The long beams of car headlights swung across McKinley Street. Angie and Jeremy watched in tense silence as the car turned onto the causeway that led to the dock.
Angie quickly stood. “It’s him. If he finds you here with me, I don’t know what he’ll do.”
Jeremy leaped off the bench and grabbed her hand. “Come on.”
She ran with him down the steps to the small floating dock, where he helped her into his skiff.
“Lie down. That’s it.” Jeremy stood over her, watching the car move slowly along the dock. When it got close, he dropped to his hands and knees and lay down beside her. He drew the canvas tarp over them.
Quietly, they lay in the silence and darkness while the boat bobbed up and down on the gentle swells and bumped against the dock. Angie turned her head to look at Jeremy, but it was too dark to see his face. She could only feel his breath on her forehead while they listened to the sound of Joe’s car moving past the warehouse. Jeremy held her hand until they heard the car turn around at the end of the dock and drive slowly back toward town.
The night grew quiet again. Jeremy sat up and tossed the tarp aside.
Angie’s heart raced as she looked around. Staying low, Jeremy moved to the transom seat, and she sat at the bow, facing him.
“That’s a pretty dress,” he said. “You look nice tonight. Joe must have a few screws loose in his brain if he’d rather be kissing Mrs.Lassiter than you.”
Angie chuckled, and it felt good to laugh. “You always know exactly what I need to hear.”
She became aware that he was looking at her with adoration. It was almost palpable in the air between them, as if he had finally given up the necessity of hiding it. He wanted her to see it, perhaps even acknowledge it, but they had never shared any romantic feelings for each other or longings before. They’d always been just friends.
But that night, Angie found herself staring back at Jeremy and seeing him as a man. A man she could rely on.
Eventually, he lowered his gaze. “What are you going to do now?”
“I’m not sure,” she said. “All I know is that the last thing I want to do is go home. He’ll apologize, but I don’t trust that he won’t do it again. And I’m so angry with him right now I can’t talk to him. I need time to cool off.”
“I could take you out to the lodge for the night,” Jeremy suggested. “Valerie would probably let you stay with her.”
“Would you mind?”
“It would be my pleasure, madam.” Jeremy got up, untied the skiff, and then returned to his seat and picked up the oars. “I’ll take us out a bit before I start the motor.”
Angie was grateful for Jeremy’s experience with escape tactics around her husband. She watched him row through the darkness and listened to the sound of the oars dipping into the water as he steered them away from the dock.
When they reached a safe distance, Angie felt a rush of unease. “I hope he doesn’t go looking for me at the lodge.”
Jeremy pulled the oars in long steady strokes. “Even if he does, Valerie won’t tell on you. She’s good like that.”
“How would you know?”
He shrugged. “I just do. That girl knows how to keep a secret. And she’ll find a good place for you to hide if he does show up.”
“Especially after she hears what happened.”
Jeremy rowed for half a mile until they reached the middle of the bay, where a cold breeze swept across the water’s surface. Angie drew her knees together and hugged herself. Within seconds Jeremy was reaching for a scarf and hat behind him. He leaned forward, handed them to her, and said, “Put these on. It’ll get colder once I start the motor and we pick up speed.”
“Thank you.”
Angie wrapped the scarf around her neck and kept her eyes on Jeremy as he set the oars into the oarlocks, switched on the engine, and steered the skiff masterfully across the dark water. Angie sat at the bow, watching him with the wind in his hair and his hand on the rudder.
They moved fast toward Wilderness Lodge, leaving a frothy trail behind them.
“The light’s still on in her room,” Jeremy said as they tramped up the sloping lawn toward the lodge.
“But it’s past midnight,” Angie replied as she walked. “The main door might be locked.”
“If it is, we’ll throw pebbles at her window.” Jeremy led the way up the wooden steps and turned the knob, and the door clicked open. “No need for pebbles,” he whispered, standing back to let Angie enter first.
