But before I can react, he has my arms pinned in one hand and is tickling my ribs with the other.
I shriek his name and laugh so hard, I cry. It’s not long before I’m on top of him, trying to make him laugh. Charlie isn’t very ticklish, but he is smiling. I pause for a moment, touching my aching cheek.
“What’s wrong?” Charlie asks.
I look down at him. “I’ve been smiling too much,” I tell him.
Charlie’s eyes flash with delight. “No such thing.”
30
Monday, July 21
42 Days Left at the Lake
“Well, look at this,” Nan says, holding her newspaper’s arts section aloft when I shuffle out of the bedroom the next morning. “It’s an ad for your show.”
It’s afull-pagead.It must have cost Elyse a fortune. Nan lays it flat on the table, taking a photo with her iPad.
I didn’t sleep under the stars with Charlie last night. He asked whether I wanted to stay or if I’d prefer him to walk me back to the cottage. I chose option B. It felt like the right ending to what will go down as the most epic make-out session of my life. The stars can wait.
Now those hours kissing him in the tree house feel like a lifetime ago, as if they really did happen when I was a teenager. I fell asleep with a smile on my face, but I’ve woken to reality.
I look at the paper over Nan’s shoulder, feeling dizzy at seeing my name listed with the others.
My dread rises. How am I ever going to back out now? Taking a stand with Willa was one thing, but disappointing Elyse isanother. Her opinion of me matters. Our friendship matters. I should have told her weeks ago I was thinking of dropping out.
I haven’t finished my coffee when I get a string of texts from Heather.
Nan sent me the ad! LOOK AT YOU!
I’m so excited!
Can you come back a day early so we can go shopping?
You’re giving a toast, right? You can practice with me!
I watch the messages flash on my screen, then turn my phone face down on the table.
Later, after we finish the curtains for Nan’s bedroom and she heads out on a walk, I take my camera and the binoculars down to the water. It’s humid, almost sticky. The sun is hidden by a fortress of clouds. I want to leave my city problems behind for a little while, so I text Charlie.
Me:Thought I’d do a little bird-watching. But I haven’t spotted any interesting species.
Charlie:No peacocks?
Me:Unfortunately not.
A minute later, I peer at him through the binoculars as he walks down the hill and then out to the end of his dock. He sets his phone on a small, round table, and I can see the smirk clear on his face as he raises his arms and peels off his T-shirt, andthen, so fast I almost miss it, he does a flawlessly executed backflip off the end of the dock. I laugh to myself as he climbs out of the water and gives his head a shake.
Me:Found one. Definitely male. Loves showing off.
I watch Charlie read the text and grin.
Me:Come over here. I want to tell you something.
The thrill of watching Charlie hop into his boat and travel across the bay to me makes me giddy. I shoot a few frames. I want to save this feeling.
But by the time Charlie pulls up to the end of the dock, apprehension is written on every tense line of his face. He asked me twice on the walk home yesterday whether I was okay.
