Ethan understood the contradiction. He’d wrestled with it a time or two, though not lately. Something told him, though, that Samantha was going to make him reexamine everything he’d believed about love.
“They’re the exception, not the rule,” he said finally. “And sure, there was a time when I wanted what they’d found.”
“And then came What’s-her-face,” Samantha said sarcastically.
“Lisa,” he supplied.
“My point is that you let one bad apple ruin a lifetime of apparently good memories. She doesn’t deserve to have that much power over you.”
“Intellectually, I know that,” he agreed. “And I think we’ve been down this road enough for one night.”
“Maybe so, since I’m obviously making no inroads in changing your mind,” she said, her frustration plain.
“Want to try again tomorrow?” he asked. “I could pick you up for this dinner thing.”
Her lips twitched. “As a courtesy or as a date?”
He’d be more comfortable calling it a courtesy, but they both knew better. “Do we have to define it?”
“I think we should.”
Ethan thought about it. He recognized the sensible answer. He also recognized that it wouldn’t delude either one of them. “Might as well call it a date,” he said, hoping he sounded casual. “Throw a bone to the meddlers.”
She patted his cheek. “Said with so much enthusiasm,” she teased. “I’ll look forward to it.” She opened her door, slipped from the car, then leaned back in the open window. “Just so you know, since it’s a date, I’ll be looking forward to a kiss at the end of the evening.”
With that, she sashayed off, leaving Ethan with his heart in his throat and a whole passel of anticipation.
* * *
“Rumor has it you were out with Samantha last night,” Boone said when he dropped by Ethan’s on Saturday morning, two large containers of coffee and a box of warm doughnuts in hand.
Ethan regarded the offerings with suspicion. “No need to ask why you’re here,” he commented dryly. “Who sent you? Emily or Cora Jane? And what makes any of you think that information can be bought with coffee and doughnuts?”
Boone grinned. “Experience has taught me you’re much more amenable after coffee. The doughnuts were Gabi’s idea. I gather Wade started making solid inroads with her when he showed up with them. I figured it was worth a shot. Besides, I never miss a chance to grab a box of these whenever I can.”
He proved his point by opening the box and nabbing an old-fashioned glazed doughnut, which he finished in three bites before reaching for one iced in chocolate.
Ethan leaned against his kitchen counter, sipped his coffee and shook his head as he watched Boone devour three doughnuts in a row.
“Care to explain why you’re so nervous?” Ethan asked eventually, moving the box out of reach before his friend made himself sick.
“I’m not nervous,” Boone insisted. “What do I have to be nervous about? I’m marrying the love of my life a week from today.”
“So you’re not having second thoughts about Emily?”
“Not a chance,” Boone said emphatically.
“What, then?”
Boone hesitated, then asked, “You swear to God you won’t say a word about this, not to a single person?”
“As your best man and your friend, my lips are sealed,” Ethan promised.
“It’s this whole Los Angeles thing,” Boone admitted, his voice low as if he feared being overheard. “The restaurant’s doing great. Emily’s all caught up in these safe houses she’s designing and refurbishing. B.J.’s in a good school.”
“But,” Ethan prodded.
“I hate it,” Boone admitted. “I wish I could explain why, but I don’t have an answer. How am I supposed to talk Emily into getting out of there if I can’t explain why the place makes me crazy?”
“My hunch is it’s not about Los Angeles at all,” Ethan said, empathizing with him.
“What, then?” Boone asked, obviously eager for an outside viewpoint.
“It’s not home,” Ethan suggested. “You grew up here. You have roots here. You’re close to Cora Jane and think of her as family, even though she’s Emily’s grandmother. Now even Gabi and Wade are settling here, so more family ties. Your business started here. Even Jodie and Frank are here, for whatever that matters. This is home, simple as that.”
Boone’s eyes lit with understanding. “That’s it, exactly. And I feel guilty as sin, because I can see that Emily’s thrilled to pieces. Home’s supposed to be where the heart is, right? And Emily is my heart.”
“But Sand Castle Bay and the ocean breezes are in your blood, same as me,” Ethan suggested.
“It’s a coastal community,” Boone countered. “Lots of water. Los Angeles has a great big ocean, too.”
“Not the same,” Ethan said. “It’s on the wrong side, for one thing.”
Boone laughed, just as Ethan had intended. “True, but I can’t see Emily buying that as an argument. So, how do I tell her? Or do I? Maybe I just need to suck it up and make peace with being there.”
Ethan regarded him worriedly. “You haven’t had this conversation with her at all?”
Boone shook his head, his expression miserable. “How can I? She’s so ecstatic about her work, so grateful that I came out there. I guess she just assumed I was making a permanent move.”
“And you never so much as hinted that you saw it as a temporary compromise?”
“No. I didn’t want some endless long-distance relationship, so I came up with a solution. Open a restaurant out there, give her some time to take advantage of this incredible opportunity she’d been given and then we’d come back here. I figured it was understood.”
“But she assumed it was permanent?”
“Yes, and she’s already looking at some jobs that will extend into next year or even the year after,” Boone said. “As soon as she told me about them, I realized we were not on the same page at all.”
“Then you have to tell her,” Ethan said.
“A week before our wedding?” Boone protested. “How can I do that?”
“Because if you wait until after the wedding, it’ll blow up in your face. Resolve this now, pal. That’s my advice.”
Boone sighed. “I know
