Page 55 of Fire and Rain
“She reminded me that life is short.” Eden left out the hanky-panky part. “She said that having feelings for another man didn’t mean I was forgetting Justin. Then she said Justin would want me to be happy and that the best way for me to honor him was to live a full and happy life.”
Sean reached across the table, took her hand, his fingers warm and strong. “Hewouldwant you to be happy. I know he would. Your grandma is a wise woman.”
“She is.”
“I have no doubt that you’ll find love again. You’ll meet someone and have a good life. But I can’t be that man.”
“Why not?” She tried to make him understand. “Like you said, I’ve known you for four years. You and Justin were friends for a reason. You’re different, yes, but you’re both good men. Itrustyou. You’re not some rando on a dating app who lied in his profile and is actually an alcoholic who hates dogs. If you could hear the stories my younger sister Anya tells, you’d understand. As we women of Kodiak say, the odds are good, but the goods are odd.”
“I can’t argue with that last part. As for the rest of it, I want to be here for you. I want to help. But we can’t be more than friends, and you know why.”
“Because you were Justin’s best friend.” She fought not to roll her eyes. “Where is it written that a man can’t get involved with his best friend’s widow?”
He said nothing but watched her through troubled blue eyes.
Then Eden told him about her walk on Jewel Beach. “It was our special place, and now that water—the Gulf—it’s Justin’s grave. I started telling him how good you’d been to us, how I knew you cared about me and how I cared about you. I guess I felt like I needed his blessing or something. And then something washed over my boots.”
“What was it?”
“I’ll show you.” She stood and retrieved the little piece of precious sea glass from the basket on the kitchen counter. “It’s red sea glass in the shape of a heart. Red sea glass is rare. I’ve collected sea glass since I was a little girl, and it’s the first time I’ve found any.”
Sean took the piece of sea glass from her, turned it over in his hand. “Wow. I wonder how long it was out there and where it came from. A red heart. What are the odds? And this just washed up right then?”
Eden nodded. “I bent down, picked it up, and when I saw what it was, I knew Justin had answered me. He wants usbothto be happy.”
Sean set the little piece of glass on the table. There was a pensive frown on his face now, but he said nothing.
“You think I’m being silly.”
He shook his head. “No. There’s more to this world than we can see.”
Eden picked up the tiny red heart. “Earlier tonight, you said you thought I was just using you to fill the emptiness in my life—”
He shouldn’t have said that. “That’s not how I meant it. I was worried that you were on the rebound and lonely and that I just happened to be here.”
“It’s okay. The truth is that my emotionshavebeen all over the place. But I do know one thing for certain.”
“What’s that?”
Eden took his hand. “I care about you, Sean, and you care about me, too. When I’m with you, I feel happy andaliveagain.”
* * *
Sean triedto take in what she’d shared with him. She cared for him. She trusted him. She found him sexually attractive.
Well, he returned those feelings in spades.
In fact, he had to admire his own self-control for not dropping the blanket, peeling off her bathrobe, and kissing every lush inch of her sweet body.
You’re the very image of restraint, sitting here in your towel, man.
But where she saw reasons for them to give this a try, he saw only obstacles.
He drew his hand away. “Idocare for you, Eden. You’re right about that. You’re beautiful and fun and smart. But it’s not that simple.”
“Why not?”
“First off, a man doesn’t hit on his best friend’s widow—not in the military.”
