Kate scanned the waterfront for Conor but was distracted byAphrodite. The seventy-four-foot yacht was a treasure—built in 1937. She had a gleaming black hull, topsides of mahogany brightwork, and—to Kate’s mind, the sleekest design of any boat on the East Coast or beyond. It was a floating work of art.
Sam paid for CeCe to ride her favorite painted horse at the merry-go-round as the organ music began. Watch Hill proudly claimed the carousel as the oldest in the country; it had been built in 1867, and Kate thought CeCe and Sam looked appropriately old fashioned in their flowing yellow dresses.
As Kate walked towardAphrodite, she spotted Conor near the dock at the far end of the Bay Street’s curving bulkhead. He was sitting beside a woman on a bench by the seawall. Kate saw the way they were leaning into each other with intimate familiarity. Their shoulders were touching, their heads bent together, as they looked at something on a cell phone. Kate felt taken aback by the emotional intensity between them.
“Hello,” Kate said when they got closer.
“Kate!” Conor said, sounding startled. The woman smiled and stood. She had straight blond hair with long bangs that framed her oval face. Freckles dusted her nose, and lines creased her forehead and bracketed her cheeks. Her white sundress fluttered in the breeze. Kate guessed that she was about the same age as Conor or a little older.
“Hello, Kate,” the woman said. “I’ve heard so much about you.”
“This is Belinda, Garrett’s girlfriend,” Conor said.
“Nice to meet you,” Kate said. She introduced Hadley.
“Belinda and I grew up next door to each other,” Conor said.
“That’s amazing!” Kate said. “Wow, how cool to reconnect.”
“That’s what we were just saying,” Belinda said. “And now it’s memory lane. Good old New London. Every so often, I drive down our old street. His house looks the same as it always did—I was just showing him pictures.” She scrolled through her phone and started to hand it to Kate. Kate noticed that she wore glittery turquoise nail polish and had a thin silver ring on her pinkie finger.
Kate reached for the phone, but then it buzzed with a text, and Belinda drew it back.
“Oh, it’s Garrett,” Belinda said. “Wondering where I am. I’d better go meet him. The Ocean House is so beautiful! Thank you for having us!”
“We’re glad you could come,” Kate said.
“See you at dinner!” Belinda said. “Kate, we can talk more later. I have so many childhood stories about Conor and Tom.”
“I’d love to hear them,” Kate said.
Belinda gave her and Conor quick hugs, then turned and headed up the hill toward the Ocean House.
“I’m going to get CeCe and head back to the hotel,” Hadley said, glancing in the opposite direction at the merry-go-round. “I think she has gone around enough times. I’ll get her and Sam, and we’ll meet you at dinner. Are you excited?”
“Just a little,” Kate said.
Kate looked at Conor when Hadley left, waiting for him to say something. She tried to read his expression, but he was gazing past her, at all the boats in the harbor. Was he deep in thought or just avoiding her eyes?
“What was that about?” Kate asked.
He didn’t reply, and she saw that he was staring pastAphrodite. Sunlight danced on the water’s surface, glancing off the vessel’s polished black hull and bronze fittings. A gray inflatable dinghy was heading toward shore from out in the mooring field.
“Here comes Tom,” Conor said, gesturing. “He can’t stay off the water, even when he’s off duty.”
“What was Belinda saying?” Kate asked. “It looked intense.”
“She’s nostalgic about the old days,” Conor said. “I was completely surprised to see her.”
“Why didn’t you mention that Garrett was bringing her to the wedding?”
Conor put his arm around Kate. “Because I didn’t put it together.”
“What about her last name?” Kate asked, feeling unsettled. She tried to remember what Garrett had told them for the calligraphed place cards. Then she had it. “Tyler. Belinda Tyler?”
“She was Belinda Quinn back when we were kids,” he said. “She married a guy named Tyler.”
“They must have gotten divorced,” Kate said. “Since now she’s dating Garrett.”
