Chapter 13
Present Day
It was hard to believe it, but after all these years apart, here she was: Juliet Harper, standing in Theo’s empty restaurant.
Theo had been in the back room, scrubbing the walk-in fridge and listening to podcasts.
He’d forgotten to lock up, if only because he hadn’t expected anyone to come in tonight.
But there had been a noise, the sound of a door. And now, here he stood, removing his headphones and gazing across the restaurant at Juliet Harper, the one who’d gotten away. Sort of.
Juliet looked just as awkward as Theo felt.
At nearly forty, she still looked young and healthy, but there was a sorrow in her eyes that broke Theo in half.
That sorrow had taken the place of her previous determination.
This was not the teenager who’d told everyone she was headed off to become a star.
This was a woman who’d been through a great deal.
This was also a woman who hadn’t known she was coming into his restaurant.
“I don’t know what to say,” Juliet offered, raising her shoulders.
Theo hadn’t said anything yet. He walked toward her, touching his hair. “Happy Fourth of July,” he finally offered.
Juliet gestured out the window. “I was watching the fireworks. I thought of you, actually.”
Theo nodded gravely. Those were the same docks where he, Callie, and Juliet had always watched the fireworks, sipping wine they’d nipped from one of their parents, and maybe pretending they were more tipsy than they really were.
“Did you watch?” Juliet asked.
Theo nodded, but it wasn’t true, not really.
He’d peeped a minute, tops, of the fireworks before going back into the kitchen and burrowing himself away.
He didn’t allow himself beauty anymore. He didn’t allow himself the luxury of sitting, watching, and feeling alive.
His restaurant was failing. Ben was gone, and he had no answers, not yet.
“I can’t believe it,” she said. “This is your restaurant.”
Theo laughed.
“I love it,” Juliet said, her eyes scanning the dirty walls, the crooked chairs, and the flickering OPEN sign outside.
“No, you don’t,” Theo said.
Juliet’s eyes bugged out slightly. She hadn’t expected him to call her out. Theo felt courage, billowing through his chest. Was that a smile playing out across her lips?
“I don’t have menus,” Theo said, deciding that he didn’t want to treat her too kindly. “I was about to close up, actually.”
“Sure. Yeah. I can get out of here. As soon as my, um, friend gets out of the bathroom.” She searched the space behind Theo, as though her friend were a ghost, hovering.
Theo understood immediately. Juliet was here with a guy, on a date.
Maybe she’d brought him here to Bluebell Cove from the city, or maybe she’d come to visit her sisters and met a guy at random, on the beach or on a hike.
Regardless, the guy was probably handsome and charming, maybe a model or working in the fashion world.
Although Juliet had recently tumbled from her elite position, Theo had no doubt that she’d made her way back to the top. That was her way.
She was willing to throw anyone under the bus to get there.
“Do you mind if I hang out here till he gets out?” she asked, her voice meeker than Theo was used to. “I mean, he should be here soon.”
Theo shrugged, then went against his initial instincts and asked, “Do you want something to drink?”
“I guess?” Juliet searched his eyes. “Maybe some wine?”
“I’m guessing your taste is different from what it used to be,” Theo said.
Juliet closed her eyes and smiled wider. “I don’t drink as much bad wine, sure. But I’m not as fancy as you might think. Surprise me.”
Theo went back into the kitchen, past the still-open walk-in fridge, which he closed quickly before pulling one of his mid-tier wines from the shelf.
In uncorking the wine, he noticed that his arms were shaking terribly.
He filled his lungs with air and told himself to calm down.
Juliet would be out of his life again in fifteen minutes, tops.
He grabbed another glass, just in case her date wanted one.
Maybe he could make a few bucks tonight.
When he returned to Juliet’s table, her date still wasn’t there. Her shoulders were slumped forward. Only the click of the glasses on the table drew her out of herself. She took a sip, then raised her eyebrows. “This is seriously good.”
“You sound surprised,” Theo said. He wanted to remind her that he’d gone to culinary school, that he was well-versed in wine regions and wine pairings. But he reminded himself that he was long past the time of trying to impress Juliet Harper.
Juliet took another sip of wine, then glanced back behind him again.
They both listened to the rush of wind outside and the crash of the water on the nearby beach.
Theo remembered reading that the temperature would dip into the upper fifties tonight.
Juliet didn’t look like she’d dressed the part.
Such was the life of a woman who’d moved away from Maine long ago.
People like that forgot how to dress for the weather.
“You’re probably hungry,” Theo said suddenly, alarmed at the urgency he now felt to feed her.
Juliet parted her lips, as though eager to insist that she was fine, that she didn’t need him.
But just then, her stomach let out the most raucous growl that Theo had ever heard.
Theo couldn’t help but smile. He raised his finger and said, “One second.” He left the bottle and second glass behind, so that Juliet could pour one for her friend. Or boyfriend. Or lover. Or whatever.
Back in the kitchen, Theo threw together a beautiful charcuterie plate, using exquisite French cheeses, Italian meats, Spanish olives, and a Greek goat cheese that he’d ordered special from a newer retailer.
He used the last of his oregano crackers and some fresh baguette, which would not be good tomorrow.
(He’d had a sort of lunch rush, three tables, which had required bread to be purchased from the nearby bakery. That had been a thrill!)
When Theo emerged from the kitchen with the charcuterie board, he was amazed, again, to find that Juliet sat alone, one-half of her wineglass drunk and the other untouched. Juliet’s eyes were rimmed with red, but there was a smile on her lips.
It had probably been fifteen minutes since Theo had discovered her out here. What had happened to her date?
“Wow,” Juliet said again, looking much more impressed with him than she had as a teenager. “That’s gorgeous!”
Theo set the platter down and glanced at the hallway that went back to the bathroom. “Is your friend all right?” He hated to ask. Gosh, this was awkward.
“I don’t know,” Juliet said, sipping her wine.
It occurred to Theo, now, that her date had slipped out through the side entrance, which just so happened to be next to the bathroom door. During busier days, Theo had kept that door locked for fear of dine-and-dashers, but that hadn’t been a problem in years.
“I think he might be gone,” Juliet said, her smile widening.
Unable to say a thing, Theo went down the hallway to find that, indeed, the side entrance was still cracked, as though someone had made a quick exit.
Nobody was in the men’s bathroom. He took a moment to look at himself in the mirror.
There he was, a thirty-nine-year-old man who’d once been so heartsick over the woman in the dining room.
Back then, nobody in their right mind would have run out on Juliet Harper.
When Theo returned to the dining room, he found that Juliet had already eaten quite a bit of the charcuterie platter and had drunk nearly all of her wine. She was jittery, standing up and pulling cash from her wallet. Obviously, she was embarrassed to be caught this way. Especially by Theo.
Theo felt for her. He really did. But he didn’t want her to leave so soon.
“I really have to go,” she said, throwing two twenty-dollar bills onto the table.
“That’s too much, Juliet,” he said, although he wasn’t sure—and maybe that was part of the reason his restaurant was failing, too. He never knew how much to charge.
“No. Seriously. This is, um, mortifying,” she said, backing up toward the door. “You really do have a nice place. Great location. And that cheese…” She kissed the tips of her fingers. “Take care of yourself, Theo. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
And with that, she turned on her heel and fled into the dark Fourth of July night, leaving Theo reeling. Exhausted, he sat down in the seat her date had meant to occupy, filled the other glass with wine, and watched as a few private fireworks exploded over the ocean.
He wondered if it had all been a dream.