Chapter 8
“Living in the city, I forget just how dark it can get,” Noah looks out the front window of my car, his neck craned, as we drive through town.
“It does make for a pretty night sky, that’s for sure. A million stars meet me most nights when I get home,” I say as I take the exit toward the restaurant.
“You don’t live in town?”
“Just outside of it. Up the mountain about a mile.”
Noah sits back in his seat and lets out a sigh. “I always thought I’d like to be remote, but I don’t know anything but the city.”
“You were born and raised there?”
He nods. “Mom was in fashion. Dad was in finance. New York was the hub of it all.”
“Brothers or sisters?” I ask, because I find I want to know this man who seems to be a mystery to all.
“Both,” he says. “Sister is ten years older. Lives in Connecticut with her husband. They have three kids and five grandkids. My brother lives the Jimmy Buffett life.”
I snort out a laugh. “What’s that?”
“He lives in the Bahamas and has a boat charter business.”
“No kidding?” I feel my skin warm just thinking about it.
“He was the kid that never played by the rules of societal norms. He was in ballet in elementary school. Did gymnastics and swim through high school. Went to college in Key West and fell in love with the ocean. From there he got a job on a cruise ship and traveled the world for years. Then, he settled in the Bahamas and started a business.”
“I love that.”
Noah’s mouth splits into a wide smile. “He’s a nut.
He’s three years younger than I am, but looks twenty years older with the lines on his face from the sun.
But they’re happy lines. You know, when you meet someone who is permanently sun-kissed and has smile lines from actually smiling all the time?
That’s him. He’s been married three times, and now lives a glorious polyamorous life. ”
I jerk a look to him and then back to the road as I pull into the parking lot. “Polyamorous?”
“Sure. They have a huge family there that they’ve created and it’s enviable.
When I met my wife, I couldn’t imagine someone could love more than one person,” he says and his smile softens.
“I was consumed by her and loved her so much. So it took me a while to understand that some people have it in them to love multiple people like that and to make a family of it.”
I ease into the parking space and put the car in park. “I’ve never given it much thought.”
“I hadn’t either. My pea brain could only focus on loving one person.”
“I don’t think there’s fault in that,” I say, envious that he had that.
“There isn’t. I just get a bit into myself when I think of my brother’s family and my sister’s. Look what they’ve built.”
We’re alone in the dark inside my car. It’s a very intimate place to be.
I don’t really know this man, but I’m drawn to him, as if we fit together some how.
I place my hand over his, which rests on his thigh. This causes him to lift his head to look at me, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
“Katie told me about your wife. I’m sorry for your loss,” I say, knowing now it was a loss that was so much more than losing a partner. He lost out on family, and that loss comes across loud and clear when he talks about it.
His other hand comes to cover mine. “Thank you.”
We can only stay that way for a beat before it becomes awkward. He lets go of my hand and I pull back and open my door as he does the same with his. A moment later we’re shutting our car doors and walking in silence into the restaurant.
Noah pulls open the door for me and I step inside, noticing that he falls in behind me. I request a table and the server walks us to a booth at the back of the restaurant. If Noah wanted some privacy, he’s about to get it.
He waits for me to pick a side and sit before he sits. I’ve opted to let him have his back to the door, and I figure if that’s a problem, he’ll let me know.
“Ya gotta love restaurants that are so dark you have to use the flashlight on your phone to look at the menu,” he says, doing just that.
“I have to use my phone to magnify the print on the menu,” I laugh and he nods in agreement.
“Getting old is a blessing and a curse, right?”
“My ex used to say that, but mind you we were thirty and had no idea what we were talking about then.”
That warrants a tiny chuckle from him as he scans over his menu.
A few minutes later we give our orders to the server and sip on our water. Neither of us orders wine.
“You mentioned an ex,” Noah breaks the silence with that and I wince.
I don’t often talk about him. It’s not worth the air in my lungs to do so. But, Noah shared with me his family when I asked. I suppose it’s only fair if I share a bit about my life.
“I have an ex,” I say.
He puckers his lips and crosses his arms in front of him. “That’s all you have to say about that?”
“He’s not worthy of a lot of my attention.”
“But I study people for a living. I’m going to need more to go on.”
“Are you going to write him in one of your books?” I ask, amused with myself.
“How do you think I decide who to kill off?”
Now it’s me that laughs. When Noah lets the walls around him crumble a little, he can be enjoyable.
Admittedly I didn’t expect to have conversations with the man while he was working at my store or even at the event.
I certainly didn’t think we’d be flirting.
And now we’re sitting in a dark restaurant getting to know one another.
I guess when your eyes open in the morning, you never know what the day has in store.
“My ex,” I sigh out the word. “We were high school sweethearts. Broke up and went our separate ways after. He went to college and I followed Lily to New York. She went to college and I worked in my aunt’s bookstore.”
“Where?”
“Chelsea.”
Noah lifts his water to his lips and smiles from behind it. “No kidding? I worked at Chelsea Market after college.”
“I guess we’ve moved to the point of the conversation where we ask how old one another is.”
Noah sips his water and sets down his glass. “Fifty-five. No hiding it,” he says.
“Fifty-two, and proud of it.”
We both chuckle at that. He’s easy to be around, and I’m glad. It was going to be a long three weeks of having him locked in my office if I couldn’t stand him.
“So we were probably there around the same time,” he says.
“Sounds like it.” Now I pick up my water and sip.
“I stayed for a bit and then came back. I went back to New York when Lily got married and again when she had her first kiddo. Then again when she had her third. My aunt wanted me to stay and work for her, but this is home and it kept calling me back.”
“What’s the name of the store your aunt owns?”
I swallow hard. The true and only beef I have with this man is because of my aunt’s store. I’ve held this grudge against Noah Carter for years, and I’m going to reignite that if I tell him the name of the store and he has no recollection of it.
“The Chelsea Book Nook,” I say, and the moment I do, there is recognition in his eyes.
“Shit,” he mutters the curse under his breath so that it’s nearly inaudible.
I watch him silently. He picks up his water again, sips, and replaces the glass before doing the process all over again.
“Are you okay?” I finally ask. I realize I’ve carried this annoyance over this man for years, but I wonder why it’s affecting him so much.
“I thought your name looked familiar when Katie sent me the email about the event,” he says, his voice filled with regret.
Again, we sit in silence until he lifts his eyes to me. “I owe you a long overdue apology.”