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“Hey. The merchandise!”
“Sorry.” He raised his hands in surrender. “Truce?”
Her expression softened. “Okay, truce.”
“Good.” He risked a smile and actually got a warm one back. “Now what were you going to tell me?”
“There’s a hidden cove on this island.”
“Yeah?”
“One you can’t get to unless you know where to find the entrance. It’s a total family secret.”
“I see.” He didn’t yet, but was willing to be patient.
“Addie’s still there.”
Derek eyed her warily, not sure what she was getting at. “Okay.”
“Naked.”
He swallowed and said the only thing he was capable of: “Glrmph.”
“Listen to me. Pay close attention.” Sarah leaned closer, blue eyes direct and no-nonsense. “Because I’m only going to say this once.”
* * *
SARAH SAT ON the ledge near her favorite rock, a white crystalline boulder dropped in the middle of jagged gray granite, as if the gods had been playing sky golf and lost track of one ball. At high tide the rock was near-covered, but now it sat exposed in all its glory.
Newly slathered with SPF 50 after sunbathing with Addie, loving this stretch of sunny days after the fog and clouds earlier in the week, Sarah was shucking corn. Forty ears, in preparation for the rehearsal dinner that night. The bag of unshucked sat to her right, the paper shopping bag for husks on her left. The naked ears, she was laying in the family’s huge midnight-blue enameled pot with white specks she’d always thought looked like snow. They’d use the pot again to cook lobsters for the wedding feast the following night, when weather forecasters predicted more perfection. Paul and Ellen deserved nothing less.
From the clearing where she’d confronted Derek and learned the truth about Kevin’s snakelike character, Sarah had gone straight to the house and volunteered for a job, needing a steadying task. She still couldn’t believe Kevin, the guy she was so sure would find love with Addie, the guy she and Addie had been so crazy about for so many years, was a complete jerk.
She ripped off a handful of husks, threw them in the bag. And she still couldn’t believe she’d told Derek where to find naked Addie. Derek! The guy she wanted. The guy she’d lusted after for years, pined after for many pointless hours, hoping this week that she could finally change his mind.
Pointless. She could see that now so clearly. Maybe she’d finally gotten sick of all the years chasing men when that one crucial concept was missing: them wanting her, too. Maybe she was growing up. Definitely she was ready to string Kevin up by his balls and she was ready to change her opinion of Derek. Definitely she was trying to be happy for Derek and Addie, even if they only had through Sunday together. She and Addie had talked that morning and it was pretty clear to Sarah that Addie was smitten with Derek, even as she’d tried to pretend Kevin still had a chance. Funny how you could figure out other people’s crap much more easily than your own.
Kevin. And Carrie! Jeez. How typically male. Sarah rubbed an ear free of the last few strands of silk. Though, really, in her new mood of analytical maturity, she should examine that statement, too. What was a typical male? Not fair to say Clueless Neanderthal. Paul wasn’t like that. Joe wasn’t like that. And now it seemed Paul had been right all along and Derek wasn’t like that, either. So there were exceptions. She just couldn’t seem to fall in love with exceptions. Look what she did with Derek the second she realized he was a good guy—gave up on him immediately and handed him over to her best friend. And she should have known immediately that if she’d wanted Kevin at some point, he must be bad news.
A strand of silk escaped the garbage and flew on a welcome puff of breeze toward the water. Following it with her eyes, she saw Joe coming toward her, striding easily across the rocky beach, hair wet and tousled. Joe would understand. He’d listen. He’d tease her if she was being ridiculous and support her if she wasn’t.
She should really work on falling in love with Joe.
“Hey, Sarah. I’ve been sent to help you.”
Sarah beamed at him and gestured to the ledge. “Pull up a rock.”
