“You really think she’s okay to drive?” Tia asked with concern.
“Yeah.” He nodded glumly.
“How about you?” Tia asked as they walked toward Powell Street.
“Huh?” He frowned. “You think one glass of champagne would impair my driving?”
She shrugged. “That wasn’t what I meant.”
“What then?” he asked as they crossed the street.
“You just seem a little sad. Like something’s bothering you.”
“I’m fine,” he said in a clipped tone. Neither of them spoke as they walked to the cable car stop. Tia felt like she’d stepped over some invisible line. Almost like she should apologize. Except that she wasn’t sure what she was sorry for. Well, other than the fact that Leo was engaged to someone else. She was definitely sorry for that. Not that she planned to admit as much—to anyone.
5
The cable car ride back up the hill was nothing like the earlier one. Besides the awkward wall of silence between Tia and Leo, the fog had rolled into the city, making it decidedly chilly. Damp and cold and dark. Kind of like her mood.
“You’re shivering,” Leo said as he removed his sport coat, draping it over her shoulders. She murmured a quiet thank-you but wished he hadn’t been so chivalrous. It would be easier to hate him. Not that there was any real chance of that.
To make things worse, she’d stupidly taken the seat “uphill” from Leo, and every time the cable car made a choppy lunge forward—and there were many times—she couldn’t help but slide backward on the worn wooden bench, straight into Leo. It would’ve been pleasurable a few hours ago, before she knew about Natalie. Now it was pure torture.
They finally reached the turnaround on Market Street, and once again he helped her down from the cable car. “Don’t know where this fog came from,” he muttered as they walked back to the parking garage. “The weatherman never mentioned anything.”
“It’s San Francisco,” she said dryly. “It’s supposed to be foggy.”
“I just hope you won’t get too cold on the way to Julie’s, with the top down.”
“It’s okay.” She wanted to tell him there were worse things than hypothermia . . . like broken hearts.
“Do you want to get anything out of your luggage?” he asked as they walked through the garage. “Some layers to keep you warm?”
“Do you want your jacket back?” she asked a bit sharply.
“No, no, that’s okay. I’m pretty warm-blooded. I don’t need it.”
“Then I’ll be fine.” She felt horrible for being so snippy, but she couldn’t seem to help it. Besides that, it seemed her best defense against breaking down in tears. No way did she want him to know how she really felt. She knew it was childish and selfish and totally ridiculous. Just because an eighteen-year-old boy had kissed a sixteen-year-old girl, ten years ago, was no reason to go to pieces. Really!
Of course, he would open the door to his Jeep for her. She forced a grateful smile as she slipped inside, telling herself that somehow she was going to become Miss Congeniality during the ride home.
“I’ll turn the heater on full blast,” he said as he started the engine. “That should help take the chill off.”
“Thanks.” She faked a cheery tone.
He let the engine run as he pulled out his phone. She wondered if he was checking on Natalie, making sure she’d made it home okay. “Julie texted to ask how our dinner went. Actually she copied you on the same text.” He turned to Tia. “What should we tell her?”
“That dinner was delicious and we had a wonderful time.” Tia waited for him to type his response.
“She says she plans to spend the night at the hospital with Roland tonight. And told us where their house key is hidden.” He slipped his phone back into his pocket. “And that she expects me to get you safely home.” He made a lopsided smile as he backed out.
“Thanks.” She attempted to return his smile. Even if she was faking it, she was determined to appear grateful. “And thank you for taking me to Le Bernard tonight. It was really good to see the place. It’ll be helpful for Julie’s restaurant. I mean, if a picture’s worth a thousand words, sampling food must be worth about ten thousand. Or more.”
“I feel like I owe you an apology,” he said as he pulled out onto the street.
“An apology?” She tried to sound oblivious. “Whatever for?”
“Maybe I imagined something, but it seemed like things changed between us when you found out about Natalie.”
“Oh . . .” Tia didn’t know what to say.
“I realized that I should’ve said something about our engagement a lot sooner. I feel kind of like I was stringing you along somehow. Really, I didn’t mean to do that. To be honest, I almost told you as we were leaving the airport, but you seemed so happy to see me. And hey, I was pretty thrilled to see you again too. It was fun catching up. The more we talked, the harder it seemed to be to tell you. How do you just blurt out, ‘I got engaged today,’ you know?”
His sincerity caught her off guard. “Yeah, that makes sense.”
“And then, when we got to the restaurant and I realized that not only had I neglected to tell you about Natalie but that Natalie was already there . . . man, I felt like the biggest jerk.”
She turned to look at him. Why did he have to tell her all this? Why did he have to be so nice and understanding? Didn’t he know it would be a lot easier if he really was a great big jerk?
“So, anyway, I just want to apologize. I hope you don’t hate me.”
“Of course I don’t hate you. The truth is, I did feel a little awkward. I mean, it’s not like I thought we were on a date or anything. That would be ridiculous. But the last time I saw you . . . a lifetime ago . . . well, the last thing I remembered was . . . oh, you probably don’t remember the . . .” Somehow she couldn’t bring herself to say the word kiss. For all she knew, Leo had kissed every girl on the boat. She was certain they all would’ve enjoyed it.
“The good-bye kiss,” he said quietly.
She felt a tinge of bittersweet relief. “Yeah. I was only sixteen and probably pretty impressionable, and you seemed so grown-up to me. So today there you are, Julie’s boat captain picking me up at the airport, and, well, I nearly fell over from the shock.”
“Hey, I was shocked too. You may not realize it, but I thought about you a lot over the years.”
“Really?” She felt her hopes start to rise . . . then drop. “I don’t believe you.”
“It’s the truth. I could tell you were special, Tia. Even if you were only sixteen. You had this air of confidence about you. Like you knew where you were going and couldn’t wait to get there. I admired that. I mean, here I was about to start college and I had no idea where I was going or what I wanted out of life.”
“I never would’ve guessed that,” she admitted. “To me you were confident and capable. Of all the kids on the boat, you really knew what you were doing.”
“That’s because we were on a boat. I loved boats. It was my comfort zone.”
“Oh.”
“As soon as I got home, I wished I’d thought to get your address or email or something, to keep in touch. All I knew was that you were Tia D’Amico, the girl from Washington State. I didn’t even know that you were related to Julie and Roland. Not until I picked you up from the airport today.”
Stunned and dismayed, she replayed his words. He had wanted her address? He’d wanted to keep in touch? Unbelievable. But what was the point of sharing this now? Once again, she was speechless. They rode through the city without speaking, until finally she could stand it no more. Somehow they had to move on. She couldn’t bear to remain stuck like this.
“You and Natalie got engaged today,” she stated. “You must be pretty excited about that.”
“Yeah, sure. Natalie is great.”
“She seems super sweet,” Tia admitted. “I’m not just saying that. She seems like a genuinely nice person. I really like her.” She didn’t add t
hat it would be much easier to despise the beautiful woman.
“She’s one in a million. No doubt about it. I think Nat mentioned that she’s an attorney, but she probably didn’t admit that she graduated at the top of her class. Could’ve had her pick of jobs, anywhere in the country. But she wanted to work with her father. And my father too, of course.”
“You must feel very lucky.” She wanted to ask, But do you love her?
“I know I’m lucky. Nat could have her pick of guys. I’ll bet she’s had at least a dozen proposals by now. But she’s turned them all down.”
“Sounds like she was waiting for you.”
“That’s what she says.”
“It’s nice that your families are good friends.”
“Pretty convenient, that’s for sure. Our parents were ecstatic. I’m sure our moms have already started making wedding plans.”
“That should be fun for them.” Tia took a deep breath, inhaling the cool, damp air and then slowly exhaling as she looked around, trying to think of something else to talk about. “Is that the Presidio?” she asked as the pristine buildings and parklike landscape came into view.
“Yeah. Have you been there before?”
“Julie and Roland took me once. During the day, of course. But it looks different at night. Really pretty lit up like that.” She pointed ahead. “And there’s the Golden Gate Bridge. Now it really feels like I’m in San Francisco.”
For a minute or two, neither of them spoke. To break the awkwardness, Tia went into chatterbox mode, trying to fill the silence with a myriad of words as they drove over the bridge. As Leo navigated the winding road to Julie and Roland’s house in Sausalito, she attempted to recall every detail about her visit there ten years ago—talking nonstop about everything she could think of—touring Chinatown, having lunch on Fisherman’s Wharf, seeing the wax museum, having tea at the Japanese gardens, shopping with Julie in Union Square, going to a Giants game with Roland.
She babbled on and on about everything that had happened that summer. Everything except that week on the sailboat . . . that kiss in the bowsprit. Finally, just as she was running out of steam and words, he pulled into the driveway of her aunt and uncle’s beautiful bayside home. She eagerly jumped from the Jeep, peeling off his jacket and shoving it at him as she hurried to the little trunk to extract her baggage. But Leo seemed determined to play the gentleman to the end, stepping in front of her and getting the bags himself.
“I’ll show you where they hide their key.” He set her bags on the oversized front porch, then went over to where a bunch of flowerpots were clustered in a corner. “Julie said it’s under the big cast-iron flowerpot with the sunflowers.” He lifted the heavy black pot, pushed aside some dirt on the porch, and produced a key. “Voila.” Still being the gentleman, he went to the tall double doors. Unlocking one, he pushed it open, then set her bags on the foyer’s slate floor. “Do you want me to go through the house to be sure the bogeyman isn’t here?” He placed the key in her hand, allowing his fingers to linger just long enough to send a shiver down her spine.
“No thanks.” She clasped the key, jerking her hand away. “I’m not worried.”
He just nodded as he stepped out the door. “I figured as much.” Still, he didn’t go. His brow was creased, and she suspected he still felt remorseful for not telling her about Natalie sooner.
“Let’s make a deal,” she said slowly.
“Huh?”
“If you promise not to feel bad about tonight, I promise not to feel bad. Okay?”
He nodded with an uncertain expression. “Okay . . .”
“While we’re at it, let’s just forget about what happened ten years ago.” She gave another forced smile. “It’s all water under the bridge. Bygones being bygones. Clean slate. Pick your metaphor. It’s over. Okay?”
He nodded with what looked like true relief. “Okay. Thanks!”
“Really, you should be celebrating your new engagement, Leo. It’s very exciting. I hope you and Natalie will do something really special tomorrow—just the two of you.”
He chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’m sure we will.”
“Thanks for everything.” She kept her smile pasted on as she started to close the door.
“Wait a second.” He stuck his foot on the threshold. “I forgot to say that Julie asked me to take you out to the boat tomorrow. She doesn’t expect to be able to go and she really wants you to see it. Maybe even start to work, if you want. Do you?”
“Yeah, sure. Why not?”
“I plan to head out around 8:00. Can you be ready by then?”
“Of course.”
“Wear your grubby clothes,” he called out as he went down the stairs. “Lots of work to do.”
Tia had barely closed the door when her eyes began to sting with unshed tears. She told herself she was simply weary and homesick. She was missing Dad and everyone at D’Amico’s. Plus, she was anxious about Roland’s condition . . . and worried that Julie’s restaurant venture was sunk and that Uncle Tony had been right all along—she had come here on a fool’s errand.
But as tears trickled down her cheeks, she knew the truth. Her heart was breaking. She felt like her life had finally been beginning and was now crushed. She felt like a child who’d been awarded a big beautiful prize, holding it in her hands, and suddenly it was plucked away and given to someone else. All she could do was cry.
6
Blowing her nose, Tia scolded herself for being such a big baby. Normally she wasn’t an overly emotional or dramatic sort of person. She considered herself a realist, pragmatic and practical. If something broke, she would try to fix it. If it couldn’t be fixed, she would move on. In this case, she needed to move on. If not physically, at least emotionally. Lecturing herself on these things, she wandered aimlessly around her aunt and uncle’s beautiful home.
To distract herself from her heartache, she tried to see what had changed in this house since her last visit ten years ago. She had been impressed with the sprawling ranch home back then, but somehow she felt even more impressed now. Perhaps it was because she had a better understanding of money and how hard it was to come by. Things she’d taken for granted as a teen suddenly captured her attention. The original art, old Persian carpets, interesting antiques. The house was a showplace. She knew this water-view home had to be worth more than a million dollars. Probably more like two or three. Kind of mind-blowing when you came from a middle-class family in a small Podunk town. Dad and Uncle Tony sometimes made fun of how Julie had “married up.”
It was no secret that Roland came from an extremely wealthy family. And he’d worked quite successfully as an investment broker. He’d been so successful, in fact, that according to Tia’s dad, Julie had embarked on numerous small business ventures simply to “lose” money. “A tax write-off,” Dad explained to her after she returned from San Francisco wanting to know how Julie could afford to run a fancy clothes boutique without being very concerned over her lack of clientele.
According to Dad, the recent economy had changed some of that for Julie and Roland. Walking through their home, though, it seemed obvious that they were still very well off. Their kitchen, which had been a little dated when Tia had visited before, was completely remodeled. Subzero fridge, commercial-grade gas stove with an oversized hood, two built-in convection ovens, wine fridge, double drawer dishwashers—not to mention fabulous cherry cabinets, granite countertops, and all the trimmings. Judging by appearances, the Sheffields were definitely not hurting. Well, except that Roland was in the hospital, facing life or death surgery in a few days. Money wouldn’t be able to fix that.
Tia stood before the tall stone fireplace, studying a recent photo of Julie and Roland. She knew it was recent because although Julie looked pretty much the same, Roland looked so much older. He still had his beard, but it was completely white now. Tia knew that Roland was fourteen years older than her dad, which meant he was about sixty-five. Meanwhile Julie was barely forty.
; Suddenly Tia felt a deep pang of compassion for her aunt and uncle and grabbed up her phone to send a quick text, asking how Roland was doing and if there was anything she could do to help tomorrow. As she hit send, she hoped Julie would ask her to come to the hospital to keep her company or perhaps to do something around the house. Any excuse for not going to the boat with Leo tomorrow. Within minutes, Tia’s phone was ringing with a call from Julie. First she gave the update on Roland. “He’s stabilized, and of course, he thinks because he feels fine, he should come home. What he doesn’t fully appreciate is that without all these machines and blood thinners and whatnot, he would not be alive. But it’s going to be a long weekend. I plan to be here most of the time.”
“Tell him I’m still praying for him,” Tia said. “Send him my love.”
“I’ll do that. And thanks for offering to help,” Julie said. “But the most helpful thing you can do right now is to keep the renovations on the boat moving along. I’ve lined up various workers, but there’s a lot to do before they get there. Maybe it was naïve, but I’d imagined you and I doing it together. Our way to get ourselves familiar with the boat, you know?”
“I’m willing to do whatever you need,” Tia told her.
“Great! I left my boat bag on board.” She explained that her “boat bag” was actually a big blue canvas case where she kept a notebook, samples, and catalogs all pertaining to the boat renovation. “The notebook has a long to-do list right in the front. You’ll see that I’ve made some progress, but if you could start attacking it again, I’d be so grateful, Tia.”
“You got it.”
“The bag is in the stateroom.”
They talked a bit longer, but as they said good-bye, Tia realized that she had no good excuse not to go with Leo tomorrow. Julie needed her help on the boat, and Tia was determined not to let her down. Since it was getting late and tomorrow would be an early day, Tia turned off the house lights and went to the guest room—the same one she’d occupied during her last visit. Judging by the fresh flowers on the dresser next to the neat stack of towels and basket of toiletries, she was in the right room.
All Summer Long Page 5