“Never doubted you’d create the most beautiful art here,” Fran says softly, no longer looking at the painting, but at Reg, who’s rubbing the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact with any of us, but mostly Fran.
“Thanks, Frannie.”
Is he blushing? Because that’s adorable.
“Hey everyone! Let’s take a group picture with your paintings!” Rachel calls out.
“How about I hold the camera, and you all take a picture?” I joke, not needing to document my artistic failures.
“Oh, come on, bestie.” Viv throws her arm around me. “Jokes aside, we love you and your terrible art, and you need to be a part of this photo. We need to preserve the memory of our first paint and sip!”
Groaning, I grab my canvas, and the whole class lines up—there are maybe seven people in all. With buzzed smiles and, for most of us, decent art, we hold up our canvases.
Rachel sets the timer and runs into the frame, throwing her arms around Viv and me.
“Say cheese!”
“Cheese!”
“This is totally going up on the café wall!” she squeals, clapping her hands together.
“Can we get a copy too?” I ask.
I don’t want to leave this memory, and the people we’ve met here, behind.
Forty-Five
I CAN EXPLAIN THIS
Luke
“Ladies and gents, here’s to your last sunset cruise! We hope you’ve enjoyed your stay at the Huffman House and that you’ll visit us again in the future!” Josh snaps a picture of Chloe’s family, and the few other guests who joined the cruise tonight.
The boat moves through the water toward the dock. My mind drifts from the present to the beautiful blonde in room four.
She leaves on Sunday morning, and I don’t know what to do. Right under my nose, she snaked her way inside and opened up a space in my heart I had closed off years ago. I wish she didn’t have to leave, but I can’t ask her to stay—no matter how much I might want her to.
I tried that once.
Josh and I move through our docking routine as we’ve done countless times before. With the boat safely in place, Josh ties it to the cleats fastened to the dock. I check around for any items to be stowed away or cleaned up when a hand grazes my back. Startled, I spin coming face-to-face with Chloe.
“Hey, handsome,” she says. She steps into my space and runs her nails along my bicep. I shift uncomfortably, trying to moveaway from her, but she matches my movement and brings herself closer to me.
“Hey, Chloe. Enjoy your last boat ride?” I ask, clearing my throat and looking for a way around her to buy myself some space. She has me cornered between the captain’s chair and the bench.
“I did.” She makes a show of sticking her tongue out to lick her lips, then drags her teeth along her bottom lip. “I’m so sad to leave tomorrow. We didn’t get to spend any time together.”
I extract my arm from her grasp, pushing my hand through my hair, but she is undeterred. She grips the sides of my waist and presses her bikini-clad chest against me.
“Maybe we can meet later and find a quiet spot to look at the stars?” Her hands slide up and over my chest.
“Ah—oh, I don’t know. I’m sorry. I’m sure you have a lot of packing to do and I… I…”
She pouts.
I barely suppress the eye roll.
“Look, you’re a guest. It wouldn’t be appropriate.” A sour feeling churns in my stomach.Liv is a guest too. But that’s different, right?
