“Dora! You came!”
She felt an arm slide around her waist.
“Devlin! You’re here,” Dora said, trying to keep her voice pleasantly disinterested instead of immensely relieved.
“Sure I’m here. Told you I would be.”
“But I didn’t see you.”
“Had to make a quick call. Can’t hear my phone in here. You didn’t think I stood you up, did you? I knew if I did that, Dora Muir would never give me a second chance. Hell, I’m dumb, but I’m not that stupid. I told Bill to keep an eye open for you.” Devlin turned and signaled the bartender, who promptly came with a cold beer and set it in front of him.
“Thanks, Bill. Hey, I told you to keep a lookout for Dora here.”
Bill looked at her, eyes narrowing. “You’re Dora? Sorry. He told me you were Carson’s sister but I didn’t see the resemblance.”
“No one usually does,” Dora replied, then added, “We’re half sisters.”
Devlin said, “Dora’s the pretty one.”
It was cheesy, Dora knew, but his eyes gleamed with sincerity and the compliment warmed her.
“They have the same eyes. That blue,” Devlin said, shaking his head with appreciation.
“Nice to know you,” Bill said with a curt nod. “How’s Mrs. Muir? Haven’t seen her about lately.”
“Good. Real good.”
“Put hers on my tab,” Devlin told him, indicating the wine.
“Got it,” Bill said, then moved on to another customer.
The couple beside Dora stood to leave and Devlin smoothly slid onto the vacant stool.
“You hungry?” he asked, playing the perfectly solicitous gentleman.
Dora shook her head. She hadn’t eaten dinner and the French fries smelled heavenly. Ordinarily she’d have ordered some, just to nibble, but they no longer were on her diet.
Devlin took a long swallow of his beer.
“Bill knows your order without you telling him?” she observed.
“Oh, sure. We go way back. This is kind of my office.”
Dora raised a brow. “Really? I can’t imagine you get much work done here.”
“Enough,” he said with a sly grin. “Real estate is a lot about who you know. And everyone on the island stops by Dunleavy’s.”
“And there’s plenty of beer on tap.”
“That, too,” he agreed with conviviality. “I haven’t seen you in here this summer. Or anywhere, for that matter. Where you been hiding yourself?”
“Hiding? I live in Summerville. I come here for a few weeks in the summer with my son, Nate. I don’t go out much.”
“What about your husband?”
She paused, noting his increased interest. “He stays in Summerville during the week and comes for the weekends. Or did,” she amended, looking at her wineglass.
“I’d heard you might be getting a divorce.”
Dora looked sharply up. She didn’t like hearing that her private life was being talked about on the island. “From Carson, I suppose?”
He shrugged.
“Uh-huh.” She looked at her wineglass. “We’re separated,” she replied, deliberately vague.
“I’m divorced.”
“Yes, I heard. Sorry.”
“It happens. I’m not gonna lie, it’s tough when you go through it. But I have my little girl to show for it. Cute as a button. The same age as your son.”
Dora turned her head, interested. “How did she fare in the divorce? I’ve heard it can be hard on children.”
His face clouded and she caught a glimpse of hurt behind his happy facade.
“I tried to make it easy for her. Gave my ex-wife all she asked for. But she still made me jump through hoops to see Leigh Anne. That was the hardest part.” He paused for a swig of beer.
“Leigh Anne—isn’t that your mother’s name?”
His eyes sparked with pleasure. “You remembered,” he said with a hint of surprise that she did.
“Of course. Your mother was always very kind to me.”
“She liked you.”
Dora smiled, remembering the heavyset woman with the beautiful, sad eyes.
“She passed a year after Leigh Anne was born. Too young. I felt robbed.” He drew a long swallow of his beer. “Well, she lived to see her first grandchild. I got that much right, at least.”
“I’m sorry, Devlin. I didn’t know your mama passed.” Devlin was an only child, and his mother, divorced, had raised him on her own. They’d been very close.
“It was hard,” he admitted. “I had a couple of dark years after. Looking back, I can see how it wasn’t easy for Ashley. I drank a lot, went out a lot. It cost me my marriage.”
Dora leaned closer as his voice lowered.
“But after a while you work things out, and the hurt and pain passes.”
“I am sorry you went through all that.”
“Life goes on,” he said in a more upbeat tone, clearly wanting to let that line of conversation drop. “You and I, we had something special, you know?” Devlin said, changing the direction. He waved his hand when she made a face. “I’m not just saying this ’cause you’re sitting here. I often think back on those days we were together. How long did we go steady? Four years?”
Dora smiled into her glass. “At least. Till you went off to college.”
“Columbia is only two hours away,” he chided.
“You forget my home was in Charlotte, and without a car, you may as well have been clear across the country,” Dora said archly.
“I called you, you know, when you went off to Converse College.”
She smiled, remembering the tingle she’d felt just hearing his voice again on the phone. “I was already dating Cal.”
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “Bad timing.” His glance leisurely swept her face. “You know, if we’d gotten together again a mite sooner, I might not have married Ashley and you might not’ve married what’s-his-name, and we’d be married right this minute.”
She laughed into her drink. “Maybe,” she agreed. “But then I wouldn’t have Nate and you wouldn’t have your sweet Leigh Anne.”
“We can’t change the past.” Devlin grinned and leaned forward. “But we can change the future,” he added flirtatiously. He turned and signaled to Bill for another round.