“Maybe Joanna would find it difficult to forgive Nate. And look, she and Nate aren’t even chatting.” Eden gazed across the lawn. “He’s helping my dad with the food, and Joanna is talking to my mom.”

Ashley watched. “Do you think we should—no. We shouldn’t.”

Eden considered. “Or maybe we should.”

Ashley looked at her. “Engineer it so that they’re together?”

“Why not?”

“Because we shouldn’t interfere?”

“Adults interfere with our lives all the time. I don’t see why we can’t do the same in reverse. And we wouldn’t exactly be interfering. We’d be creating an opportunity for them to talk. What they do with it is up to them.”

Ashley grinned. “You’re good.”

“I wish my mom thought so.” Eden pushed through the gate. “Let’s do this.”

17

Joanna

“That was about as subtle as a kick in the butt.” Nate held open the gate that led to the beach. “I apologize for my family. I hope they didn’t embarrass you.”

“I have more experience with embarrassment than anyone in California. It would take more than a little well-meaning manipulation to embarrass me.” Joanna picked her way along the sandy path that led from Mel and Greg’s house to the beach.

She wasn’t even sure how she’d got here. One minute she’d been talking to Eden and Ashley and the next they’d been suggesting a walk on the beach and now here she was. Alone with Nate. It should have felt awkward but it didn’t, and that surprised her. It felt less awkward to be with him than it had with Mel. Her conversation with her old friend had been polite, but stilted. Was that Mel’s fault or hers? Would that change if she shared the truth of her breakup with Nate? It seemed childish somehow, to be raking up the past. So much time had elapsed. Did the truth even matter anymore?

But she knew that the past was something they needed to address.

Long grass brushed at her bare thighs and she heard the constant roll and crash of surf on sand. When they were young they’d done this every day of their lives. Walked to the beach. Played on the sand. Swam in the sea. Laughed. It seemed so long ago.

“This brings back memories.”

He glanced at her. “Good ones?”

“Of course.” And then it occurred to her that although she wasn’t feeling awkward, he might be. “I’m sorry they put you in this position. We can go back anytime you like.”

“You mean being alone together? I’m not. I’ve been trying to figure out how we could get some time to talk privately, and they made it easy.”

Talk? What was there to talk about?