by Kara Lennox
The bride and groom kissed, a long, slow, slightly inappropriate embrace, and everyone cheered. The happy couple paraded down the aisle arm in arm. Then suddenly Reece was there, offering his arm to Sara.
“You look beautiful,” he said in a low voice. “I don’t know why anyone looked at the bride when you were standing next to her.”
Now Sara felt herself blushing. She looped her arm in his and they followed the bride and groom. Max and Jane fell into step behind them, with Kylie holding on to the hem of her mother’s dress, having forgotten her flower duties.
Cooper and Allie paused once they cleared the crowd. “We’d like to invite everyone to enjoy the Mexican buffet provided by our talented bridesmaid, Sara Kaufman.”
That was Sara’s cue to hurry back to her catering duties, or Valerie would quickly be overwhelmed. She reluctantly released her handsome groomsman. “Save me a dance, huh?”
He frowned. “Uh, yeah.”
What was that about? Was he wishing he’d never hooked up with her? Embarrassed that a few people had identified them as a couple? Now that he’d spent some time back in his regular life, maybe his dalliance with that crazy bed-and-breakfast girl seemed frivolous, even foolish and low class.
Despite the fact they were on a boat, Sara had rented good china dishes and fancy silverware. She risked some of it going overboard, but that was better than leaving a trail of paper plates fouling up the ocean, which was exactly what would have happened in the stiff breeze.
The guests lined up to sample Sara’s buffet, which pleased her no end. She liked nothing better than to feed people food they loved. This was much more fun than catering a movie set, where the people she served were so absorbed in their work that she was invisible.
Here, among the people of Port Clara whom she’d come to know over the past ten-plus years, she was loved and appreciated. She knew most of the guests-at least the ones who weren’t Cooper’s out-of-town friends and family-and every one of them had a kind greeting.
The one person she wanted to see, though, was conspicuously avoiding her. He was busy with the photographer, posing with his cousins and the bride and looking kind of miserable, even when he smiled.
Once the main rush of guests had gone through the buffet line, Allie dragged Sara out from behind the table for pictures of their own. Allie certainly would have an interesting wedding album, with the boat and the ocean as backdrops for all the photos.
Sara posed with Allie, then with Allie, Jane and Kaylee. Then the men joined them. Reece stood beside her, his arm slipped around her waist in a distinctly nonsexual fashion, and she knew she was right. He regretted getting intimate with her and was trying to extricate himself gracefully. Visions of the reunion sex she’d planned for tonight faded away. Maybe she would just get drunk at the beach party instead.
No, scratch that. She couldn’t drink until she knew for certain she wasn’t pregnant.
Reece released her the moment the photographer had the shots he wanted, then wandered away to stand by the railing, all alone.
“Poor Reece,” she heard Allie saying to Cooper.
Poor Reece? What about poor Sara? She was the one feeling unappreciated at the moment.
“You never should have let him drink that Scotch,” Allie said, scolding her new husband.
“How was I supposed to know he wouldn’t be able to take his Dramamine if he drank alcohol?”
Sara gasped. Reece wasn’t being cranky and distant on purpose. He was seasick.
With no worries about her pride now, she went straight to him. “Reece?”
He turned, seeming surprised to see her. His complexion was definitely greenish. “Sara. Hi.”
“Don’t look at me, look at the horizon,” she said. “I’ve heard it helps.”
He complied. “So I haven’t done a very good job disguising my delicate condition, eh?”
“I heard Allie and Cooper talking. I’m sorry you’re not feeling well.”
“It could be worse. At least I’m not hurling.”
“Maybe you would feel better if you ate something.”
If anything, he turned greener. “Ah, no. I don’t think Mexican food is the answer.”
“But I made you up a special enchilada. No peppers, no spices, nothing weird.”
“Can we not talk about food?”
Oh, dear. He really was in a bad way. “Here, give me your hand.” She urged him to release his death grip on the railing. She loved his hands. Big, strong, capable hands, not like those she expected to find attached to an accountant. She flipped his hand over and began a slow massage of the inside of his wrist, digging her thumbs in with no small amount of pressure as she moved them in circles.
“What are you doing?”
“This is an acupressure point for motion sickness,” she explained. “This really works. And if it doesn’t, well, I’ll just kiss you until you’ve forgotten you’re on a boat.”
He turned to look at her, obviously surprised by her boldness.
“Keep looking at the horizon. Take long, slow breaths.”
SARA’S TREATMENT seemed to be working. He shouldn’t be surprised; she’d cured a headache with nothing but her talented hands.
After a couple of minutes of the soothing massage, keeping his gaze focused into the distance like she said and breathing in big lungfuls of fresh sea air, the dizziness began to fade. Maybe the acupressure point really did work. Or maybe it was the fact that Sara touching him anywhere on his body focused his attention, and his blood circulation, well below his head or his stomach.
“The cruise is almost over,” Sara said soothingly.
Strangely, Reece suddenly wasn’t anxious to be back on dry land. He actually found it pleasant, standing here with Sara’s warm, curvy body beside him, her soft voice lulling him.
“Any better?” she asked. “You’ve got more color in your face.”
“Actually, yes. A lot better.” He slipped an arm around her. “Thanks, Dr. Sara. I don’t believe I’ve properly greeted you.”
She looked up at him with a warm smile just for him, her lips moist and rosy, the afternoon sun kissing her face and accentuating the slight dusting of freckles across her nose, and all his plans to make a clean break fell overboard. He swooped down for a kiss that felt like coming home. He didn’t care that half the wedding guests were gawking at them, or that word would surely get back to his father, who would quickly conclude-correctly-that Sara was the reason he’d been in no hurry to return home.
His father could rave and criticize and belittle all he wanted when Reece got back home. His family and the company would have him for the rest of his life. But Sara had him for this weekend.
She’d made him a special enchilada. How sweet was that?
The party barge beached itself on a long stretch of sand adjacent to the Port Clara Country Club. And while it wasn’t closed off to the public, once the wedding guests had disembarked the boat and more had arrived by land, Cooper and Allie pretty much owned the beach.
Sara and Valerie had to stay behind to break down the buffet and pack up the leftovers, but Sara urged Reece to get his feet back on solid ground. “This won’t take long. I’ll rejoin the party shortly.”
“It won’t be a party without you.”
He disembarked with her smile on his mind. If he’d known this was how to cure seasickness, he would have thrown away his Dramamine long ago. Still, he was grateful to reach the end of the gangway and feel the sand beneath his feet. Until the first person to greet him was his uncle Jonathan, Cooper’s father and VP of Legal Affairs at Remington Industries.
Jonathan shook hands with a crushing grip, pumping Reece’s arm so hard he thought his head might fall off. “Reece. Glad you made it on time. I guess my brother made you miss your plane.”
“The meeting ran long, sir,” Reece said diplomatically, although at the time he had wondered if his father was deliberately pontificating in the most long-winded way possible, hoping to cause Reece to miss h
is flight. He’d never thought of his dad as being passive-aggressive before, but maybe he simply hadn’t seen it.
“So,” Jonathan continued as they made their way toward the tent where the cake was set up at one end and a bartender at the other. “Who’s the girl you were locking lips with?”
Reece was prepared for the question. “Sara. She helps run the bed-and-breakfast where we all stayed when we first came down.”
Jonathan raised an eyebrow. “She carries hospitality a little far, don’t you think?”
Reece didn’t honor the question with an answer.
“You’re not serious about her, are you?”
“No,” he said automatically, but immediately knew he was lying. No matter how unlikely a future with Sara was, what he felt for her could not be labeled trivial. “But I could be. Why, is something wrong with her?”
“I’m sure she’s a very nice girl.” Nice being code for fine for someone else, but not for a Remington.
“Dad.” Cooper had appeared beside them. “Stop torturing Reece. I want you to meet some friends of mine from the Gulf Coast Yacht Club. You’ve been talking about buying a yacht and sailing around the world when you retire, right?”
Jonathan’s interest was instantly diverted and he happily trotted off after his son.
Now that he was on firm ground, Reece was ravenous. He again thought of the special enchilada Sara had prepared for him and wished he’d been able to take advantage of her thoughtfulness. But he suspected more food would soon be available. Already, people were building fires and breaking out the hamburgers and hot dogs. The party looked to be shaping up as similar to the last beach party he’d attended, though he doubted any party could top that one.
His gaze strayed toward the barge, but he saw no sign of Sara.
“She’ll be along.” It was Allie, who had already ditched her veil. The hem of her long, white dress was hitched up and fastened at her hip with some elaborate device so she wouldn’t get it dirty in the sand, and she was barefoot.
“Who?” Reece asked, embarrassed that he was so transparent.
Allie rolled her eyes. “Give me a break. You can dance with me until she shows up.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be dancing with Cooper? I mean, isn’t that traditional?”
“Has anything about this wedding been traditional yet? He’s busy talking boats with rich old men. And to think I was once worried about ever finding a man who loved sailing as much as I do.” While she talked, she dragged Reece toward a group that was already dancing. He didn’t want to be rude, but he had no interest in dancing with anyone but Sara. He smiled just remembering how she’d put her bare feet on top of his shoes.
“So how long are you staying in Port C?” Allie asked.
“I’m flying back Sunday night.” And praying he wouldn’t suffer any delays, because he was cutting it close to make the crucial Monday-morning meeting.
“Oh.” She sounded disappointed. “I thought you’d stay longer.”
“Allie, I stayed down here for more than a month.”
“I know, but…Cooper and Max are really bummed you won’t move down here. They were hoping once you were here you would have so much fun you would change your mind.”
“What would I do down here? I have to earn a living.”
“Open your own accounting firm. The way you organized our finances was amazing. A lot of businesses would pay to have you do the same.”
“Allie, I can’t. Is this about Sara?”
She looked guilty. “Maybe, partly. No one but me gives you and Sara a snowball’s chance in hell, but I can see something there. Don’t you want to prove them wrong?”
“So now we’ve become the object of gossip?”
“Just among the people who care about you. Everybody wants you to be happy.”
“What makes you think I’m not happy?”
“Oh, I don’t know. It might be that tense, worried look on your face every time you mention your work.”
Really? “I love my job.” How many times did he have to explain that to people?
The twinge in his stomach stopped him for a second, though. Who was he trying to convince-them or himself? No, no, no, he wasn’t going to let his feelings for Sara cloud his judgment. Yes, he was crazy about her. Yes, he wished there was some way they could be together, at least long enough to find out if their attraction was more than a flash in the pan. But there wasn’t.
Even if Sara wanted to relocate to New York, what if she didn’t like it? Once she’d gotten her fill of ethnic restaurants, not to mention snow and icy wind, would she get restless and take off? She had chosen warm, sleepy Port Clara as a home base for a reason.
Allie didn’t appear happy with him. “If you say so, Reece.”
As the song ended, Cooper appeared to reclaim the bride. His jacket and tie were gone, his shirt open and his sleeves rolled up. He didn’t look quite as happy and carefree as a new bridegroom should.
“Have you guys seen a weather report lately?”
Allie looked surprised by the question. “I’ve been a little busy getting married.”
“I’m sorry, sweetheart, but we’re going to have to delay our honeymoon.”
“What? Why?”
“Because of the hurricane.”
Chapter Twelve
Sara finally gave up waiting for Reece to find her; she went in search of him. She found him a few minutes later, talking with the bride and groom-and all of them looked worried.
“Hey, what’s going on?” she asked. “Did somebody die?”
“Hey, Sara,” Reece said, managing a tense smile. “No one died. But there’s a hurricane.”
“Oh, is that all?”
“Is that all?” Allie repeated. “Have you ever been through one?”
“Yes, and I don’t mean to make light of it, but it’s not a hurricane. It’s an itty-bitty tropical storm, and they don’t even know if it will hit here, or when. It could just peter out.”
Reece looked relieved. “Have you seen a weather report?”
“Yes. Max checked it out on his super-duper phone. You guys are worrying for nothing.” She took Reece’s hand. “C’mon, Reece, let’s dance.”
THE OFFICIAL WEDDING reception lasted for a couple of hours, after which the bartender vanished and the tent came down. The bride and groom said their goodbyes and left for their wedding night in some fancy hotel in Corpus. But the wedding revelers showed no signs of slowing down. The party would probably continue into the night, but for once Sara wasn’t in a partying mood.
Her reunion with Reece hadn’t gone at all as she’d planned. He’d been perfectly pleasant to her, solicitous, even. He’d fetched her a piece of wedding cake and a glass of champagne, which she’d covertly dumped in the sand. He’d danced with her, and he’d touched her often in a way that promised he hadn’t lost interest.
But there was an edge to Reece, something on his mind that kept his forehead creased with worry. Maybe it was talk of the storm, or maybe it was something else.
The worst thing, though, was that she had no idea what his plans were for the evening-and whether they included her.
She would have to take the proverbial bull by the horns.
“So, Reece,” she said, sitting in a folding chair next to him. “Have you had enough party?”
“I’m just waiting for Max. He’s giving me a ride back to Cooper’s house.”
“Oh. Well, I’m heading back to the B and B. Do you want to come with me?”
“How? Isn’t the car at the marina?”
“I planned ahead, aren’t you proud of me? I parked the Benz in the lot just on the other side of those dunes.”
She could see he was tempted, but for some reason he hesitated.
“Reece, what is it? Do you want to spend the night with me or not?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then what is your problem?”
“The problem is…hell, the problem is I don’t want to say goodbye to
you. I don’t want to get on a plane Sunday night and never see you again. And if we spend the rest of the weekend together, getting on that plane is just going to be ten times harder.”
Sara smiled. She hadn’t expected such a heartfelt confession. “So don’t get on the plane.”
When she saw the pained expression on his face, she wanted to take the words back. “No, forget I said that. I know it’s not fair. I can’t expect you to give up the life you’ve built in New York-I get that.”
“I’m sorry, Sara. I wish things could work out. But we’ve both known, from the beginning, we’re from different worlds.”
She wanted to tell him what a cheap cop-out that was. Cooper and Allie were from the exact same different worlds that Reece and Sara were from, yet they were making it work. It was all about priorities, and clearly she wasn’t that high on his list. But if they got into a big fight tonight, he would go back to New York mad at her, and that wasn’t what she wanted.
She didn’t want him to leave until she’d had a chance to take a pregnancy test. And if it was positive? Of course she had to tell him. And of course he would take responsibility. But she didn’t want a baby to be the reason he stayed with her.
“So you’re going to let what’s coming Sunday night ruin the whole weekend?” At his questioning look, she took his hand. “We’ve found something special. Sometimes special things are, by nature, short-lived. Why ruin it by worrying about when it has to end?”
Finally he got it. He gave her a look that could melt cold steel and got to his feet, pulling her with him. “I can’t argue with your logic. Let’s get out of here.”
Sara had never seen Reece drive as fast as he did that day. They didn’t talk, perhaps both of them thinking ahead. Only when they entered the house did Reece speak up.
“Do you need to check on Miss Greer?”
“Valerie’s here. Let’s just sneak upstairs.” Sara had never brought a man into this house for the purpose of having sex; in fact, the only time she’d slept with a man under Miss Greer’s roof was two weeks ago, with Reece, while her landlady was absent. She had no idea whether her employer would object, but just now she didn’t care.
