String Beans (The Girls of Beachmont #2) (26 page)

Wyatt walked over to my apartment so he could take
me on a proper date. He insisted that we go somewhere away from the
neighborhood, and I didn’t offer any objection. I liked the idea of getting
away from the familiar and spending some alone time with him. When I answered
the door, I was wearing my white jeans with a checkered navy-and-white button-down
shirt. Jolie had insisted that I needed to dress up the outfit so it didn’t
look so casual, but when Wyatt looked at me, his smile told me that I was fine.

“You look beautiful,” he said.

After spending all night in his bed kissing and
talking, you would have thought I’d be more relaxed. Instead, I felt like a
teenager going on a first date.

Technically, it
was
my first date. Well, it was the first one I’d been on since I
met Will all those years ago. I found myself nervous and fidgeting when Jolie
walked out.

“You need to wear a necklace or some…” She snapped
her mouth shut and smiled at Wyatt. “I didn’t hear you come in, Earp.”

He looked up at the ceiling and huffed. “Is this
what everyone calls me now?”

“Mostly when you’re not around,” I laughed.

“Are we not supposed to?” Jolie asked. “She said
she called you Cowboy, too.”

“Funny, considering I don’t like country music,
I’ve never owned a pair of boots, and I’m pretty sure I don’t have a hat.”

“That’s okay,” she quipped. “I’m sure Vi won’t
hold that against you.”

I narrowed my eyes at her and willed her into
silence, but I knew she wouldn’t comply. So I opted to change the subject to something
she enjoyed: herself. “Is Connor coming over tonight?”

“Who’s Connor?” Wyatt asked.

“He’s the guy that was with her the other night… Apparently
they’re engaged.”

“What?” His jaw dropped open and he looked between
the two of us. “I guess I missed a lot last night. Vi sang. You got engaged.
Anything else I should know about?”

“I’m not engaged,” she countered.

Wyatt looked at me and I shrugged my shoulders. “No?
Wait, I’m sorry…‘engaged to be engaged.’”

He leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Do I want
to know?”

“I can tell you later.”

“I’m right here,” Jolie argued. “And we are a work
in progress… We’ll see what happens.”

“What about that guy you went out with last week?”
Wyatt asked.

“Old news,” I told him. “Keep up.”

“Will you two get out of here,” Jolie groaned as
she pushed us out the door. “I get enough grief from Connor. I don’t need it
from you two as well.”

“You know I’m just kidding, right?” I asked and
pulled her into a hug. When I released her, she smiled. “I just want you to be
happy. And for what it’s worth…I like Connor.”

“I passed the Vi-Test?” I heard from behind me.

I turned around to see Connor standing next to
Wyatt, smiling at Jolie.

“Thank God. I really think she would have cut me
loose if you didn’t approve.”

“Shut up.” Jolie smiled flirtatiously and then
turned eerily serious. “I would have dumped you on the spot.”

Connor looked like he didn’t know whether to laugh
or be concerned, but I patted his shoulder to ease his worry. In reality, she
would have dropped him in a heartbeat if I didn’t like him.

“And now we’re gone.” I waved goodbye and walked
down the hallway with Wyatt. He took my hand in his and squeezed it gently.

“You really do look beautiful,” he said and then
brought my hand up to his lips and kissed it.

We walked out of the building and I looked up at
him. “Where are we going?”

“Have you ever been to Top Drawer?”

“Can’t say I have.”

“Good.”

“As long as it’s not seafood,” I said, holding
back a gag at the mention of the fishy kind.

“You don’t like seafood?”

“Not even a little,” I answered.

“But that night with Dallas and Callie…the sushi?”

“I didn’t eat sushi. I’m not a fan. I just had
rice and vegetables instead.”

“How did I miss that?” he asked. “So you don’t
like anything? Oysters?”

I made a face and shuddered. “My dad made me try
it once and I threw up.”

“Shrimp?”

“It looks like it has no skin. If it were on land,
it would probably be a naked mole rat. Gross.”

“Not even fried fish?”

“Nope. Can’t do it even if it’s smothered in
ketchup.”

Wyatt laughed and wrapped his arm around me as we
walked to his Jeep. “Good thing I don’t like fish either.”

I stopped at looked up at him. “You don’t?”

“I can eat it if I have to. Except sushi. I can’t
eat sushi.”

“Good to know,” I said as I climbed into his Jeep.

He walked around and got into the driver’s seat
and turned the ignition. He was waiting for a break in traffic before pulling
onto the road and I remained quiet while he did. Cars were whizzing down the
street in a blur while people meandered on the sidewalks.

He eased onto the road and a comfortable silence
settled between us. I was looking ahead, but I was acutely aware of his hand
resting on the stick shift. He raised it up slightly, as if debating to reach
out to me, then set it back. He repeated the action again when I finally turned
my hand palm up to welcome his.

We were on the freeway, so he didn’t need to
change gears anytime soon—or at least I assumed. My entire arm felt like
it was on fire from the small gesture.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked him when
the quiet was too much for me to bear. Or maybe I needed a distraction from the
way his hand felt in my own.

He smiled and looked over at me briefly before
returning his attention to the road. “Your friend Kirk said that you wrote a
song together?”

“Yeah,” I answered. “It’s their most popular
song.”

“Nice. So how did that happen?”

“He and my ex used to be in a band together. Will
was working late one night when Kirk came by to pick up the set list for their
upcoming gig. When he saw my journal out, he picked it up before I could stop
him.”

“What did Will say about that?”

I scoffed. “Will, for all his talent, is an
insecure man when it comes to his music. I tried to talk Kirk out of it, but
somehow he persuaded me to let him use it. We changed a few things, and next
thing I knew, it was a song.”

“How many songs did you write together?”

“Just the one. I made him swear he wouldn’t tell
Will that they were my lyrics.”

“Why?”

“Like I said, he’s insecure. I just decided to let
it go and not say anything. And Kirk respected my decision, but he didn’t agree
with it. He knows what Will’s like.”

“Did you ever tell your ex?”

I shook my head and shrugged. “He hurt me. Bad.
But to tell him just to rub it in his face didn’t seem right. When I decide to
write again, I’m not going to hide it.”

“Good for you.”

We pulled into a parking lot near the beach and I
saw the small restaurant with its quaint outdoor setting. It was perfect.

Wyatt leaned over and kissed me briefly before we
got out of the Jeep, and I felt everything inside of me light up. When we
parted, he leaned his forehead against mine and a small laugh escaped from him.

“I wanted to do that the moment you opened the
door.”

“Then do it again,” I urged, smiling as he kissed
me again.

***

Top Drawer was not what I expected, though I’m not
sure what I thought it would be like. The dimly lit interior made it feel
romantic and cozy, with no more than twenty tables spread throughout the small
space. The hostess sat us in a corner booth and lit the votive candle in the center.
When she departed, Wyatt looked at me and smiled before leaning over and
kissing me chastely.

“This place is nice,” I said, barely above a
whisper as I looked at the moonlit ocean outside.

“My friend opened the place up right after
college,” he said.

“Is there anyone in this city you don’t know?” I
asked in my normal voice.

He raised his chin toward the table next to us and
shrugged. “I don’t know them.”

I narrowed my eyes playfully at him and picked up
my menu. We didn’t talk much until after we’d ordered our food. When the waiter
left, Wyatt looked at me quizzically and I didn’t know if I liked it or if it
made me uncomfortable.

“Any chance you’ll play me one of your songs?”

I shook my head and snorted. “No…no way. It’s too
embarrassing.”

“Why?” he asked, looking somewhat hurt by my
words.

“They’re awful. I have a hard enough time looking
at them, alone let alone showing someone else.”

“Must not be
too
hard,” he said and I knew what he was implying.

“But that’s different,” I huffed. “Kirk is a
friend and musician. Although, to me, he’s that annoying brother that won’t
leave you alone. I doubt he’ll even use what we came up with today.”

“So you did come up with something, huh? That’s
good,” he said sweetly. “Is it hard for you to write a song?”

“Actually, I don’t set out to try to write songs. I
used to, but I think I put too much pressure on myself to the point that I
froze. So I stopped. Now I write down what I’m feeling. And sometimes I write
music. If I’m lucky, the two might go together. But I never set out to write a
song.”

“What do you typically write about?”

“They say write what you know. So what do I know?
Disappointment, fear, heartbreak. But I also know about letting go and moving
on.”

“So you write country music,” he teased and I laughed.

“I’m sure some of them would actually make great
country songs…if I wrote country music. But really, it’s just my feelings at
that moment in time. I suppose that’s why it’s embarrassing to share it. I have
one moment of pathetic weakness and it’s forever immortalized in writing?”

“Everyone’s been there, Vi. Everyone.”

“I know,” I said with a smile. “Wish that made it
easier.”

We spent the rest of the evening laughing and
talking about our families, work, friends, and other stuff people do when
they’re trying to get to know each other. I knew quite a bit about Wyatt just
from being his neighbor and friend. But that night was moving us toward
something significantly more.

I managed to avoid any further talk of Will, and
Wyatt never mentioned any of his exes. I was thankful because nothing ruins a
date faster than ghosts of exes past and it had been months since I’d laid eyes
on Will.

I wasn’t sure what I felt about him, but I knew
one thing: letting go of that part of my life was necessary for me to move on.
And I hadn’t once regretted my decision to make the divorce final.

But those were all thoughts better kept to myself
and not shared while enjoying my night with Wyatt.

As we walked outside to leave Top Drawer, Wyatt
held my hand and guided me to a spot that looked out over the ocean. The sound
of the waves crashing against the beach was soothing and filled the silence
until it was interrupted by the sound of Wyatt’s phone.

“Sorry.” He winced disappointedly as he answered
it. “Hey Dad? Can I call you back?” he asked, smiling down at me.

I watched as the carefree look disappeared from
his face and was replaced with something that could only be described as fear.
He started to walk toward his Jeep, pulling me alongside him as he continued to
talk. I hurried into the passenger seat, unaware of what was happening but
knowing it was urgent.

“What happened?” I asked when they hung up. Concern
was still etched all over his face.

“It’s my mom. Dad was helping her down the ramp to
the beach and she lost her balance. When he went to catch her, something
happened and they both ended up on the ground.”

“Wyatt,” I breathed out and reached for his hand.

“Dad said he’s taking her to the hospital as a
precaution because she hurt her leg. He doesn’t think it’s too bad, but he
wants to make sure.”

“I’m sorry.”

He squeezed my hand that he was holding and kissed
it. “She’ll be okay. I’ll drop you off and then go check on her.”

“Or…I can come with you.”

“You don’t mind?”

“Not at all… The hospital is five minutes away,
and dropping me off would be too much of a detour. Besides, I liked your
parents.”

“They liked you too.”

“You think?”

“Mom asked about you every time I went over there
this week.”

“That’s sweet.”

He turned down the street toward the hospital and
I could tell he was more nervous than he was willing to admit.