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She smiled. “I do. It’s a little further away but worth the drive. It's near Old Silver Beach.”
“Ah, somewhere else I've never been. Good place to watch the sunset?”
“The best. But are you sure you have time?”
“I have plenty of time.” He smiled and rubbed his hands together. “Ready?”
She laughed, and looked down at her clothes. “Can I change first?”
“You look fine.”
She rolled her eyes. “I look fine for hanging around on my deck. It'll just take me a minute.”
Once inside, she took a deep breath. It was a surprise to see him, but not an unpleasant one. He looked handsome in his faded blue jeans and long-sleeved black shirt. She changed quickly into a pair of jeans, slipped on a pair of sandals, and headed back outside.
They went down the stairs to the driveway, and her eyebrows rose when she saw his car.A Porsche. Of course. He opened the door for her and she climbed in, and once he backed out of the driveway and she had him pointed in the right direction, she turned to face him.
“How long have you lived in New Seabury?”
“I grew up in Cambridge, but my family has always had a summer home here. We used to be in a different neighborhood, but after my mother died, my father sold that house and bought the one Georgiana and I have now. I think being at the old house was too painful for him.”
“How old were you when your mother passed away?”
“I was fifteen, Georgiana was eight.” He paused. “She had breast cancer. It was already pretty advanced when she found out. She started treatments, but stopped when the cancer progressed. She just wanted to die at home on the Cape.”
“I'm so sorry. It must have been horrible.”
He shrugged. “It was, more so for my father. Georgie was so young…she was sad, but then it was like she just…moved on. Almost like she forgot. I think my father was relieved, in a way. I stepped up as much as I could, trying to take care of her.”
She looked at him and tried to imagine what he was like at fifteen, enduring such a huge loss. Before she could think too much about it, he spoke again.
“Do you have any more sisters? Or any brothers?”
“No more sisters, and no brothers. Obviously, Jane and I are the sensible Bennets. Lydia is the unpredictable one. She's three years younger than me, and Jane is two years older.”
“So Lydia is three years younger, which makes her...?”
“Twenty-four.”
“She’s the same age as Georgie.”
“Which makes you thirty-one?”
“Yes. Does Lydia live in Falmouth?”
Elizabeth nodded. “She shares a house with three other girls and works at a restaurant in Woods Hole. I've been trying to encourage her to come up with a plan for her life, but so far she's not interested.”
“She'll come around eventually.”
They finally arrived at the Sundae Shack, and after Will parked the car, they joined the line at the window.
“What do you recommend?” he asked. “You must have a favorite.”
“The coconut almond chip is to die for. The Cape Cod crunch is also pretty good. But if you have a real sweet tooth, you can’t beat the peanut butter cup.”
They each got waffle cones—coconut almond chip for Elizabeth, peanut butter cup for Will—and returned to the car. Elizabeth held both cones as Will drove them to the beach, and once there, they climbed from the car and walked over to the low stone wall that separated the parking lot from the beach below.
They kicked off their shoes and sat together on the wall with their legs hanging over the side, contentedly eating their ice cream and watching the people who’d come to enjoy an evening on the beach. There were groups of people scattered here and there, some on blankets, some flying kites or playing Frisbee, some fishing off the jetty. It was a picturesque beach, with a high bluff to the left, and a beachfront resort to the right.
