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He heard the sadness in her voice and kissed her cheek. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. My sisters and I weren’t in any position to take responsibility for it, and my cousins live out of state and weren’t interested, so…” She shrugged. “My uncle Ed still lives on the island—he's my mom's older brother. He and my aunt Odina own an inn in Edgartown. She’s part of the Wampanoag Tribe, and can trace her island ancestors backthousandsof years. Her family history is fascinating. They’re two of my very favorite people. We’ve always been close.”
“Maybe we could visit them.”
She turned to him with a smile. “I would like that. We’ll get there before the summer ends.”
Just thirty minutes later they were sitting on the wall at Old Silver Beach, enjoying their ice cream cones and waiting for the sunset.
Will watched Elizabeth devour her strawberry ice cream, and she glanced at him with a smile.
“Your ice cream is going to melt. Stop staring and start eating.”
He sighed dramatically. “Oh, to be a scoop of strawberry ice cream right now.”
He kissed her, but when he felt her lips curve into a smile, he pulled away and eyed her curiously.
“I didn't know kissing me is funny.”
“There’s nothing funny about kissing you.Funnyisnothow I would describe it. I was just…contemplating it.”
“I'm pretty sure you were doing more than contemplating.”
She grinned and fanned herself dramatically. “Mm-hmm. That I was.”
His cheeks warmed and he shook his head. “You're always teasing me.”
“I know, I can't resist. But I really do love kissing you. I would say it's one of my favorite things.”
“Oneof your favorite things?”
“I can't very well tell you it's myfavoritething. We wouldn't want Mr. Arrogant to reappear, would we?”
Before he could respond, she jumped from the wall into the sand and jogged toward the water, and he jumped down behind her, happily giving chase.
When they arrived back at her house, they didn't say a long, drawn-out goodbye. He walked her inside, and they hugged for a long moment.
“Will you call me when you get to Boston tonight?” she asked.
“Of course. I have to say good night.”
She smiled softly. “Thank you for spending the day with me.”
He kissed her, and instead of it being urgent and desperate, it was soft and slow and full of his feelings. When he finally pulled away, he sighed and lowered his forehead to hers.
“Bye, Elizabeth.”
She caressed his cheek. “Bye, Will.”
He held her hand and pressed a soft kiss to her palm, then turned and walked out the door. When he got to his car, he looked up at the house and saw her standing at the bathroom window. He blew her a kiss, and she did the same. He sighed heavily as he turned his car toward the highway.
Five days. It's only five days.
* * *
Elizabeth didn’t sleep wellat all, and decided to forego biking into work on Monday morning. When she arrived at her office, she was surprised to see Bill waiting for her.
“Good morning, Elizabeth.”
