“Lina.” He reached across the table and covered her hand with his. Although the look in his eyes was only one of concern, she still felt a tingling of awareness all the way up her arm. “You are a strong woman, not a traumatized sixteen-year-old. You don’t need anyone. When we are with someone because we think we need them, the dynamics of the relationship change. It isn’t healthy for either of you. I’m not faulting you for what you did over twenty years ago, and frankly I don’t have enough facts to give a true assessment, but if that event serves as the foundation of your relationship, I’m concerned.”

“It doesn’t,” she said quickly, maybe too quickly, because the truth was she didn’t know whether it did or not. “I loved him before it ever happened.”

“You were a child.”

“I loved him from the moment I saw him.”

He pulled back his hand as the waiter arrived with their food. “Maybe we should talk about something else.”

Lina found her appetite as Nick steered the conversation away from Phil. She learned he was a lifelong democrat, loved classical music and, in addition to his love of sailing, was also an avid hiker.

“Like serious hiking with tents and no facilities?”

“I prefer modern accommodations.” He set his fork and knife on his almost-empty plate and pushed it towards the edge of the table. “I’m fond of air conditioning, showers and soft beds.” He sat back as the waitress picked up their plates. “Would you like coffee?” he asked.

“Please.”

“We’ll have the sampler and two coffees, please,” he told the waitress.

“Where have you hiked?”

“All over the US, Canada and most of Europe. I try to hike a new area each year.” He told her of his trip the previous year to Austria, where he’d hiked over one hundred miles and stayed in a different town each night. “We had someone else transport our luggage, which was probably cheating, but worth it.”

“It sounds wonderful. I would love to take a trip like that.”

“Why don’t you? Your husband looks like someone who enjoys exercise.”

“Not that type,” she admitted. “He’s more about the competition. I can’t imagine him hiking without a purpose.”

Nick was leaned back in his chair with one leg casually crossed over the other, one of his hands lying flat on the table while the other rested on his thigh. “The purpose could be taking his wife on a vacation she would enjoy.”

“I suppose,” she said absently, wondering if Phil would agree to that type of vacation. “Did you take Brian?”

“No.” He chuckled. “Brian isn’t a hiker. I took Emily.”

“Your girlfriend.” Her heart dropped at the thought of him with another woman. “Logan said she’s very beautiful and very young.”

The corners of his lips turned up. “Yes to both. She’s thirty-one.”