“I keep meaning to ask you if you want to come. Tiffany and Blaine got married so quickly that we never got a chance to give them a shower, so we’re doing it late tomorrow afternoon at the lighthouse.”

“That sounds like fun for you, but why would I want to go? Isn’t that a chick thing?”

“Usually it is, but here on Gansett, we like to include the guys.”

“You mean you like to torture the guys.”

“Trust me when I tell you, they give as good as they get.”

“I haven’t done anything to deserve that level of torture.”

“You haven’t yet, but you will,” she said with a saucy smile that made him laugh. “There’ll be plenty of other guys, lots of food and beer. What more do you need?”

“Well, when you put it that way… I guess I could try to make it.”

“Yay.”

“I never made any promises.” He gave her a sideways glance. “So you’re ready to take this public with all your friends?”

“I believe I am. Is that okay with you?”

He put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead. “That’s more than okay with me.”

Stephanie approached them, stopping a couple of feet from them to stare when she realized they were on a date. “Okay, so what did I miss?”

“A few things here and there,” Jenny said mysteriously.

“Apparently. Am I allowed to spread this rumor far and wide?”

“Since it’s no longer a rumor, have at it,” Jenny said with a smile for Alex.

“This is the biggest news since Tiffany and Blaine’s three-day engagement.” Stephanie seated them at a table with a view of the sunset and within earshot of the music Owen was making on the deck. “Is this okay?”

“It’s perfect,” Alex said. “Thanks, Stephanie.”

She gave them a rundown of the specials and then left them to peruse the menu after giving Jenny’s shoulder an affectionate squeeze. A waitress appeared at their table a few minutes later with a bottle of champagne. “Compliments of Stephanie,” she said.

Touched by the gesture, Jenny said, “Please tell her thanks from us.”

“I sure will.” The waitress poured the bubbly into crystal flutes and took their order.

When they were alone, Alex raised his glass to her. “Here’s to going public.”

Jenny touched her glass to his. “To going public.”

“You sure you’re feeling okay about that?”

“I’m feeling extremely okay about a lot of things that haven’t been okay for me in a very long time.”

“It makes me happy to hear you say that.”

“You look really nice tonight,” she said. “Not that you don’t always look nice.”

Alex looked down at his shirt. “My mom ironed for me.”

“She did? Really?”

“Yeah. Ten minutes of complete lucidity, during which I got back my mom and then lost her again almost as quickly.”