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“How’s it going, Aria?” Cole sat on his usual stool as Aria poured him a pint.
“It’s been crazy here,” Aria said. “Non-stop tourists.”
“And non-stop tips?” Aria’s boss breezed behind her, carrying a keg of beer.
“It hasn’t been bad,” Aria affirmed, feeling the wad of cash in her server’s apron. “How was it out on the water?”
Cole explained that the tourists hadn’t been half-bad, that they’d asked lovely questions and even helped him with the boat as they’d come in. “I got a decent tip, as well,” he added, beaming. “It’s only spring, and I already have a hunch this will be a really good summer.”
Aria’s heart flipped over as she imagined long, beautiful sailing rides alongside Cole, who’d promised to teach her to get really good at sailing.
“I met up with Alyssa this morning,” Cole went on, speaking of his cousin, who he was close with. “I don’t remember if I’ve told you this, but her sister, Maggie, is pregnant, too! Isn’t that crazy?”
Aria’s jaw dropped. “Wait. I thought—”
“That Alyssa was carrying Maggie’s baby? She sure is. It’s wild, isn’t it? So many babies in the family.”
“I guess I could get more babysitting gigs,” Aria joked.
“Plenty.” Cole laughed. “Although I can’t imagine Maggie will want to spend too much time away from her babies. She’s already really fidgety if you take Lucy away from her for too long, and Lucy isn’t even hers.”
Suddenly at the door, a voice rang out. “Is that Whitney Silverton?”
As Cole turned quickly, Aria lifted her eyes to watch as the beautiful, world-famous sailor, Whitney Silverton, glided into the bar. As usual, she was long-limbed and slender, with long, vibrant hair that spoke of treks across the great ocean. Like a woman in a film, she whipped off her sunglasses and smiled at Cole knowingly, her eyes alight. Aria remembered that while they’d been on the sailboat together in the Caribbean, she’d been so jealous of how chummy Whitney and Cole had been with one another, as though Whitney, who was quite a bit older than Cole, secretly wanted to date him.Was Aria losing her mind? Or had Whitney come back to Martha’s Vineyard to get Cole back?
“Cole Steel, as I live and breathe!” Whitney hurried toward Cole and hugged him, overjoyed.
Cole laughed and hugged her back, genuinely glad to see her. Another guy at the bar ordered a pint of beer, and Aria burrowed herself behind the bar, trying to hide away.
“I want you to meet my boyfriend, Rowan,” Whitney said, waving her hand toward a very handsome sailor type who walked across the bar. “I think you might have met him before at this very bar.”
Cole laughed and shook Rowan’s hand. “That night before you left! Of course!”
“She tracked me down,” Rowan explained, glancing at Whitney with love in his eyes. “I never imagined the great Whitney Silverton would ever slow down enough to let someone else join her, but somehow, I made the cut. Of course, I always bring my A-game on the water just in case she decides to throw me off.”
“Good idea,” Cole said. “You sticking around for a while? Want to grab a few pints?”
Whitney and her new boyfriend, Rowan, sat at the bar next to Cole, exuding life and the salty air. Aria poured them each a pint and placed them on the counter, not making eye contact with Whitney, praying she wouldn’t recognize her from the Caribbean trip. But after Whitney took a sip, she glanced up and spotted Aria, and her face transformed immediately.
“Wait a minute!” Whitney placed her beer back on the counter. “It’s Aria, isn’t it?”
Aria grimaced and eyed Whitney, unsure of what to say. Whitney then turned to stare at Cole, her jaw slack. “Wait a minute,” she repeated. “Are you two together?”
Cole and Aria sputtered at once.
“No! No.” Aria laughed.
“Not at all,” Cole affirmed as he slid his fingers through his hair.
Aria felt as though a knife had gone all the way through her stomach.
“Aria, what the heck are you doing here?” Whitney asked, shaking her head. “I thought I’d never see any of the Baldwins again.”
“She doesn’t plan to see them, either,” Cole explained.
Whitney nodded. “Your dad was a piece of work, wasn’t he?”
Aria blushed and crossed her arms over her chest. “I couldn’t be in that family anymore. The trip to the Caribbean proved that to me.”
