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“I'm sure Jason would be fine with you leaving. He’ll understand,” Lisa said, and then grinned. “I think he's taken a liking to you.”
Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “What?”
“Paul and I have discussed it. He stares at you a lot. But not, like, in a creepy way.”
“How can he stare at me when we're never even around each other?” Elizabeth responded. “You're imagining it. I think your little hyper-romantic brains have gone into overdrive.”
Paul laughed. “No, Lisa's right. He stares. I'm a guy, I know these things. It's what we do. We stare. I stared at Lisa all the time.”
How well Elizabeth knew that staring was not always a sign of dislike. She’d loved the intensity in Will's gaze, especially when they were being intimate; healwayswanted to look at her, watch her face and the play of her expressions and emotions when they made love. There were times when it felt as though his gaze was penetrating straight through to her soul.
No, sometimes staring was not a sign of dislike; sometimes it was a sign of ardent love—just not the kind that lasts forever.
“Elizabeth? Did you hear me?” Paul asked.
“What?”
“We didn’t mean to make you feel weird. We don't know what Jason’s thinking, honestly. Anyway, he's coming by in a while, and I told him we'd be serving some killer chow, so he may eat with us. You should talk to him tonight about leaving.”
Elizabeth nodded. “I will.”
* * *
“This isthe direction the storm is expected to take.”
Jason traced his finger over a black arrow that was drawn on a hurricane tracking chart he’d spread across the dining room table. The arrow extended from Danielle's location down in the Bahamas, straight up along the eastern seaboard, ending at the Cape.
“These other two arrows”—he pointed to two blue arrows, one on each side of the black arrow—“are also possible tracks. Of course, the track that sends her out to sea and away from us is the track we hope she follows. It doesn't seem likely, though.”
“Any prediction of wind speeds?” Thomas asked.
“There's talk of this being similar to Hurricane Bob, so it could be a category three by the time it gets here, which will probably be early Wednesday morning,” Jason explained. “Our neighbors north of us will feel the brunt of it. The Outer Banks are going to get hit pretty hard.”
“What about the Cape?” Elizabeth asked.
“If you remember, when Bob traveled up the coast, it slowed down quite a bit when it hit those cooler shelf waters. It'll hit Rhode Island first, probably as a two. Then it will pass over the Cape, and after that it will probably weaken, maybe down to tropical storm strength.”
Elizabeth saw that Jason was watching her intently.Okay, so he does stare.“I think I need to go home. Tomorrow. I need time to get my house squared away.”
“Maybe Danielle will veer out to sea, or maybe she'll take the other track and turn inland sooner,” Marie said.
Elizabeth shrugged. “If that happens, then great. I'll be back that much quicker. But I'd rather be safe than sorry.”
Jason nodded. “I think that's wise. Book a flight, and I'll make sure you get to the airport tomorrow.”
“Okay, thanks,” Elizabeth said.
Everyone dispersed from the table, but before she had a chance to escape to her room, Jason was standing in front of her.
“Um, I thought–I thought maybe you could use some help,” he said quietly. “On the Cape. I don't know who's around, if you have anyone to help you…”
She glanced around to make sure they weren’t being overheard. “Youwant to come to the Cape to help me?”
“Yes.”
She shook her head. “No. Why would I want your help?”
“Because there's a major hurricane heading up the coast.”
