Chapter 58

Huh. She had to think about that. Was there anything important they hadn't talked about? An idea popped into her head. "Do you have pictures in your wallet of your family?"
"Not in my wallet, but on my phone." He reached into the back pocket of his shorts and pulled out a leather wallet. "ID's in there. You should look at it." From the other pocket he pulled a smart phone and started pushing buttons.
Summer opened the wallet and looked at the driver's license showing through a clear plastic window. Matthew H. Warren of Morgan's Creek, Texas. The picture was undoubtedly his, though his hair was shorter and he looked younger. The birth date was November second, the one she remembered. He was three years older than she. Everything added up, except for one thing. "No South Carolina license yet?"
"I didn't want to get a new one until I can use my new address." He nodded at her to keep going. "My military ID should be right underneath. It has a more recent picture."
It was. Matt looked out at her with solemn intent from the plastic card. "Major, U. S. Air Force. Retired."
"Now look at this." He turned the phone toward her, showing a group of five people in front of a Christmas tree. It was clearly a family, with a couple in their thirties, a boy of about ten, a girl of maybe five and an older woman who looked almost exactly like her daughter. Both of the women had Matt's blue eyes. "Tanya, Mike, Tommy, Annie and my mom Sarah. Taken last Christmas and emailed to me while I was in rehab."
"Tommy has your smile." Looking at these people, it was impossible not to see the relationships. And the way Tanya and Mike gazed at each other instead of the camera let her know they were definitely in love. Summer had seen those same tender glances between Star and Theo, and Noel and Shelby, heck, even her parents. It's what she'd always secretly wanted for herself.
Was it actually possible for her to find it now, with Matt?
She was almost too afraid to hope.
"Can I take you out somewhere nice tonight?" He bit into the last half sandwich. "I know you like dancing, though I might not be up to a whole lot of two-stepping."
"Does it still hurt a lot?" She might not totally trust him, but she couldn't stand the thought of him in pain. This whole crazy day was making her head spin.
"Only when I do something stupid," he assured her. "The long walks on the beach this week have actually been great therapy. I'm game for a few slow dances."
"Or we could go to a movie. That's a little less strenuous." And she wouldn't be constantly tempted by his touch.
"But harder to talk and get to know each other." She could see he was putting serious effort into maintaining his easygoing patience. "I want to really talk face to face, now that we have the chance."
When it came down to it, she couldn't turn away the chance to know him better, to find out if he was really the man she thought she'd imagined. She gave him a smile. "Dinner and drinks it is then. I know a place on the beach - it's pretty casual, and we can just hang out or go for a walk instead of dancing. You'll want a shirt and some shoes, but the shorts would be fine." If he really was her Matt, casual would be much more his style than the quiet elegance of some of the finer restaurants.
"Whichever you want," he said with an easy smile. "I can manage shoes and a shirt as soon as I get back to my car, which is just a half mile or so around the spit. I parked by the fishing pier."
"I can run you back there, if you want to rest your leg for a while." She didn't want him to stay, but another part of her was afraid if she let him out of her sight, she'd wake up and he'd be nothing more than a dream again. "Or we can just go now, maybe play some mini-golf before dinner or poke around the town. There's a great little antiques shop on the island - if you have a new house to furnish, we could do some scouting there. You do like old stuff, right?"
"I do. Everything we learned about each other in our dreams was real. I'm still into art deco and craftsman architecture." Without being asked, he helped load up the lunch tray and carried through the French doors into the kitchen. "I can clean this up. Get your stuff and you can show me around."
Summer only hesitated for a moment then she squared her shoulders and smiled. "Give me five minutes." She could wear the sundress but wanted real underwear rather than her swimsuit beneath it. She also needed time to brush her hair and maybe add some makeup, as well as grabbing sandals and her purse. As soon as she was alone in the bathroom, she stared into the mirror and pinched her forearm, hard.
Nope. Still not dreaming. She looked down at her shaking hands. Now what?
And a tiny voice deep inside her heart replied, Now, silly girl, you fall in love.