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“Uhm, he… uhm… he ordered a hot dog at the park. So yeah, I don’t think I’ll ever even see him again.”

She pushes her bottom lip out. “Aw, that’s too bad. I’m sure someone will come along.”

“I know.”

Maggie puts her hand on my knee. “All I want is for you to be happy. I know I shouldn’t meddle, but if it means bringing some joy back into your life after what that jerk Paul did to you, then… why not?”

“I guess.”

“So you’ll join us tonight?”

I shrug. “I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”

Half an hour later, the three of us are walking along the beach to the diner where we’re meeting the others. Maggie refused to tell us who our blind dates were, even after Colton tried to bribe her with a generous offer of cleaning the house for a month.

“You’ll see when we get there,” was all the information she parted with before we left.

While Maggie keeps talking about an incident at her job, Colton and I steal glances at each other. I hope she doesn’t notice we can’t keep our eyes off each other.

Phew, I wish we could be alone right now. We need to talk. I need clarity about what this all means. I need to know when the two of us can go on a date. I need to kiss him again.

Silence falls between us as Maggie wraps up her story, but not for long. She isn’t the kind of person who feels good when no one speaks a word.

“Have you talked to Tanner recently?” Maggie asks Colton. “I swear that brother of ours will never stop surprising us.”

“Yeah, he called me a few days ago to tell me the news.”

“The news?” I ask.

“Tanner just got a new job in a new town,” Maggie says.

“Is he the teacher? Or the doctor?”

“Doctor. He’s moving to Boston to fill a position as trauma surgeon, but who knows where he’ll end up next. He’s dreaming of getting a job as head of trauma. We hardly see him as it is, but now we’ll be lucky if we get to see him at Christmastime.”

“I’m sure he’ll try to visit as much as he can,” Colton says.

Maggie sighs. “I hope so. I know he’s busy saving lives and I realize that tends to take up lots of time, but I miss him. Thank goodness you’re still here.”

Colton puts an arm around his sister. “If you miss Tanner this much, we could fly out there sometime and surprise him.”

“You’re right, we should definitely do that.” Maggie comes to a stop and points to a diner across the road. “We’ll have to plan our trip some other time, though, because we’re here.” She glances at her phone. “We’re a bit early. Should we wait outside?”

“Let’s just get inside and order a drink.” Colton gestures for us to go first, then follows us up the path leading away from the beach.

As Maggie speaks to someone about our reservation, Colton leans into me and whispers, his deep voice sending warm shivers down my spine. “How do you feel about this blind date thing?”

“Surprised,” I say. “Not looking forward to it.”

He nods. “Same.”

Before he can add anything to our brief exchange, a waiter leads us to our table and hands us leather menus. We put in our drinks order—white wine for Maggie and me, a beer for Colton.

I scan the list of main courses, but nothing registers. I’m way too nervous. Maggie still thinks this evening is a great idea, while I’m here dying in my seat. As far as she’s concerned, both Colton and I are still single and definitely not interested in each other. Our blind dates don’t have a clue either. I hate having to lie to another guy about possibly liking him. And I certainly don’t feel like seeing Colton with a date. But what am I supposed to do? I have to get through this evening without raising suspicion. And who knows? It might even be fun. Just because I have no intention of dating anyone—except for Colton—doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy myself.

When the three of them arrive, I jump up from my chair and knock it over.

“Sorry,” I say. “I’m just excited.”