’s final song.

Jessie methodically wiped down tables, her movements revealing the fatigue that came from hours on her feet. The sleeves of her blouse were rolled to the elbows, her hair slightly mussed, and a smudge of something—possibly cocktail sauce—marked her left wrist. Luke found himself captivated by these small imperfections, these signs of a day fully lived.

“You should head home,” he said, approaching with a fresh towel to help with the cleanup. “You’ve been on your feet for fourteen hours.”

“So have you,” she pointed out.

“Yes, but I’m a superhuman specimen with extraordinary endurance.”

That earned him a smile, small but genuine. “And modest too.”

“My finest quality.”

They worked in companionable silence for several minutes, the familiar routine requiring no discussion. When the last table gleamed to Jessie’s satisfaction, she straightened, rolling her shoulders to ease the tension.

“There’s something peaceful about a restaurant after closing,” she observed, looking around the empty space. “Like a theater after the audience has gone home.”

“I’ve always thought so,” Luke agreed, pleased she’d noticed what had long been one of his favorite moments of the day. “Everything quiet but still humming with energy, waiting for the next performance.”

Their gazes met in shared understanding, and Luke felt something shift between them—a recognition of common ground, a bridge across the chasm of years and misunderstandings.

“Walk with me?” he asked impulsively. “Beach is beautiful this time of night.”

Hesitation flickered across her face, but curiosity won out. “Sure.”

Minutes later, they made their way down the sandy path leading from Seeker’s Paradise to the shore. Moonlight silvered the beach, transforming ordinary sand into a glittering carpet that stretched to the water’s edge. The ocean’s rhythm had changed subtly from its usual pattern—the waves more insistent, the intervals between them shorter as the distant weather system pushed water ahead of itself. Already the tide line had crept higher than normal, leaving tangled clumps of seaweed and driftwood where there had been clean sand that morning. Nature was rearranging the shoreline, preparing for what might come.

They walked in silence for a time, close enough to feel each other’s presence but not touching, each lost in private thoughts while sharing the same stretch of moonlit sand.

“I’ve missed this,” Jessie said finally, her voice barely audible above the surf. “The sound of the ocean at night. It’s different here than anywhere else.”

“Deeper,” Luke agreed. “More alive somehow.”

“Yes.” She glanced at him, surprised by his understanding. “Exactly that.”

They continued walking, their steps leaving parallel trails in the damp sand as the incoming tide gradually erased the day’s footprints.

“It was good seeing you with Tammy tonight,” Luke said. “Reminded me of how you used to be.”

“Young and reckless?”

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