The dining room table was covered in light blue linens, with various sized glass vases lining the center. Each one was filled with white seashells and starfish, more white tea candles than she could count sprinkled in between them like stars in the night sky. The rest of the table was covered in more platters, more finger foods. In the corner was a caterer’s table, adorned with pleated white linen and displaying an assortment of wines. She walked over to peer at the labels and she was pleased to see that they were all local wines.
“I’m sorry,” she heard Jake’s voice behind her and turned around. “I got caught by a group on the way in. I’ve been stuck over by the pool table.” He made a face as if it had been horrible, and she laughed. When she did, she saw that softness again on his face. “You found the wine,” he said, after clearing his throat.
“Yes.” She turned back toward the wine table as a nervous impulse.
“See any you like?” he asked, walking up behind her and looking over her shoulder.
She could smell his spicy scent, and it made it hard to process his words or find any of her own. He’d never know how she felt if she didn’t tell him something. She had to tell himsomething, but the words were all getting jumbled in her head. She turned around to face him. They were so close that it wouldn’t take much effort to tip her head up and kiss him. He leaned forward, and she felt a swing of nervousness through her head. She worked to keep her breathing even, and she could feel her mouth drying out, which worried her as he was leaning in toward her, but she didn’t want to stop him. At the last second, he reached around her and grabbed a glass off the table and then righted himself.
“I’ll fill a glass for your mom and your grandmother if you’ll get Casey’s.”
Faith could not believe she’d just misread that. It took her a minute to collect herself. The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous she felt. Why would he kiss her? He hadn’t really seen her since saying he wanted to be friends, so why had she imagined things had changed? She tried to analyze her reasons, but she came up empty. Jake must have noticed her silence because he looked at her again, his eyes roaming her face, and it hit her: She was feeling this way because, when he looked at her, there was something there. She wasn’t crazy. She could see it right on his face. He knew it too because as this idea registered in her mind, he caught himself and turned back to the wine.
She knew she had to say something. “Jake?”
“Yes?” He turned back toward her. His “yes” wasn’t a question but, rather, a statement, as if to say, “tell me.” Was he waiting for her to make the first move?
Without overthinking it, she said the first thing that came into her mind. “I enjoyed being with you the other night.”
He nodded, his eyes on her. She was hoping for a response, something to encourage her to go on.
“And I’m glad I’m here now…” She wanted to say more, but she didn’t, still worried about his lack of response. Now, looking at him, she worried that he’d closed up. That carefree man she’d seen at Bodie Island, who’d kissed her, joked with her, told her stories—Jake was different now. She’d never had to deal with anything like this before. She liked him so much better when she thought he was a handyman. Was he more of that person or the one standing in front of her now with all the fancy guests and tables of wine? He seemed to notice her thoughts and she worried that he could read them again.
“I think we should get this wine out to your family before they think we’ve gone missing,” he said, turning back toward the table and grabbing a bottle. Faith didn’t move at first. She wasn’t finished. She wanted to tell him her feelings. But when she finally turned around, he’d filled all four glasses and he was handing two to her. “These are for you and Casey.”
Jake gestured for her to go first and she went ahead of him. The moment ha passed and she wondered if he’d just wanted to get out of the conversation. They entered the crowd again, and he came up beside her to help her get through. People stopped him to talk, and he politely listened, smiled, and then gracefully left the conversation as he made his way outside.
“What is this party for?” she asked as they stepped into the calmer atmosphere in the backyard.
“I’ve just broken ground on a resort in Frisco,” he said, nodding hello to someone. “They’ll have everything money can buy at their fingertips. I’ve developed a plan with my team that will consist of a neighborhood of sorts, with high-end cottages, all waterfront but with the amenities of a resort.”
Frisco was right down the road. It was a small, uncluttered village, a place that offered an escape from the hustle and bustle of growth in the area. All the villages in the Outer Banks backed up to one another, and creating high-traffic areas in one location would certainly impact the others. The Outer Banks was only a slim strip of barrier islands, and one had to go through each village to get to the next. The whole strip was only about thirty miles wide at its widest points. Creating large resorts would certainly clog up the roads and pull in more commerce. Faith’s head began to pound.
Another person stopped him to ask where he’d gotten the clams. They were delicious, he’d said. Jake directed him to the caterer.
“There will be high-end bars, swimming pools, a clubhouse with a gym. I’m very excited about the project.” He raised a wineglass filled hand up to another man walking by. “Sorry for the mayhem,” he smiled. “All that to say, this is a party to celebrate the start of Whelk Resort, and these are all the people involved—town council, investors, architects—all of them.”
Jake’s explanation made her sick to her stomach. He’d been so proud of the Tides, having even helped to build it, and now it was really happening: he was building more atrocities. Jake clearly knew how to make money, but even if he was right about this idea that people would flock to these places if they were here, didn’t he realize what he was doing? The Outer Banks would lose its charm, and its beautiful natural landscape would be spoiled. She didn’t want it to be just another beach location with cookie cutter high-rise hotels and no parking to speak of, with no charm of its own. If he had his way, would he develop the whole area? She hoped not, but it was looking that way. She wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, and she hoped that maybe he’d thought about what she’d said the other night and been concerned by it, but her views seemed to have little impression on him.
Before they could reach the tent, Isabella came running toward them, her dress ballooning in the breeze as her white sandals pattered along the grass. The purple bow in her hair had come untied, the two ends dangling long on her ponytail. When she reached Faith, she said, out of breath, “I’ve been down on the beach. It’s so pretty!”
Faith tied her bow for her. “It’s a pretty place down here.”
“Jake,” Isabella said, tugging on the elbow of his shirt, sloshing the wine precariously in its glass. He bent down so as not to spill it, beads of condensation from the heat sliding down the glass. “Do you have a bag where I can put some seashells? You have so many on your beach!”
“I do,” he smiled at her, tiny creases showing at his eyes. “And you know what else I have? I have a book that shows all the different kinds of shells and tells you their names. Maybe when all this is finished, we can look up the shells you find, and I can tell you what they are.”
There were many people out there who had books about shells just like Faith’s, but the fact that Jake had a seashell book like her did seem quite the coincidence.He lives at the beach, she tried to convince herself,surely someone got it for him as a gift or something. But she took it as a sign, a little ray of hope.
“We were wondering where you’d gone off to!” Casey came swishing over, her sundress giving her maddeningly perfect curves. She took one of the glasses from Jake. “I want to show you something on the beach. Do you mind walking with me?” She took the other glass of wine from his hand and gave it to Faith, who now balanced three glasses in her fingers. Casey grabbed Jake by the arm. Then, over her shoulder, she said, “We’ll be back in a second.”
Faith watched them walk away. Without even realizing it, Casey was doing it again—swooping in and stealing the one person Faith showed interest in! At this point, she didn’t care anymore that she’d be leaving next week. She just wanted to have a chance to have her own happiness, however short-lived it was. Why should she have to sit like a bump on a log while Casey had all the fun? She was tired of that. Snapping out of it, she realized she was still holding three glasses of wine. She looked over at Nan who was already looking in her direction. She’d probably seen the whole thing.
“You doing okay?” Faith asked, as she neared Nan, trying to keep things calmer than in her head. She handed her mom a glass and then the other to Nan.
“Yes,” she said slowly. “You?”
It was a loaded “you.” She’d seen for sure.
