Watercolor (Dragonfly)
Page 22
“Oh, no?” Jules flashed him a glance. “She was holding out her hand and tracing the brush strokes just so… I know she was thinking of him.”
They continued walking against the wind. “Sounds like you read a lot. Romance fan?”
“Well, naturally! But that’s not why I’m saying it.” She gestured to him as if making her big reveal. “There’s also the ring.”
He turned his face to the waves so she couldn’t see his expression change. “What ring?” He could barely ask the question.
“Well, Dad was brilliant.” A smile was in her voice. “He made her this gorgeous dragonfly ring when they were in high school, and she still has it.”
His eyes pressed closed. “Does she wear it?”
“No.”
“Then how do you—”
“I busted her trying it on one night, and there were tears in her eyes.”
He stopped walking and sat down in the sand. The soft white powder was cold and damp from the night before, and the sun hadn’t come out to warm and dry it. His slacks would be ruined, but he crossed his arms on top of his bent knees and forced the air in and out of his lungs.
“Hey, are you okay?” Jules asked, dropping beside him.
“Yeah.” He struggled to smile. “I like this weather.”
“Me, too,” she smiled looking out at the horizon. “Like something’s coming, brewing. I hope we move back.”
“Is that a possibility?” Did he want it to be?
The girl shrugged. “Mum’s always saying she misses it here. I can certainly see why.”
They were quiet a moment then he gestured to the growing waves. “When I was your age, I’d be out there surfing.”
Jules turned to him. “You live here?”
“Just up the road.”
She glanced at his slacks, dress shirt, and tie. “Very formal for a visit to the ocean.”
“My office is right there. I was on my way to work.”
Her brow creased over her blue eyes. His chest tightened at the sight of them, at the knowledge of what it all meant.
“You work in that big condo?” she said.
“Phoenician I. Penthouse suites.”
“What are you? Like the hotel manager or something?”
He exhaled with a laugh. “Something like that.”
“Did you go to Fairview?”
Pushing against the sand, he rose to his feet. “Yep. I’m supposed to be at that reunion, too.”
“Hang on.” The girl fished a phone out of her pocket. “It’s Mum. ‘Where are you?’” she read aloud. “She’s just waking up, I’m sure.”
He warmed at the memory of how she looked just waking up and glanced at the phone that held her words. A picture was there, but it disappeared before he got a good look.
“I’m at the beach talking to some old tosspot.” Jules read her response aloud.
“Thanks.” His eyes narrowed, but he smiled. Her cockiness reminded him of someone he knew too well.
“It’s okay,” she laughed. “I’m just messing with her. Watch this.”
They were quiet a split second before her phone buzzed again. Jules burst into familiar-sounding peals of laughter. “Come home now—five exclamation points,” she read.
She giggled again, speaking as she typed. “But he asked me to run away with him!”
“You’re not being very nice to your mother,” the man scolded gently.
“She’s used to me.” The girl poked her chin at him. “She likes to say I act just like my dad.”
Frustrated, he pushed his hand into the side of his hair, and Jules caught her breath.
“Hey, cool ink,” she said, reaching for his hand. He held it out to her. “It’s a dragonfly?”
“Yeah,” he said, watching as she slid her thumb across the small tattoo between his thumb and first finger.
Her instinctive response, exactly like her mother’s, burned in his chest. So many times he’d considered having that little reminder removed, but he could never bring himself to do it.
The buzzing of her phone interrupted them, and it was followed by the girl’s laughter. “911! 911!” she read.
“What does that mean?”
“It means I have to go.” She released his hand and turned, but she paused. “It was fun talking to you. Maybe I’ll see you at the reunion?”
“Yes, you will,” he nodded, making a decision.
“What’s your name?”
“Julian.”
Their blue eyes met, and a wave of recognition passed between them. Jules’s brow creased, but she didn’t say what she was thinking. Instead she nodded. “Unusual. I like it.”
He watched her walk away and observed that she moved exactly like his mother.
* * *
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Acknowledgments
First, I want to thank everyone who has read the Dragonfly series and loved it. This was my first big story idea, and it has meant so much to me that you’ve embraced it and loved it as much as I do.
So many readers have been excited for this third book, and your enthusiasm has kept me going through revisions and exhaustion. Thank you!
My faithful beta readers and cheerleaders in Baldwin County, Tracy Womack and Kim Barnes—I love you guys!
To my Facebook and Twitter friends—you guys are the best. I love your notes on teasers, ideas about taglines, enthusiasm about giveaways, enthusiasm about everything… You make my job so much fun.
To the book bloggers who love it—Ilaria, Anncleire, Gabby, Asheley, Roxy, and too many more to name—you guys are invaluable to me! Thank you so much.
And to my fantastic marketing crew, KP, Nazarea, and Nereyda. You are invaluable teammates.
To my lovely cover designer, Jolene Perry, and my awesome critique partners, Susan, Hart, Magan, and my best editor, my dear husband Richard. Thank you for keeping me going.
Finally, to my family and friends, who I love and miss. Thank you for being so patient, understanding, and supportive.
I couldn’t do this without each and every one of you!
About the Author
Leigh Talbert Moore is a wife and mom by day, a writer by day, a reader by day, a former journalist, a former editor, a chocoholic, a caffeine addict, a lover of great love stories, a beach bum, and occasionally she sleeps.
Also by Leigh Talbert Moore:
The Truth About Faking (2012)
Rouge (2012)
The Truth About Letting Go (2013)
Dragonfly, Book 1 in the Dragonfly series (2013)
Undertow, Book 2 in the Dragonfly series (2013)
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