“Yes, we’re going to Los Angeles.”
“Road trip,” Hawk said, coming in with Raoul. “One of my former students is playing for USC. We’re going to catch a game, then drive home.”
“I said let’s fly,” Nicole told Pia, her tone weary but her eyes bright with amusement. “We could have stopped in Sacramento and rented a car to come here. But no…”
She released Pia’s arm. Hawk came up behind Nicole and slipped his arms around her waist. “Are you saying you haven’t enjoyed being in a hotel room with me for the past two nights?”
“Hawk! The children.”
Pia wanted to point out that she was twenty-eight and that Raoul was a few years older than her, but she didn’t. In a way it was kind of nice to have someone a little older than her worrying about her. It had been a lot of years since that had happened.
Hawk kissed his wife. “Nicole, I hate to break it to you, but they’ve already had sex. They know what it is.”
Pia hoped she wasn’t blushing.
Raoul caught her eye and grinned. “See what I have to deal with?” Everyone laughed.
They settled on the sofa and chairs in the living room and talked. Nicole brought Raoul up to date on what her kids were doing. Hawk and Raoul talked football. Pia mostly listened. After about half an hour, Raoul stood.
“Let’s do a tour of town. Then we can have lunch.”
“Want us to drive?” Hawk asked.
Raoul shook his head. “We’ll walk. There’s not that much to see.”
As they walked down the sidewalk, Pia noticed that Nicole kept pace with her while Hawk and Raoul seemed to be getting ahead of them. She recognized the separation of the sexes for what it was.
“Why don’t you two meet us at the restaurant in an hour,” Nicole called. “Go talk about sports. I get enough of that at home.” The older woman smiled. “We can entertain ourselves until then.”
Pia forced a smile and told herself that Nicole seemed really nice. Everything was going to be fine.
They strolled down by the park, toward the lake. Pia pointed out Morgan’s Books, the store with the fabulous fudge and the entrance to her office. She noticed there were a lot more men out and about than usual, but she didn’t want to bring that up. Telling Nicole about Fool’s Gold’s sudden influx of men would probably scare her.
They chatted about the weather, reality TV and how it would be a good thing if cropped pants never came back in style.
Nicole pointed to the Starbucks. “Come on. I’d kill for a latte.”
When they had their drinks—a mocha for Nicole and an herbal tea for Pia—they settled at a table by the window. Pia did her best not to acknowledge the men watching them.
“Raoul mentioned you’re in charge of the festivals in town,” Nicole said. “Thanks for taking time off work to meet us.”
“I wanted to,” Pia said, telling herself that now that she’d met Nicole, it wasn’t exactly a lie. “You’re his family.”
“He’s been important to us for a long time.” She glanced out the window and sighed. “I love it here. What a great place to grow up.”
“We do have less rain than Seattle.”
“I think the Amazon jungle has less rain than Seattle,” Nicole joked. “I was worried about Raoul after his divorce. He couldn’t figure out what to do with himself. I thought he’d come back home, but this is better. He needs to make his own way. Hawk was lucky. When he left the NFL, he knew he wanted to coach high school football. Not everyone is so clear.”
“You know about the camp Raoul bought?” Pia asked.
“Uh-huh. It sounds great. And now there’s a school up there?”
Pia explained about the fire. “It’s probably going to take a couple of years for the regular school to be repaired. They’re hoping to get the money quickly and get started, but who knows. Without the camp, the kids would have been shoved into already crowded schools.”
“Raoul is hero material,” Nicole said with a smile. “He gets that from Hawk.”
From what she’d heard, the couple had been together for a long time, yet they were still obviously in love. Pia felt a twinge of envy. Loving someone that long, being loved…it had to feel very safe and yet exciting at the same time. For a second she allowed herself to imagine what it would be like to experience that herself. To have love grow stronger every year.
Longing filled her, a physical ache that made it difficult to breathe. She wasn’t going to get that with Raoul. Theirs was a practical arrangement. Perhaps, with time, they would grow to love each other, but it wouldn’t be the same, she thought sadly. The history of a courtship would never be there. The “falling in love” that made everything seem right in the world.
Nicole leaned over and touched Pia’s left hand. “Beautiful ring.”
“Thank you.” She pressed her lips together, telling herself not to say she hadn’t been expecting a ring at all—let alone one this amazing.