“You look like a kindergarten teacher.”
“And what does a kindergarten teacher look like? I didn’t know we were a ‘type’.”
He smiled again, bigger, if that was possible. He was quiet for a second, and, until then, she hadn’t seen him at a loss for words. Then, finally, he said, “You have a gentle way about you, you seem very patient and kind. And when you smile, I can tell you mean it.”
She smiled. She couldn’t help it.
“See? You mean it right now.” He handed her a plate with a little bit of everything on it.
She picked up a cracker and topped it with a tiny rectangle of cheese. “Well, thank you. I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Good. Because I meant it as such.”
His eyes didn’t leave her face, as if he wanted to say something else, but he’d fallen silent again. Finally, he looked away and busied himself with his own plate of food. She wondered what he’d wanted to say to her, if anything. She wanted to tell him that she thought he was just the same—kind, genuine—but she too stayed silent. They fell into an easy quiet as they ate.
They spent the rest of the day swimming and lounging on the boat until it was clear that Isabella was getting tired, and they’d all probably had enough sun. As the crew pulled up the anchor, Jake offered everyone another deliciously fluffy white towel. Her mom was helping Isabella dry off, and Casey was below deck getting them some wine. Jake walked up to Faith and rubbed the tops of her arms through the towel.
“I had fun,” he said, leaning down to say it into her ear.
“Me too,” she said, tipping her head back to make eye contact. When she did, she was too close, his lips so near to hers that she could feel his breath. He lingered there, neither of them moving, and she wanted to kiss him right then. It was surprising. She’d only just met him. But his openness made him so attractive to her that she was feeling things she wasn’t used to feeling. He smiled at her and turned her around.
“Warm enough?” he asked, clearly trying to change the subject. Was he brushing her off? It was hard to tell.
She nodded.
“Good.” Then, the moment was gone. He’d turned to talk to her mom, leaving Faith a little lightheaded. She sat down and tipped her head back. It was a good day. And, with Jake around, she couldn’t wait to see what tomorrow would bring.
SIX
“I brought you something,” Nan said from the chair in the corner. She waved a finger at a box across the room. “Your mom carried it in for me. Do you mind bringing it over?” Faith picked up the box and took it over to Nan, setting it down with a thud in front of her.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Open it up.”
Faith pulled back the flaps of cardboard that were folded in on themselves to stay shut, and inside, she saw a massive pile of photos.
“Close your eyes,” Nan said with a smile, and Faith wondered what she had in mind, but she complied. “Now, reach in and grab one.”
With her eyes shut, Faith fumbled her way inside the box and lightly moved her fingers around until they came to rest on the smooth surface of a photo. She could tell by the feel of it that it was glossy, so it must not be too old. She pulled it out.
“Open your eyes.”
Faith looked down at the photo, and she sat there in silence for quite a while as she took in the memory of the moment that had been captured there. Nan was quiet too. Clearly, she had a reason for doing this, and she was waiting for Faith to process it.
“It’s me,” Faith said, unable to get her tangled thoughts to come out in a coherent sentence, “…and Casey. We were here. Well, at the old cottage.” They were painting seashells to make into jewelry. The photo was slightly aged, but through the fading color, she could make out that they both had had too much sun—their cheeks bright red, their hair golden blond, their eyes tired from a day on the beach. Faith was on the floor, one knee up, her shell in one hand and a paintbrush in the other. It was a typical childhood scene. But what struck her most was that Casey was sitting right next to her, leaning on her shoulder with her chin to see what she was painting. They’d been so close. She could see the love between them.
A pang of sadness shot through her. Casey hadn’t leaned on her shoulder like that in a long time. Life had come between them, and now, she could never imagine her sister leaning on her shoulder that way. She wanted to be close with Casey again. She wished things could be as simple as they were when they were kids.
“Pull out another one,” Nan said.
Faith dug around for another photo and pulled it out. When she turned it around in her hand, she smiled. It was a photo of a girl sitting cross-legged, an open book in her hands, completely obscuring her face. The only reason she knew it was her was because she could make out the title of the book. It was one of her favorite poetry books by Robert Frost.
“I know what poem I was reading,” she said through her smile.
“Which one?”
“It was called ‘Come In’ and it was my favorite. I read it so much that the cover fell off the book, and then I just read it without the cover.”
