And Then Forever Read Free Page A

something? “A whole bunch of customers waiting on food.”
    “And Kincaid Foster.”
    “I saw him.”
    “And?”
    “And he’s here.” She gave a casual shrug. “What’s the big deal?”
    Jillian arched a brow. “You don’t care?”
    “Of course not. He and I are in the past. The way past. Hell, I was barely out of high school. I hardly remember him.”
    “Uh-huh. Then why are you hiding out in the kitchen?”
    “I’m not hiding out. I’m waiting for an order.” She leaned against the counter and feigned impatience with the kitchen staff. “For, uh, table seven.”
    Jillian grinned. “You just seated table seven. They haven’t ordered yet.”
    Darcy sighed. “Okay, yes, maybe I am taking a breather in here. I just didn’t expect to see him. Ever again.”
    “His family does have a house on the island.”
    “That they haven’t visited in more than a decade.” Not that Darcy had been paying attention. Not one bit.
    “True.” Jillian crossed her arms. “Wonder why he’s back.”
    “Well, I don’t.”
    Lenny put a heaping plate of buffalo wings on the warming shelf. “Order up, Darce. Table four.”
    Thank God. The last thing Darcy wanted to do was stand here discussing a man who was ancient history. They were over, done. Had been for a long damned time. He was probably married to some pretty little socialite who wore twinsets and dressed their four kids in matching outfits from some designer baby offshoot.
    She pushed the swinging door and headed out to the dining room. The party was ramping up as the room filled with college kids on summer break. They lingered around the jukebox in a pack, sipping at beers that dangled from their fingertips. The girls had on bikinis and sheer dresses, even though temperatures hadn’t quite hit the eighties yet. The boys hung a little behind the girls, watching their hips sway to the music.
    An old Simple Plan song came on the jukebox, pounding out the lyrics to “Addicted,” with a heavy bass. For a second, Darcy was back in that summer after she graduated, that magical summer when it seemed like everything was going to be perfect.
    That same summer when she’d scrawled a promise on a dollar bill, oblivious to how her life was going to change days later.
    Darcy’s gaze shot to the bar, but Kincaid was sitting there, nursing a beer, his back to her. If he recognized the song on the juke, he gave no sign. She decided the song was just a coincidence, not some crazy sign.
    “Hey, darlin’, fancy seeing you here.” Joey Herman, who had been a customer almost as long as Darcy had been a waitress, draped an arm over her shoulder. He was tall, had those chiseled good looks that got him a date without much more effort than a smile, and an easygoing attitude that offered as much welcome as a fresh-baked loaf of bread. He was one of Darcy’s regulars, always opting to sit at table six, where he had a good view of the bar, and a close ear to the stage for the bands that came on weekends.
    “You know I don’t want to be anywhere else.” Except tonight, with Kincaid Foster lingering in her peripheral vision like a bad dream.
    “Good thing for me.” Joey gave her shoulder a little squeeze. “So when are going to go out?”
    She laughed. “When you quit asking me.”
    Joey chuckled. He had a deep, infectious laugh, the kind that made others turn and look at them, as if they wondered what they were missing. “If I quit asking, that defeats the purpose of you realizing I’m your one true love.”
    Joey was a nice guy, but also a notorious womanizer who might as well have your one true love printed on his business cards, given how often he used the phrase.
    “Defeating your evil purposes is exactly my plan. Now, what do you want on your burger tonight?” As she spoke, Darcy stepped deftly to the left, grabbing some menus and slipping away from Joey in one move. She liked Joey, but refused to be his four hundredth date of the year. She knew how to flirt just