faced her for a moment, a warm smile melting slowly over his handsome face. “I’m glad you approve.”
“More than approve.” She kissed the bend of his fingers before releasing his hand. “I love you, Danny.”
“Do you?” he asked, his steel-blue eyes fixed on the road ahead.
“Do you doubt it?”
“Maybe a little.”
“Danny,” she exclaimed. “How could you?”
“I guess I’m just in a holding pattern on that particular subject.”
“What? Why?”
His jaw tightened, and he took his time about answering. “When you put that ring on your finger and say you’ll marry me, I suppose I’ll feel more confident about your feelings.”
She sighed and stroked his elbow. “My feelings about you are not in question. My feelings about me—specifically, in regard to matrimony—are a massive problem in giving you an answer.”
Half a mile passed in silence except for the strings of a canon she knew but couldn’t identify. Finally, Danny muttered, “I love you, too.”
Relief washed over her in a soft, sprinkling downpour. “I know,” she replied.
“Oh, you do, huh?”
“Yep. I’m just a better person than you are.”
He laughed again, hearty and strong. “You sure are.”
As they arrived at the marina the sun had just begun to set for the day, leaving the sky with the appearance of a pastel watercolor painting bleeding down into the water. She grabbed her sweater and bag, and Danny guided the way to Steph’s dad’s boat—the one they’d taken out for a cruise the day they met Steph’s fiancé. They’d had such a wonderful and relaxing afternoon on the water, and it seemed to Jessie now like a lifetime ago.
Strings of white lights outlined the deck of the fifty-some-foot yacht, and soft blue electric candles flickered from a table set with linen napkins, fine china, and shimmering crystal. When they spotted a uniformed waiter conversing with Vince, Danny turned to Jessie and quietly asked, “Am I underdressed?”
She giggled as Steph emerged—wearing denim shorts and a pullover sweater—and waved at them. “Welcome aboard,” she exclaimed, and she planted a kiss on Danny’s cheek before tugging Jessie into an enthusiastic hug. “Good to see you guys.”
“You too,” she replied, reaching into her bag for the CD she’d burned with their dinner in mind. “I didn’t know what to bring, so I made dinner music.”
Steph snatched the CD case out of her hand. “It’s perfect.”
“Welcome aboard,” Vince repeated his wife’s greeting. “Callahan and Hart, party of two. Your table is waiting.”
“Hi, Vince,” Jessie said, embracing him.
“Glad you guys could come,” he said, and he reached out to share a handshake with Danny.
“Honey, Jessie made us some music. Can you queue it up while I get them something to drink?”
“You betcha.”
She took Jessie’s hand and led her to where a small bar had been set up. “Name your poison, Jessie. Then tell me all about this ex-nutcase of yours.”
She chuckled. “Ah. Okay. Mineral water with lime?” Steph nodded. “And about Jack, I wish I had some insight for you.”
“It looks like he has a pretty impressive team of attorneys. Any idea how he’s affording that?”
“Does he?” She took a gulp from the glass as soon as Steph handed it to her. “I think you know more about him than I do then. Honestly, I don’t know anything except that he keeps defying a court order to keep his distance from me.”
“He’s like one of those Super Balls Frank likes to chase,” Danny said as Steph handed him a glass. “He bounces higher every time, but he always comes back afterward.”
Jessie smiled at Steph. “Isn’t there something we can do about that?”
As they strolled toward the table, Steph looped her arm through Jessie’s. “What, you mean you’re not enjoying the return of the prodigal husband?”
“What husband? I don’t have a husband.”
Steph chuckled. Leaning closer, she softly remarked, “But I hear you could if you really wanted one.”
Her heart thumped. “He told you.”
“Marg told me he stopped over and got the family ring. So I inquired.”
Jessie giggled. “There are no secrets among you people, are there?”
“Afraid not.” Just as Jessie pulled out a chair, Steph tightened the lock on her arm. “I don’t suppose I need to tell you what an amazing guy he is.”
“No need,” she replied with a grin. “I am aware.”
“Can I just add one thing?”
Like I have a choice?
Jessie nodded. “Of course.”
“You’ve changed him, Jessie. He adores you. And I promise you: he doesn’t have a Jack-like bone in his body.”
The two women stared into each other’s eyes, and Jessie softened. “Thank you, Steph.”
“For what?” Danny asked out of nowhere. They turned like choreographed swimmers, both of them smiling at him as he approached.
“Girl talk, Callahan,” Steph cracked. “Mind your own beeswax.”
“My beeswax?” he repeated, slipping his arm loosely around Jessie’s shoulder. “What are you, ninety? Who says that?”
“You just compared my mother to a ninety-year-old woman. I’m telling!”
Danny sniffed. “Please don’t.”
On the first note of the first song on the CD Jessie had brought along—“Play Me” by Neil Diamond—Vince emerged from the stairs and clapped his hands once before rubbing them together.
“Oldies that are older than we are,” he exclaimed. “Nice work, Jessie.”
Steph greeted him with an open arm. “My husband loves him some classic oldies. If his car radio has ever been tuned away from K-Earth, I don’t know when it was.”
“That’s the station I was listening to when I decided to burn the CD,” Jessie stated. “The music was so good that the mood just struck me to share.”
“And I’ll bet there’s some James Taylor somewhere
