Jack takes Nicola’s hand as they cross the lawn toward her cottage.
“How do you know everything about this place?” she asks him, still perturbed. “Noise ordinances and all that. How do you have people to meet in town? Didn’t you justgethere?” Taylor’s father had bought the Buchanan house two summers ago, but renovations and decorating had taken a long time, and they’d become official residents only in April. Jack had arrived just a little earlier than Nicola had.
“Sort of. I come and go.”
“Blown in by the east wind? Like Mary Poppins?”
Nicola can see the outline of his grin in the lights still blazing from the house next door. “Something like that. I’m a professional chameleon. I learn what I need to fit in wherever I end up.”
“I thought you were a professional golfer.”
“Ha! That too. Or was. And will be again.”
He swings their joined hands between them in a gesture more intimate than Nicola thinks they deserve as two people who have only recently met, but even so there’s something sweet about it, something that makes Nicola feel like they’re two teenagers headed off to prom. She looks over her shoulder at her neighbor’s house and feels her mood begin to shift and lighten. She’s been to a real party! She stayeduntil the very endat this party! Laptops and Netflix in Providence, this is not. Look at me now, Zachary, she thinks. Look at me now. She can see shadows moving around the vast lawn, bending over to pick up trash, stacking discarded chairs, clearing the bar.Over New Harbor hangs a slender moon. Nicola can see the green light at the end of David and Taylor’s dock.
“So this is where Nicola lives,” says Jack Baker, when they reach the front door of her cottage.
“This is it.” She shrugs. “Nothing fancy. I’m just the poor neighbor.”
“I bet it’s a great little place.”
“It’s not bad. Perfect for one person.”
His teeth are gleaming in the darkness. He leans toward Nicola, placing his palms on the door behind her. She thinks he’s going to kiss her, but instead he leans his forehead against hers and stays there for a good long time. Somehow he makes this feel more intimate than a kiss. His breath smells like mint. When did he have time to pop a mint? “Should I come in and see how not bad and how perfect for one person it is?”
Every fiber of her body wants him to come in, and every fiber of her brain is telling her not to listen to her body. She’s known guys like Jack Baker—who hasn’t? College is full of them. The world is full of them. Jaunty, athletic, careless boys at home in their bodies, sexy boys who know their worth and where to spend it. He moves his face back from Nicola’s and put his hands on her waist, tilting his chin down so he’s looking up at her.
“No,” she says finally, reluctantly. “It’s late. I have work in the morning.” But she’s laughing when she says it, half of her wanting him not to listen to her, half of her hoping he’s not the type to ignore the words in favor of what he thinks the words are really saying.
“Fair enough,” he answers easily. “Could I give you a quick little good night kiss, at least?”
“Okay.” She thinks it’s sort of adorable that he asked.
“I’ll keep it innocent, I promise.”
Then his lips are on hers, and it’s quick (quicker than she wants, after all) and mostly innocent, until his tongue slips briefly between her lips before he pulls away. Like a promise, that slip.
“Good night, Nicola Carr.”
She tries to keep her voice steady and composed. “Good night, Jack Baker.”
She goes inside, but from the window she watches him walk down her walkway, heading toward the front of Juliana’s house. How is he getting home? How did he get to the party in the first place? She didn’t ask. She knows he’ll figure it out—he’s exactly that type.
What would have been the harm in having him come in? she wonders, when she has tucked herself into bed. Lack of sleep, obviously. She would have paid for it the next day at work. She’s already going to pay for the evening, because of the drinks. She gets up and guzzles a glass of water, then goes back to bed, where she lies for a long time, with her chaotic, unfamiliar thoughts, in this unfamiliar home in her small corner of an unfamiliar island, waiting for sleep.
Host:And we’re back after a word from our sponsors. Remember to use the code lifeanddeath, no spaces, to get ten percent off at our gold sponsor, Mattress Queen, and our silver sponsor, Buddha Bowls 2 U. Brought to you by All Ears Media,Life and Death on an Islandis a five-part series looking at one summer on Block Island. This is episode two, “The Town Council.” When we left off before the break we were talking with council members about a mysterious death last summer. Some have attributed the death to a “party culture” that reached new levels when a business entrepreneur moved to the island. Betsy, let’s start with you. What did you know about the founder of LookBook?
Betsy:Juliana George was definitely involved in something illegal. Anyone who makes that much money is not on the up-and-up. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Look at Elizabeth Banks.
Evan:You mean Elizabeth Holmes?
Betsy:Either way.
Kelsey:Aren’t we here to talk about the council? Should we maybe liketalkabout the council meetings? I’ll start. We meet on the first Wednesday of the month.
Evan:I’ve got three kids under the age of seven. I look forward to these meetings. Sometimes we go over to Poor People’s and get a beer after. Lou over here? That guy can drink.
Lou:I’m not ashamed.
