broke eye contact with her to glance back down at the paper she’d given him. He looked back at her while trying to downplay the heat rumbling around in his gut.
“Do you need me to bring anything?” he asked her.
“No, just yourself.”
* * *
Swan glanced around her home and felt the knots beginning to twist in her stomach. She hoped she hadn’t made a mistake inviting David here.
Today marked a week since they’d met and if she was going to continue to see him while he was on the island, she couldn’t take advantage of his thoughtfulness and expect him to invite her out without ever returning the kindness. However, more than anything else, she needed to keep things in perspective. She needed to remember he was someone she could have a good time with and that’s it.
She didn’t want anything more than that.
One day, she would be ready to explore her options and consider a future with a man, but that time wasn’t now. She liked being single and responsible only for herself.
She knew from Candy that a serious relationship was hard work. And on top of all that hard work, you could assume you had the right person in your life only to discover you didn’t. By then, you would have opened yourself up to hurt and pain in the worst possible way.
The thought that a man had caused her best friend that kind of agony bothered Swan whenever she thought about it. Candy loved Key West as much as Swan did, and for a man to be the reason she had moved away was disheartening.
Swan tried telling herself that not all men were like Candy’s ex, Don, or like William. On days when Swan wanted to think all men were dogs, all she had to do was remember her dad.
Andrew Jamison was the yardstick she used to measure a good man. She’d watched how he had treated her mother, had seen the vibrant and sincere love between them. She had not only seen it, but she’d felt it as well. Both her parents had been demonstrative individuals and Swan had often interrupted them sharing a passionate kiss or embrace.
She still felt it here, within the walls of her house and in the very floor she walked on. All the love that had surrounded her while growing up was in this house she now called home.
She was glad her mother hadn’t sold it after her father died, when Leigh had made the decision to move back home to Jamaica. Instead, she had kept the house, knowing one day Swan would want to return. It was almost too spacious for one person but Swan knew she would never sell it or move away. This house had everything she needed.
She could see the water from any room, and at night, whenever she slept with the window open, the scent of the ocean would calm her.
Her favorite room in the house was her parents’ old bedroom, even though she had not moved into it. It had floor-to-ceiling windows and a balcony she liked sitting on while enjoying her coffee each morning. A couple of years ago, she’d had the balcony screened in to keep the birds from flying into her house, although she loved waking up to the sound of them chirping every morning.
Although neither one of her parents would tell her the full story, Swan knew her father had come from a wealthy family. And she knew he had been disowned by them when he had fallen in love with her mother and refused to give her up. Before dying, Leigh had given Swan a beautiful leather-bound diary to read after her death. That’s what had helped keep Swan sane, reading the daily account of her mother’s life and love for her father and believing they were now back together.
For weeks following her mother’s death, Swan had wanted to be alone to wallow in her pity and read about what she thought was the most beautiful love story that could exist between two people. Her mother had always been expressive with the written word and Swan enjoyed reading what she’d written.
It had made Swan long for such a man, such a love. Maybe that’s why she had been so quick to believe in William and why, once she’d found out about his duplicity, she’d been so reluctant to get serious with a man since.
From her mother’s diary, Swan discovered her mother’s appreciation for her husband’s agreement to make Key West their home. The people on the island embraced diversity and tolerated different lifestyles.
Swan had read the account of when her father had been stationed at a naval base in Virginia and had sent for her mother to join him there. In the diary, her mother had written about the hateful stares they would receive whenever they went out together. The unaccepting and disapproving looks. The cruel words some people had wanted them to hear.
Her father hadn’t tolerated any of it and hadn’t minded confronting anyone who didn’t accept his wife. But to avoid trouble, Leigh had preferred to live in Key West, where people’s issues with an interracial marriage were practically nonexistent.
However, people’s attitudes never kept Leigh from leaving the island to join Andrew whenever he would send for her. Oftentimes, Leigh would take Swan along and they would both join Andrew in different places for weeks at a time.
When she heard the sound of the doorbell, Swan drew in a deep breath. The time for memories was over. The only plans she had for this evening were for her and David to enjoy the meal she’d prepared and later enjoy each other’s company.
She had no problem with them deciding what the latter entailed when that time came.
* * *
“Hello, David. Welcome to my home.”
Flipper pushed from his mind the thought of how Swan would feel if she knew this wasn’t his first time here. How she would react if she knew he had invaded her space without her knowledge. If she ever found out the truth, would she understand it had been done with the best of intentions? Namely, to keep her from wasting away in a federal prison after being falsely accused of a crime?
He forced those thoughts to the back of his mind as he smiled down at her. She looked absolutely stunning in a wraparound skirt and yellow blouse. “Hi. I know you said I didn’t have to bring anything, but I wanted to give you these,” he said, handing her both a bottle of wine and a bouquet of flowers.
He had decided on the wine early on, but the flowers had been a spur of the moment thing when he’d seen them at one of those sidewalk florist shops. Their beauty and freshness had immediately reminded him of Swan.
“Thank you. The flowers are beautiful and this is my favorite wine,” she said, stepping aside to let him in.
He chuckled. “I know. I remember from the other night.” There was no way he would also mention having seen several bottles of Moscato in the wine rack the time he had checked out her house.
He glanced around, pretending to see her home for the first time. “Nice place.”
“Thanks. I thought we would enjoy a glass of wine and some of my mouthwatering crab balls out on the patio before dinner.”
“Mouthwatering crab balls?”
“Yes, from my mom’s secret recipe. You won’t be disappointed,” she said, leading him through a set of French doors. The first thought that came to his mind when he stepped out on her patio, which overlooked the Atlantic Ocean, was that it was a beautiful and breathtaking view. This had to be the best spot on the island to view the ocean in all its splendor.
He
