Page 28 of A New Chapter in Rosewood Beach (Rosewood Beach #7)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Terrence pressed his lips together as he looked down at the sea kayak he had just rented. It was a bright, eye-catching shade of yellow and looked sturdy and well cared for, but he was beginning to feel trepidatious about his whole idea.

Maybe I’m in too deep, he thought, looking out at the ocean.

It appeared to be a calm, lightly breezy evening, but maybe the waves would begin to feel like too much once he and Vivian were farther away from the shore.

It’s not like she asked me to be sporty.

Maybe I’m taking this whole athletic thing too far.

Although he’d never liked sports before starting to play tennis with Vivian, he had always been fond of boats.

Normally, he preferred large boats that someone else was operating, but he’d felt good about the idea of a kayak until that very moment.

Now he was beginning to doubt himself. After all, he wanted Vivian to have a good time but he had no idea how she felt about kayaks.

Playing tennis is one thing, he thought, frowning down at the bright yellow kayak. But taking Vivian for a kayak ride is surely too ambitious. He sighed. But even so, there’s no turning back now.

He glanced at his watch. Vivian had agreed to meet him at the beach at six o’clock for a surprise, and it was now four minutes to. Maybe it wasn’t too late for him to return the kayak and tell Vivian that he’d simply planned a romantic walk along the beach for the two of them.

“Terrence!”

He turned when he heard her calling his name. She was walking across the sand toward him, wearing a long light blue dress and sandals studded with fake amethysts.

She looked so beautiful that she took his breath away. For a moment, he couldn’t think about anything else and he simply stared at her. Then he realized with a jolt that her outfit was not at all suited to a kayak ride.

“Is this—is this the surprise?” she said as she reached him. She gestured down to the kayak.

“Um, yes,” Terrence said. He felt that he was bungling this entire thing, and he could feel the tips of his ears turning pink.

“I—oh dear.” She took her skirt in her fingertips and lifted it slightly, a gesture that made him think immediately of some kind of storybook princess. “I’m really not dressed for that sort of thing.”

He desperately wanted their date to be a success, and now that she’d seen the kayak, it was too late to turn back.

“Don’t worry about it,” he told her with a reassuring smile. “Your dress looks comfy enough for the boat, don’t you think?”

“Um, I suppose so.” Vivian leaned over and looked down inside the kayak as if wondering if it was dirty inside. She seemed satisfied that it wasn’t. “I would like to try the kayak out. It’s been a long time since I’ve been out on the ocean in a boat that small.”

“Before we go,” Terrence said, gesturing to a nearby picnic table, “I’ve prepared us some champagne. I thought we could toast to our venture before setting out on the water.”

“Oh my.” Vivian laughed delightedly when she saw the bottle of champagne and the two champagne flutes sitting beside it. “That looks very nice.”

“It’s still chilled, so it should be nice and refreshing on this warm evening,” Terrence said, thrilled that she seemed pleased by the champagne.

They walked over to the picnic table and he uncorked the champagne bottle with a loud, satisfying pop. After he’d carefully poured them each a glass, he raised his in a toast.

“To our date,” he said, and although he felt a little cheesy doing it, Vivian smiled and raised her glass as well.

“To our date,” she echoed with a light laugh.

“It’s a beautiful night,” he said, looking out across the glittering waves and feeling the wind kiss his face. “No clouds—if it stays that way, we should be able to see a lot of stars tonight.”

She blinked at him, looking worried.

“I don’t intend for us to be out on the kayak that long,” he assured her hastily. “I was simply thinking about it. I often think about where the weather is headed.”

“You would.” She laughed and took another sip of her champagne.

“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked, laughing as well. He thought to himself that he had more fun with her than anyone else.

“You just—you’re a very prepared man, Terrence Rawlins. I’ve never known someone so prepared.”

He chuckled. “I’ll take that as a compliment. It’s good to know about the weather, especially if you’re about to get into a kayak with very precious cargo.”

She smiled and he thought he saw her cheeks flush a little.

They sipped their champagne in companionable silence.

Vivian seemed happy and relaxed, although he was beginning to feel a little nervous about their impending voyage.

He had never operated a sea kayak before, and he felt that it was his responsibility to make sure that everything went smoothly. After all, it had been his wild idea.

“Are you ready?” she asked with a grin when she’d finished her champagne. He’d finished his as well, and he nodded, feeling butterflies in his stomach for more reasons than one.

“I am.” He did his best to sound confident and in-charge.

He led her over to the kayak and helped her into it. She sat down a bit gingerly, clearly worried about her dress getting dirty, and he thought to himself with a sigh that he should have warned her that they were doing something athletic.

Still, she let out a little whoop of excitement as he pushed the kayak into the water and then clambered in. It rocked precariously for a moment, and then Terrence could feel himself settle into the balance of the boat.

“Ocean, here we come,” Vivian said as they began to paddle out onto the open water.

“But not too far,” he said with a laugh.

“Aww, really? I was hoping we could paddle down to Florida. I have an aunt who lives there.”

They both chuckled over Vivian’s joke. It took a few moments, but soon their paddling was in sync, and they were doing a decent job of moving the kayak through the waves.

The ocean was blessedly calm in the little harbor of Rosewood Beach, and Terrence thought to himself that it was all going much better than he had feared.

Underneath them, the water was like moving colored glass, reflecting the gold of the waning sunlight in winks and flashes.

Seagulls swooped and dived overhead, letting out hoarse cries that added to the wild, untamed feeling of the expedition.

Terrence felt the wind ruffle his hair and realized that he hadn’t done anything so adventurous in many, many years.

“What inspired this romantic gesture?” Vivian asked finally, shouting a little so that he could hear her over the sound of the wind.

“I—well, I actually had a conversation with Dean!” Terrence shouted back.

She couldn’t see his face, which he was thankful for because he was sure his cheeks were bright red.

“I wanted some advice about—well, I wasn’t sure how exactly I should be treating you.

I didn’t know what to say, things like that.

You reacted to something that I said the other day in a way that made me worried that I was moving too quickly.

” Vivian was quiet, and now he wished that they could see each other’s faces.

“Dean gave me the advice to simply be honest and genuine with you.”

There were a few more beats of silence, and Terrence decided that he simply had to see her face. He wiggled around in the kayak so that he was facing her. He was relieved to see that there was a shining look in her eyes.

“I can’t believe my son gave the man that I’m dating romantic advice,” she said, grinning.

He laughed. “I’ll admit that it’s a bit unexpected, but he gives some good advice. He assured me that all women love effort, so I thought this kayak ride might be a good way of putting in effort. After all.” He held up his paddle. “It’s a lot of work.”

She giggled at his joke, and then he took her hand in his, feeling suddenly serious.

“Vivian, in the spirit of being honest, I wanted to tell you.” He took a deep breath, looking into her eyes, which were wide.

“I care deeply for you, and I have for quite some time already. I want to see where this goes, but I don’t want you to feel rushed.

I’m ready to earn your trust and let you take this new adventure of ours at whatever pace you need to. ”

For a moment, Vivian didn’t move, and Terrence’s stomach lurched as he wondered if he’d said too much. Then she started to cry.

“Oh no!” Terrence fumbled in his pocket for a clean handkerchief. “Vivian, I’m sorry, whatever it was I said?—”

She laughed and shook her head as she accepted the handkerchief. “They’re happy tears,” she said in a breathless rush. “I feel so—well, I feel so honored that you feel that way, Terrence. I feel so lucky.”

“Oh.” There might not have been any stars in the sky at the moment, but there was now one in his chest. “I feel so lucky too.”

She’s here, and she’s looking at me like that, he thought, his heart racing. And she heard me say all that and it’s making her so happy. I can’t believe I get to date her.

Without thinking about it, as if he was watching himself do it, Terrence leaned forward and gently placed his lips on hers.

Their second kiss was even better than their first, because it lasted longer, and this time, Terrence knew what it meant.

“Well,” Vivian said with a laugh and flushed cheeks as he pulled away.

At that moment, her phone began to ring. She was wearing a small purse that went around her shoulders, and she pulled her cellphone out of it.

“It’s Hazel,” she said, and Terrence wasn’t sure if her energetic tone was because of their kiss or because of some flash of motherly intuition. “Hey, sweetheart!”

Terrence watched Vivian, almost in a daze. He felt so happy he could hardly think straight.

“She is? Oh my goodness!” Vivian gripped the side of the kayak and looked at Terrence with wide eyes.

She looked nervous but also ecstatic, and after a moment of confusion, Terrence knew exactly what was happening.

“I’ll be right there. Right there. As soon as I can.

Okay, bye, honey!” The moment she hung up the phone she grabbed Terrence’s hand. “Alexis is going into labor!”

“That’s wonderful!” Terrence squeezed her hand back. He didn’t even mind that their date had been cut short. After all, was there anything more important than the birth of a baby? And besides, the date had already been so wonderful he couldn’t ask for anything more.

“We need to get back to shore right away,” Vivian said, slipping her phone into her purse and zipping it shut. Then she started trying to paddle the kayak around. “I’ve got to get to the hospital to be with her!”

“We will, don’t worry.” Terrence started to stand up, so he could turn back around. “Just don’t paddle for a few moments while I get back into place, whoa!”

Vivian, however, had not listened to him in her excitement. Just as Terrence was fully standing up, she gave a massive push against the water with her paddle and the kayak unceremoniously dumped both her and Terrence into the ocean.

Terrence wriggled to the surface a moment later, and he heard Vivian spluttering, “Oh my goodness! Oh no! Terrence, I’m so sorry.”

Terrence just started laughing. A moment later Vivian joined him. They clung to the sides of the kayak, treading water and having a mutual laughing attack.

“Come on,” Terrence said after a moment. “I’ll try to right it and get back inside.”

They managed to turn the kayak over together, and then Terrence wriggled back into it like an oversized eel. Once he was sitting securely, he reached for Vivian and helped her scramble back into the kayak.

“Oh, my shoes are probably ruined,” she gasped.

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh, don’t be, it was worth it.”

They both started laughing again as they paddled as fast as they could toward the shore. Once Terrence had hastily returned the kayak to the rental booth, he and Vivian began to race across the sand toward the parking lot.

“I wonder if our phones are destroyed,” she murmured, unzipping her purse to check hers.

“Mine is inside a plastic bag,” he said. “I should have brought one for you.”

She burst out laughing. “Oh, Terrence. You’re a marvel. And so is this bag of mine—it kept my phone dry during all of that.”

“Thank goodness.”

They were nearly to their cars before Terrence spoke again. “I’ll come with you,” he panted. “I’ll drive. That way, you can call whoever you need to on the way.”

“Oh, thank you! Do you think we should…” She slowed in her jogging and gestured to their sopping wet clothes.

Terrence hesitated for a moment and then shook his head. “Let’s not bother,” he said. “We can go straight to the hospital.”

Vivian started laughing and she didn’t stop until they were inside Terrence’s car. He didn’t have to ask her why.