“Does that sound good, McCallister?” Meredith said.
Connor looked up from his phone, expression a little sullen. He’d mentioned Liam had asked a guy on his swim team out for pizza tonight… Maybe it hadn’t gone well? “Sorry.” His throat bobbed. “What’d I miss?”
“You and Olivia are coming over for dinner on Friday,” Wit said. “Meredith is going to cook you an incredible meal, and inreturn, you’ll consult on where the outlets should go in our new house.”
“I’m down for that as long as there’s dessert,” Nick said. “What about your tres leches cake?”
“Nicholas, we’re getting dinner at Atria with your parents that night,” Sage reminded him as Meredith and Connor exchanged a sort of sly look. Maybe an inside joke about tres leches cake? I’d forgotten that they’d known each other for a while.
“Dinner sounds delicious!” I heard myself say, then I nudged Connor. “To celebrate your final days of vacation.”
Starting Monday, he was back on the clock.
Connor laughed, and I couldn’t help but grin at the sound. It was infectious, swirling into the sky with the bonfire’ssnap,crackle,pop. My heart swelled, and before I could stop myself, I leaned over and whispered in his ear. “Do you want to go for a walk?”
My insides squirmed when Connor looked at me with a raised brow.
“I mean, notnow,” I quickly amended, thinking about everyone watching Connor and me disappear into the darkness. My entire body blushed. “But maybe later?”
“Mmm.” He hummed, then pressed a kiss to my temple. My eyelids fluttered shut, and the world suddenly didn’t feel so heavy on my shoulders. “Maybe later sounds nice.”
Twenty
On Thursday morning, I ran alone, then I walked around the back of the house to Connor’s outdoor shower. My dad might’ve banned me from sleeping in Summer Camp, but I could not give up that shower’s ten minutes of bliss!
Speaking of my dad, I could see him and Erica through the shower’s window, out on Oyster Pond together. I’d recognize my dad’s neon blue and green-striped swim trunks anywhere. Their paddleboards weren’t far from the shore, and Swede watched them from the beach. Erica was perfectly balanced on her board, but my dad wiggled all over the place. Even with the shower on full blast, I could faintly hear my stepmother’s laugh. Something warmed in my chest, happy that, even with so many people here, my dad and Erica were finding some alone time.
I felt a little guilty for spending so much time with Connor, but my dad didn’t seem to mind. “I’m just glad you’re having so much fun,” he said, then gave me a lopsided smile. “You look happy, Liv…”
Do I not usually seem happy?I’d worried. This year hadn’t been easy, but I didn’t want to think it always outwardly showed.
Today Connor and I had plans to visit Chappaquiddick, the island five hundred feet off Edgartown Harbor. Connor had explored it earlier this summer and described the ferry as “two baby barges going back and forth.”
One of Annie’s photos had been taken on the Dike Bridge.
We’d agreed to head out around 10:00 a.m., but Connor never showed up in the kitchen for breakfast, and he still hadn’t made an appearance by 10:10.You ready?I texted him, but didn’t receive a reply.
“OJ, Olivia?” Topper asked when I climbed onto an island barstool at 10:15.
“Please,” I said, because it was freshly squeezed, smelling delightful. Plus, it didn’t look like I was going anywhere. I could be pretty neurotic at times, but seriously, where was Connor? “Thanks, Topper.”
He nodded like it was nothing, then he asked about my plans for the day. He and Peggy were having lunch with the Fox elders up island. “Christian will bring his sketchbook,” he mentioned, chuckling. “He always does.”
He means Andrew, I deciphered. Christian didn’t strike me as an artist.
“Is Christian married?” I asked, curious nevertheless. “I met his grandson, but…”
“He was,” Topper said as he started wiping down thecountertop. “For a very long time. Jane passed away several years ago.”
“Oh,” I said, latching onto the phrase,For a very long time.
That sounded like code forhigh school sweethearts.
“And what about Andrew? How long have he and Meredith’s grandmother been together?”
“Also a very long time.” Topper chuckled. “But back in the day, the entire island was in love with Andrew, and he was far too aware of it. It wasn’t until he met Bea at a Boston Christmas party that he changed his ways.”
“Oh, wow.” I’d tried to shake away the thought of Andrew Fox potentially being Annie’s summer romance. It could totally just be a coincidence that he was an artist and definitely too convenient that he was so close. There were probably countless octogenarian artists on the Vineyard, right?
