We were halfway through our food and starting our second drinks. Joe tipped his head back and let an oyster slide down his throat. I forced myself to sit still, to not let the shiver run through me, making me look unsophisticated in my disgust over the slimy things that looked like they wanted to stick in your throat and choke you to death.
Joe stood. “Be right back.” He walked past the table closest to us, then around it, headed toward the one where the couple we’d been watching was sitting. At the last minute, he turned to look at the view, then turned back and bumped the woman’s arms just when she was lifting her glass of white wine.
Wine splashed onto the back of her hand. She let out a little yelp, very dignified.
“So sorry,” Joe said. He gave her his charming smile.
She looked annoyed, but returned the smile with a tiny curve of her lips. Joe’s smile is hard to resist.
“I’m really, really sorry,” he said. “I can’t stop looking at that view. I wasn’t watching where I was going. Let me buy you another glass.” He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket.
“That’s not necessary,” the man said.
“Yes, it is.” Joe opened his wallet.
“It’s really not,” the woman said.
“Hardly any spilled.” The man flashed a friendly grin at Joe. “Good thing it’s white.”
Joe laughed. “True. Look. We’re right there.” He nodded his head in my direction. “Why don’t you bring your chairs over, share some oysters and calamari and get the front row view of the lake? It’s the least we can do.”
The woman turned toward him. “That would be nice. Thank you. We just arrived today. I feel like I’m having withdrawal from not seeing the lake for an entire year.”
“Are you sure there’s room?” The man looked at the long table, all the chairs occupied.
I stood and walked over to them. “We’ll make room. You take our seats. We can pull your chairs over.”
As I said this, the people who had been sitting beside Joe and me asked for their check. I turned back to the others. “See? Now there’s lots of room. It’s meant to be.”
Joe rearranged the chairs and we settled down beside the food. We all ordered another drink. They insisted they would pay.
We introduced ourselves—Joe and Skye, Brad and Maggie. The guys shook hands and Maggie and I clicked our glasses together. “To new friends,” I said.
“That’s one of the things I love about Tahoe,” Maggie said. “You feel like you know everyone, even when you’re a visitor. Outside of the casino area, it’s like a small town, and the same people come up here every year.”
We made a toast to Lake Tahoe, then turned toward the water, sighing at how beautiful it looked. It was a perfect day with a few white clouds, and the sky so blue you couldn’t imagine a thing like smog even existed in the world.
Brad and Maggie told us they lived a few hours away in Silicon Valley, California. They took their vacation at Lake Tahoe every year. Maggie said she did staging in fancy houses, making them look like dream homes with rented artwork and stylish furniture before a house was put up for sale.
“That sounds like a lot of fun,” I said. “I love that show where they give makeovers to houses. They don’t look like the same place when they’re finished. It’s unbelievable.”
“I love it,” Maggie said. She picked up a piece of calamari and put it into her mouth.
“It’s amazing how the smallest things can make a room look completely different, give it a totally new feeling. It takes a lot of talent to choose just the right colors or the right piece of furniture. I bet your clients love you.”
Maggie laughed. “I don’t know about that, but they’re very appreciative. Especially when their house sells quickly.”
Joe turned to Brad. “What do you do?”
“I’m a marriage counselor. And I blog about relationships. I love that public interaction, and it’s expanded my influence quite a lot. It feels good, giving relationship advice to people who can’t afford counseling.”
“Does it?” Maggie’s voice sounded a little pissy to me. She picked up her wineglass and took a long swallow.
Brad told us the name of his blog—’Til Death Do Us Part. I told him it was a brilliant name and probably very friendly to search engines. Brad shrugged. “Maybe you’re right. I don’t know how, but people have found it. I have a pretty big audience after three years.”
Joe told them he was lucky enough to work part-time, managing his family’s investments and properties all over the U.S., and a few in Europe and Asia.
Brad looked impressed. “I don’t know anything about that kind of thing. We have someone take care of our finances for us.”
Joe leaned forward, looking into Brad’s eyes. “You know, I could take a—”
I interrupted him. “Let’s not talk about work.” I flashed a smile at Maggie. “Why do you like Tahoe so much?” I drilled the heel of my shoe into the top of Joe’s foot. Luckily, he made a face but didn’t say another word.
“We have a boat we keep here,” Maggie said. “That’s part of it. But all that water. It’s so peaceful to look at, don’t you think?”
“It’s actually the fear.” Brad put his arm around Maggie’s shoulders. “Maggie loves the thrill of all that deep, dark water around her.”
I shivered.
“I also love it because the air feels so clean up here,” Maggie said. “Most of the time, it’s quiet and just…tranquil.”
“You’re right,” I said. “All those things.”
“Where do you live?” Maggie asked.
“Tampa. We drove here. We took our time, wandering through the South. We visited a lot of states I’ve never seen before.”
For a while we talked about Florida, then California and other places the four of us had lived and traveled to. I could feel the energy around us pulling us closer together. I could almost feel us turning into friends. Whenever you start finding out things about other people that are the same for you, it gives you this feeling like it’s something you can actually touch. It feels like you’re meeting someone that you knew in another life, someone who’s supposed to be your friend.
I could tell that Maggie felt the same way about me. She leaned forward when she talked. She smiled and looked right at me. She laughed when I said anything even slightly funny—the kind of laugh that sounds real and made it obvious she liked me and wanted to get to know me.
Maggie suggested more drinks, but Joe said no thanks and I nodded my head. The appetizer plates were empty. The sun was moving closer to the mountains on the other side of the lake. The air was still warm, but the breeze was getting stronger, making it feel colder than it was. I picked up my purse and touched Joe’s arm. “We should head out.”
Maggie gave me one of those pretend pouts. “Oh, do you have to?”
“Probably we should,” I said.
The guys pushed their chairs back and stood.
Maggie grabbed my arm. “I have an idea. I’m making lasagna. It’s our tradition the first night in Tahoe. Why don’t you come to our place? We have more than enough.”