“I can ask for two days off next week. Maggie and Liz are pretty flexible.”
“Nice. And it’s not a long flight.”
“I’m not going tofly.”
“Why not? It’s quick.”
“It’s expensive. It’s just as easy to take the ferry and the train from Hyannis to Boston.”
“Cool, so we’ll take the ferry.”
Traveling together. A night at an apartment. Maybe I was reading this wrong, because until people said things out loud, nothing could be sure. But I was pretty certain we were thinking the same thing here. I was pretty sure a trip together to Boston might have more consequences than listening to several recordings.
And I was pretty sure I wanted it to.
Summer of chutzpah.
Twenty
The sun blazed across the water, bleaching the world of color. I’d paired contacts with my sepia-toned sunglasses, which made the world look like I’d used a nostalgia-inducing filter on it. The sunglasses’ oversized shape made me feel like Audrey Hepburn.
Noah and I claimed two seats on the ferry’s top deck. I scrunched my hair up on the top of my head and pulled it up in a messy bun so the constant wind wouldn’t whip strands into my eyes and mouth. “Want to know a really terrifying theory my roomie had?”
“Yes.” He angled himself toward me.
“Okay. So.” I took a deep breath. “She thought maybe Edward and Ruth met up later in life and had an affair. Resulting in my mom.”
“What?” His brows arched and a tiny smile pulled at his mouth.
“Yup.”
“So—” He started laughing. “Wait, so...”
“Yep.”
“Wow. Well.” His smirk broadened. “I’m sure you’d be welcomed into the family.”
“Unless I tried to take over the business.”
“True.” He tilted his head. “You didn’t actuallybelieve...”
I turned bright red. “I considered it.”
“That we were cousins?” He let out a whoop of laughter.
Then I did, too. “I know! I didn’t really believe it, but it lurked inthe back of my mind. It seemed like a totally valid possibility.”
“Jesus, I’d hope not.”
“Right?”
“Right.”
We stared at each other. My breath caught.
“So,” Noah said slowly. “Since you know we’re not...”
“Noah? Noah Barbanel? Look at you!” A middle-aged women crossed the deck, beaming. “What a nice surprise.”
