And Then Forever by Shirley Jump Page A

created a shallow pool. The crab scampered off a few feet, then tucked himself into his shell.
    She’d thought, that man is amazing . In that moment, her heart had opened, and she’d realized she never wanted to spend another moment without him. Until weeks later, when the tides between them had shifted, and she’d walked away, to protect the one thing she loved more than anyone else. But her heart hadn’t forgotten, hadn’t lost a single one of those memories.
    “Yes,” she said softly. “I remember the crab.”
    “You named him Lucky, because you said he was lucky we found him,” Kincaid said. He gestured toward the chair beside him. “So why don’t you have some of my fries, get to know my new best friend here, and help me think of a name?”
    She watched the way Kincaid absentmindedly rubbed the dog’s ears, the way the dog looked up at him with total adoration, and thought, oh, I know how she feels . Once, Darcy had felt that same way.
    But she was over Kincaid now. Over him for good. Surely she could spend a couple minutes talking about a name for a dog—especially a dog who had been through as much as this one had and not get distracted by thoughts of the man with the dog.
    So she dropped into the seat and picked up a fry. Kincaid reached into the repurposed six-pack box that held condiments, squirted some ketchup into the corner of the dish, then added a sprinkle of pepper. “You still eat them with ketchup and pepper, right?”
    Damn him for remembering. All those pretty little reasons she had for not getting close to him again disappeared. “I can’t believe you remembered that.”
    “I remember a lot of things, Darcy.”
    What those things were, he didn’t elaborate on, so she ate her fries and pondered the dog, instead of Kincaid and what he may or may not recall from that summer. The dog kept wagging her tail, nosing at the underside of the table, as if hoping for a fry to go her way. Hopeful, eager, friendly. Darcy gave her a head scratch and half a fry.
    “I think you already came up with the perfect name for her,” Darcy said. “Mooch.”
    Kincaid chuckled. “That does seem to fit her.” He turned to the dog, taking her face in his hands and looking right into her big brown eyes. It was such a tender moment, a little of Kincaid being vulnerable and sweet with a four-legged friend. “What do you think?” he said. “You want me to call you Mooch?”
    The dog’s tail went into overdrive. Kincaid rewarded her with a fry, which only made her tail wag faster. “Mooch it is, then,” he said.
    Darcy was tempted, so tempted, to stay right here with Kincaid for hours. Watch him with the dog, listen to his voice…just be in the same space. But that would be dangerous, and tread too close to past history.
    Behind her, the rising tide of voices coming from inside The Love Shack meant customers were starting to arrive. “I have to get back to work. Thanks for the fries.”
    “Anytime.” As she got to her feet, he reached for her hand. That same spark of electricity that always ran through her when Kincaid touched her shivered along Darcy’s veins. “When your shift is over, come sit with me again.”
    “You’re going to stay the whole time?”
    “I’ll be here when your shift is over,” he said.
    Darcy headed inside, without answering him. As she got to work, seating the first few people, making sure all the last-minute prep of the tables was done, she noticed Kincaid out of the corner of her eye. Jillian brought him a To-Go order, and a minute later, he loped down the stairs and left The Love Shack, with Mooch by his side.
    Darcy told herself she wasn’t disappointed. That she didn’t care one bit what Kincaid Foster did with his time or whether he really had intended to wait for her. That it was just as well that he had left. But as her shift wore on, her gaze strayed to the door, over and over again, until the hope in her chest faded.

M ost nights, Jillian worked her job, too