“I dabble in day trading. It keeps my mind sharp. I’ve had a lot of hobbies. Wrote a book.”
“A book?” she asked. “About what?”
“How to take risks.”
She laughed. “Was it a bestseller?”
“Nah. It did well for a short time, made me some money. I checked it off my list and moved on.”
She snorted. “I just can’t imagine waking up and trying to find the next thing to tackle like that.”
“It’s not easy, let me tell you.”
“Now you’re bragging.” She let out a soft laugh when she shook her head, still trying to eat sinceshehad to return to work soon.
He held his fingers up in a pinch. “Not really. I don’t want this whole lunch to be about me. Let’s talk about you.”
“Not much to say. I busted my butt and graduated the summer after you.”
“Good for you. You didn’t feel comfortable there to me.”
It was funny how few saw what Arik did with her.
“I wanted to try it. See what it was like off the island and past Boston. After the first year I was happy enough to return, after the second, not as much.”
That was when she really saw people for who they were. Or maybe it was just that her eyes had finally been opened.
Many saw her as the naïve small town girl.
She was at fault for giving off that vibe, but she couldn’t change who she was and wasn’t about to. She held no embarrassment over her roots.
“Why go back?”
“Because I knew I could finish in another year and it wasn’t worth starting over somewhere else.”
“I’m glad you did. I would have never met you if you hadn’t.”
They had art class together. Their second class together. The first had been a semester before, another elective she didn’t remember. They even spent some time outside of class hanging out and having fun.
She knew he was graduating and moving on, just as she planned to finish her last few classes over the summer and leave for good. There was no point in getting involved with anyone.
He was off for bigger and better things, and she was coming home.
“We had some good times,” she said.
“You sure don’t share much about yourself. With your last name, does your family own this resort?”
“No,” she said, laughing. “I mean, not my immediate family. Distant cousin. Not sure what you know about this island.”
“Oh, with all the time I’ve got on my hands, I read what I could.”
“I’m not surprised. You can probably guess the branch I’m from.”
“William?”
He’d know the five branches and that hers were the blue-collar workers that all made names for themselves after William lost his share of the family money, gambling and whoring centuries ago.
“That’s me. My father owns a business. Or he did. He ran Bond Auto. My mother worked there too. I did for years until college, then I came back here to work summers. My father is retired and my brother Carter bought the business and expanded it. My other brother, Grayson, is a financial adviser. You might get along with him.”
