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“So, not a lie.”
“No,” I agree. “Not a lie.”
She pushes a tendril of hair back and turns to the shoreline. Slips off her sandals and carries them in her free hand. “I’m going to walk along the water’s edge.”
It’s a moment’s hesitation, but then I toe off my loafers and join her. The sand is wet and warm beneath my feet, the water reaching me cool and refreshing.
“Do you walk here often?”
I shake my head. The true reason we’re walking back is practical. I’d given my driver the day off after he dropped us off here.
If she questions my use of drivers, Summer has never mentioned it. I don’t know what to say if she does. That I’m no longer allowed to drive.
“My family has a house not far from here,” I say. “So I know these beaches pretty well, even if it’s been a long time since I spent a weekend here.”
“They do? Did you spend your summers there?”
“Yes, most of them.”
“Together with your brother,” she says.
“With my brother,” I confirm.
“That must be lovely. You know, having a sibling and all. You know I’m an only child.” She kicks up water, and we both watch as Ace glances sharply that way. She does it again and he lunges after the wave, only to have it recede beneath his closing jaws.
“We were close growing up,” I say. “Not so much anymore.”
“How come?”
Because I’m not pleasant to be around anymore, I think,and I don’t know why I’m different around you. Why I like myself more when you’re next to me.
“We’ve grown apart.”
“People do that sometimes,” she says. “So, does that mean your brother is the one who works in the family business?”
“The family business,” I repeat.
“Yes,” she says, eyes sliding to mine with mirth. “You know, the one bearing your last name.”
“Right, that one. Remind me, how long did it take for you to connect those dots?”
This time, the water she kicks is in my direction. I step away, raise my leg. Preparing to strike.
“No,” she says. “Mercy!”
The splash I send her way barely reaches the hem of her dress, but she laughs regardless, the sound like the school bell ringing out for summer break. It’s still softening my nerves when she sidles up to me again. “Why don’t you work in the hotel industry, actually? Unless it’s a sore subject.”
“It’s not.” I put my hands in my pockets and turn my face up against the sun. That’s something I’ll still have, later. Not the light itself. But the warmth. “Do you know that company I worked on before Opate?”
“No.”
“It was a small tech start-up. They were three college grads working out of a studio apartment in Brooklyn when we bought their company and gave them the financial and human capital to expand.”
“They must have been so grateful.”
“Grateful now, perhaps. Desperate back then. But… have you ever used Ryder, Summer? The app?”
“Yeah, of course. My friends and I sometimes use it to order food after a night out. Why?” She looks up at me, her eyes widening. “No, don’t tell me.”
