Her Summer Crush

He was nice, if a little stiff and formal. But that was okay. She looked forward to the evening. Maybe if she went out with other men, she could forget about Cody. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about him. Was she harboring her teenage crush? Or something more? Spending an evening with Ben might help her to find the answer.

Good thing it wasn’t much farther to the Beach Café, because her conversational well was already running dry. At the restaurant, they could talk about the food. And the view. And birds.

* * *

AT THE CAFÉ, Marlys, the hostess, greeted them. “Hello, Luci.”

“Hi, Marlys, I heard you were working here now.”

Marlys nodded. “Now that the twins are in preschool and Joe’s on day shift at the plant, I’m back at work. I love it.”

Luci introduced Ben.

“Welcome to Willow Beach,” Marlys said. “I hope you enjoy the Beach Café. The rest of your group is already seated.”

Their group? Before Luci could ask, Marlys picked up a couple menus and motioned them to follow her.

Luci pushed aside her concern and took time to enjoy the restaurant’s casual elegance. The place was light and airy with windows on the ocean side and elevated booths on the opposite wall that gave every customer a view. Paintings of nautical scenes decorated the walls.

They hadn’t gone far when Luci spotted Cody. It had always been that way. There could be dozens of people around, but if he was in the group, she knew it. And there he was tonight, sitting at one of the window tables. With a woman. Luci stared. His companion was Sylvie Ventura, from the souvenir store.

Was Cody on a date? With Sylvie? A queasy feeling that had nothing to do with hunger invaded Luci’s stomach.

She hadn’t thought Sylvie would appeal to Cody, but then, what did she know about his taste in women?

More importantly, why was Marlys leading her and Ben to their table?

Not until Cody rose and said, “Hey, you’re here,” did Luci get it. Cody and Sylvie were the group Marlys had been talking about.

Marlys placed their menus at the two empty seats. “Enjoy your dinner,” she said before heading to the front of the restaurant.

Ben pulled out Luci’s chair. She remained standing, looking first at Cody and then at Sylvie. “What’s going on here?”

“Didn’t Ben tell you we were meeting you?” Cody asked.

“Ah, it may have slipped my mind,” Ben said, looking sheepish. “But have a seat, Luci.”

She dropped into the chair and allowed Ben to scoot her closer to the table.

“So you’re Ben,” Sylvie said as he sat across from her. “I’ve been hearing such a lot about you.”

Luci frowned at Cody. Whatever was going on here, she’d bet he was behind it.

He met her frown with a grin, and his gaze roved over her. “Looking good tonight, Luci.”

“Thanks. You’re looking good yourself.” She didn’t want to think about how good. He’d dressed up for the occasion. A little, anyway. Although he wore his usual jeans, he’d chosen a cream-colored dress shirt instead of a T-shirt. The light color set off his smooth tan and dark hair. Of course, his camera lay on the table beside his place setting.

They studied their menus, but Luci had trouble concentrating. Her mind still churned—along with her stomach—over the shock of Cody and Sylvie.

The waiter appeared, pad and pencil poised to take their orders.

“I’ll have the scampi,” Sylvie told him.

Cody raised an eyebrow. “What happened to your favorite seafood salad?”

“Didn’t want to be the same old boring me tonight.” Sylvie batted her eyes in Ben’s direction.

“I’m having the salad, boring or not,” Luci said. “And knowing you, I bet you’re having the seafood fry.”

Cody nodded. “Am I predictable, or what?”

Ben opted for the baked halibut. He also ordered a bottle of wine. When it arrived, he tasted the sample and frowned, tilting his head this way and that. Then he nodded and said, “Yes, very nice.”

The waiter smiled a relieved smile and filled their glasses.

That ritual dispensed with, Sylvie leaned across the table and said, “I’m so glad to meet you. I need your help.”

Ben frowned as he regarded her over the rim of his wineglass. “You do?”

“Yes. I have the souvenir shop on Main Street, you know, and I ordered these birds—”

“Birds? Live birds?”

“No, no, made of wood. Hand-carved and painted the loveliest colors. But, except for the seagulls, of course, I don’t know what kinds of birds they are. And when the customers ask, I don’t know what to say. When Cody said you were a bird person, a, ah, what do you call it?”

Ben smiled. “Ornithologist is the term, but ‘bird person’ will do. Anyway, sure, I’d be glad to help.”

Luci was about to say there were any number of books in the library or at the Book Nook that Sylvie could use, not to mention the internet, but sensing Sylvie was on another kind of mission, she kept quiet.

Cody leaned forward. “Luci, remember that little bird you found on the beach that day the Herald had their company picnic?”

Luci nodded. “With the broken wing. Poor little thing.”

“And we took him to Doc Harper’s. And you cried when Doc told you he might not be able to save it.”

And you put your arms around me and told me not to worry. But she didn’t say that aloud. He probably wouldn’t want to be reminded. He probably didn’t even remember.

“But he did save it,” she said. “So that story has a happy ending.”

Ben launched into a tale about a bird they’d saved at the sanctuary where he volunteered. Sylvie listened, her wide-eyed gaze glued to him. Soon he was talking more to her than to the table at large, and when he and she discovered they both liked the old Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds, that led to a discussion of other old movies.

Their meals arrived. Luci concentrated on her salad, which was as good as she remembered, loaded with fresh shrimp and crabmeat and chunks of salmon. Cody dug into his seafood fry, although he still attempted to get a word in when either Sylvie or Ben stopped talking long enough to take a bite of their food.

Later, over crème brûlée, Sylvie and Ben were still talking only to each other. The conversation had moved from old movies to, of all things, sword fighting. Luci sipped her coffee and gazed at the dunes, where the grass waved rhythmically in the wind. Beyond the beach was the ocean, where an orange sun dipped low over calm waters.

Cody was looking out the window, too, and fingering his camera. He caught her eye. She looked pointedly at the camera and then back at him. They both smiled.

Luci sighed. She knew Cody well. Too well.