Page 11 of The Magic of Sea Glass
“Hi,” she said, stepping up next to him.
“So, what do ya fancy?”
Lauren shook her head. “I don’t know,” she replied, taking shallow breaths as the two of them walked down to the parking lot. The idea of having a meal with a man other than Mason made her edgy, even if it was platonic. Then suddenly he stopped walking. When she turned to see what was the matter, he was observing her.
“Did you finish your cocktail?” he asked.
“No, I left it on the sink in my bathroom.”
He nodded as if he could’ve guessed her answer. “Your shoulders are up near your ears.”
She forced herself into a more relaxed position.
“If you don’t have a preference, I think I’ve got the perfect place in mind for dinner,” he said, giving her an appreciative once-over.
“Oh?”
He opened the truck door, and she climbed in. “Yeah.” He shut her door and spoke to her through the open window. “It’s casual.”
He pulled out of the small parking lot onto the main road that snaked along the coast, the warm wind rushing in around her. She set her gaze on the cadenced push and pull of the waves, and the swell of foam as they gently splashed against the shore. She wondered why anyone who visited would ever leave.
“So, you’ve been here your whole life?” she asked, imagining what it would be like to spend childhood in a place like this.
“Yep,” he replied.
The wind rippled his shirt, pushing it against his toned chest. She took in the strength that showed in his arms, the coarseness in his hands, and the way he managed to keep the substantial vehicle steady with only his wrist on the steering wheel.
His attention flickered away from the road—he seemed to notice her assessment of him. Caught in the act, she turned to the seagrass sliding past the window.
“I know what you must be thinking,” he said. “I’m not just some small-town beach bum. Ihavebeen outside North Carolina.”
His comment seemed to come out of nowhere, but then she remembered the way he’d eyed her designer bags when she was unpacking her car.
“I wasn’t thinking anything,” she said.
He didn’t seem convinced, but he remained quiet, the two of them falling into silence until he pulled the truck to a stop outside a small shack of a restaurant with blue-shingled siding, bright yellow trim, and a porch overflowing with waiting guests. In the sandy yard beside it, families waiting for their tables played beanbag toss games and ladder ball, young children ran through the crowd, the boys in their cotton shirts and shorts and the girls in sundresses, their laughter infectious.
Lauren opened the truck door and hopped out onto the gravel as Brody made his way to her side. He gestured toward the porch. “After you.”
They maneuvered through the throng of people toward the door. Brody held it open for her, allowing her to enter. A beachy tune of steel drums and guitars played overhead. The restaurant was packed; every stool at the tiki bar, covered in surfing stickers and bottle caps, was occupied.
“Where will we sit?” she asked, concerned that with this crowd, even Brody’s connections wouldn’t be enough to get them a table.
“Give me just a sec,” he replied, looking over her head and raising his hand to a man with long gray hair that looked as if he’d been shipwrecked on an island for the last decade.
With a salty grin under his scraggly beard, the man leaned across the bar between two patrons, grabbed a bottle of beer, popped off the top, and made his way over to them.
“Well, look what the tide brought in,” he said, giving Brody a friendly smack on the arm and handing him the bottle. “You bringin’ me a fresh catch of mahi?”
“Not tonight.” Brody took a long drink of beer. “I’ve got another ‘catch’ this evening. I’m tasked with getting dinner for Mary Everett’s new employee.” He tipped his head over to Lauren.
The whole situation was so foreign to her that she’d forgotten how to act, so she just stood there like a deer in headlights.
“Lauren, this is Lou.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said, reaching out for a handshake.
Lou wiped his hand on his board shorts and then shook hers. “Pick your poison,” he said.
