Chapter 15
Iwon’t see William until Monday, and that feels like forever even though it’s Saturday morning. Plus, I’m on edge waiting to see if Edmund reacts to my new show bait. Interviewing the catering staff at the Monday party is less urgent now that I think Vinnie took the paintings out, but we still need to talk to them. We’ve lost a week now. Only four weeks left until the Vertex Art Exhibit. I text William.
I never have any patience when I’m interested in someone. I should stay clear, but maybe close contact will decrease my attraction. I used to think William was boring and reserved, so I just need to see more of that and my interest is sure to wane. He must have some annoying habits.
“I’m thinking I need to do our fun-and-free-spirited test on William,” I say to Tessa.
“I thought William was not your type.” She drinks her coffee.
“He isn’t, so if he fails, I won’t cross any lines.”
“What if he doesn’t fail?”
“Maybe then it’s worth the risk.”
“You’ve got to be sure,” Tessa says. “You know I’m all about taking a risk. But you’re going to see each other at family functions. You should definitely put him through the paces.”
“What will it be then among the spring/summer options: bike riding around Manhattan, Hudson canoeing, water gun fight in Central Park?” The winter options include a snowball fight in Central Park, but that requires perfect timing—you have to be interested in someone when it snows in New York.
There’s a knock on our door. It’s Penelope.
“Hey, do you guys want to come out to Fire Island this weekend?” Penelope asks. “I have the house for the weekend. Rory and I are going, along with Zelda and Kareem. What’s happening with the investigation?”
“Our main suspects are still Edmund and Vinnie working together.”
Penelope leans against the door. “Edmund totally gives spurned-lover vibes—for Annabelle. But I don’t see how stealing your painting gets him your stepsister.”
“He gets revenge for my telling her not to marry him, which Annabelle apparently told him.”
“She did? She shouldn’t have,” Penelope says. “So Fire Island this weekend?”
“I’ve got a gig tonight, but I could come out Sunday for the day.” I smile at both of them. “Water gun fight on Fire Island? And I’ll invite William.”
“Do you have a crush on William?” Penelope asks.
“Do we still use the word crush?” I ask.
“She most definitely has a crush on William,” Tessa says. “I’ve got to work this weekend, so I can’t make it. Plus, if it’s going to be all couples, I’m not sure I want to be the single one out.”
“You can come out for Sunday,” I say. “And William and I are not a couple.”
“Yet,” Tessa says.
“I can ask William if he has any friends he wants to invite. Singles vs. couples,” I say. “You know you love water gun fights. And you can’t turn down a day on Fire Island. It’s not even the whole weekend.”
“Okay, okay. But I’d better get some work done so I can make sure my schedule is clear.” Tessa puts her coffee mug in the dishwasher.
“I’ll call William now,” I say.
“Great,” Penelope says. “Let me know if he says yes.” She slips out the door to return to her apartment downstairs.
“Should I leave the room to give you privacy?” Tessa packs some snacks for the office.
“Why would I need privacy?” I ask. “We’re not whispering sweet nothings over the phone. And if he rejects my invitation, then you can console me.”
I clear my throat and call William.
“Hi, this is Miranda. I’m calling to see if you want to drive out to Fire Island on Sunday for the day. My friend Penelope invited me. I’m welcome to bring friends.” There, I’ve invited him.
There’s silence.
“Are you inviting me because I have a car?” William asks.
“That is a plus in your invite column, but no. I’m inviting you because I like hanging out with you,” I say. “I don’t mind taking the train, which we can totally do if you don’t want to drive.”
“Okay,” William says. “I can drive.”
“Okay.” I give a thumbs-up to Tessa. Tessa grins back at me.
“But I should warn you that there will be a water gun fight,” I say. “It’s one of our traditions when we go out to Fire Island.”
“Do your friends have kids?” he asks.
“Not yet,” I say. “We need to keep our kid-friendly skills up to date.”
“That’s one way of putting it,” he says. “What time should I pick you up?”
“I have a gig tonight, so about 8:00 a.m.?” I ask. “And Tessa will be coming with us. Also, Tessa and I wear wet suits.”
“In the car?”
“No.”
“Because?”
“Because it can be wet and cold.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. See you in the morning,” he says.
“Why am I feeling like I’m a chaperone?” Tessa asks.
“Definitely don’t be a chaperone,” I say. “Leave if you think anything is going to happen.”
“You forgot to ask him to bring friends,” she says.
“I did. I’m so sorry. I’ll text him now.”
“No, don’t,” Tessa says. “I just want to relax and not have to make conversation with some random dude. It’s my day off.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
The game is a combination of capture the flag and a water gun fight, perfect for Fire Island. Our home base is the area behind the house, which has the advantage of having both a hose and the outdoor shower. Penelope, Rory, Kareem, and Zelda have the front area, which has only the hose and the foot shower. The first decision is where to place the flag. Because we’ve played this game before, there are no new spots.
“We need to put it high up so there’s a bit of an effort to retrieve it. That will give us some time to find theirs,” Tessa says.
“The problem is then the bright colors can be seen in the trees.” My feet sink into the cool sand. Both flags are bright-red hand towels.
William looks a bit skeptical about this whole game. This may work. He may fail the fun test.
We look around our territory—a sand lot with dune grass, some pine trees, a telephone pole, a bamboo thicket off in one corner. A wooden dune fence separates it from the neighboring lots. The actual house is on posts, so you can go underneath it or around it to attack the other team. Wooden steps lead up to the back deck.
“Can we put the flag inside a green towel and place it in that tree over there?” William asks.
“That’s a good idea,” Tessa says. “I’ll get one. You guys start filling up the guns.”
William and I both squat down and follow orders. I fill two buckets with water for our foam water guns while he fills the Super Soaker using the hose.
“I’ve never even seen those.” He points to the foam water guns.
“These are great,” I say. “They’re perfect for the beach because you can pull up water from the ocean. And they’re very fast to refill, as opposed to that one, which takes a while. But don’t worry, one of us is usually back here refilling. Also, see that opening in the grass right there by the post holding up the deck? That’s one of the best routes to go under the house to attack them. But they also may be under the house, so make sure you’re fully stocked before you go.”
“You guys take this very seriously.”
“The wet suits didn’t foretell that?” I ask playfully. All of our foam soaker water guns are now filled.
“I thought maybe it was because you didn’t want to be cold,” he says. “But you two look like you’re about to star in a James Bond movie.”
Tessa returns with the towel and red T-shirt decoy. We wrap our red flag in the green towel. William places it high up in the pine tree while we give direction from the ground as to whether it’s visible. When we’re all satisfied, Tessa blows the whistle, signaling that we are ready to start the game.
“I’ll play defense,” Tessa says. “You two go attack.”
There’s an answering whistle. Game on. And now William is all in. He takes his water gun and stealthily sneaks around the north side of the house. I smile and sneak around the south side of the house. I imagine they’ve all divided up too, but with one extra person, that means they’ve got someone attacking from under the house.
I crouch down behind a bush, water gun ready to fire.
A flash of blue. Rory is hiding behind a bush.
There are not that many bushes to hide behind. I crawl a little closer, looking up in the two pine trees to see if I can spot their red flag. It’s either in a tree or in the rafters of the upper deck.
No red in the trees. I come barreling out, spraying both water guns at Rory behind the bush, and run toward the front deck to see if the flag is there. Rory sprays me with water, and I’m soaking wet. I hear a shout, and William is behind me. We’re back-to-back, spraying water at Rory and Kareem. His back is warm and solid. This literal having my back is even better than figurative. Focus. Mind out of the gutter.
Penelope is refilling water guns, so Zelda must be attacking Tessa.
“I’m running out of water,” I say to William. Luckily, all of our water guns are evenly matched, so both teams run out of water around the same time. I dip under the house to retreat to our refilling station. William follows me, head bent, hunched over. We have to bend down because it’s not high enough to stand up straight. I climb over the wooden bracing.
“I’m too tall for this,” he mutters.
Zelda pops out from behind a post, spraying water at us. “Got you!” She laughs at our surprise.
William moves to shield me and take the brunt of her attack. How does she have water left? We run, crouching, back to where Penelope is refilling. Both of us are soaked. William’s wet T-shirt outlines his muscular chest. There’s a reason this game is not just for kids.
“Did you see the flag?” he asks.
“No.” I refill my gun.
Tessa hands a refilled gun to William. “I only refilled two before Zelda attacked.”
Zelda, Kareem, and Rory burst out from around the corner of the house. Kareem sprays us while Zelda runs for our decoy flag.
“Let’s go.” William runs around to the other side. I stay back and refill more water guns as Tessa sprays Rory and Kareem.
“It’s not it,” Zelda yells. “Do you see it?”
Now they’ve run out of water, except for Zelda. I take both full water guns and follow them while Tessa and Zelda spray each other.
William is climbing up a tree while Penelope sprays him with the hose. Their red flag is within reach.
“Careful,” I say. “Don’t hurt him.” That’s all I need—for William to get hurt when playing around with my friends.
I spray Penelope at the bottom of the tree. She’s not that wet yet because she’s been refilling the water guns. She flinches as the cold water hits her shirt. Rory and Kareem must be on our side, looking for our flag.
Penelope yells for Rory to come back.
William shimmies down the tree with the flag. I block Penelope from grabbing him, and he runs back toward our side. If he gets there with the flag, we win. We hear a shout from behind the house. They’ve got our flag.
But William crosses the line first. We win.
And William has passed the fun test. I’m not surprised.
We all shake hands and hug each other.
Tessa smiles at me. “So much for your test.”
Penelope gives us paper-plate awards that announce that we are the winners of the Spring Wet Capture the Flag Games.Winking at me, she makes the three of us gather together for a picture.
Tessa says, “Let me grab my camera.”
Penelope says, “Okay. I’ll take a picture of the two of you in the meantime.”
William puts his arm around me, and I put my arm around him. He squeezes my waist.
“We make a good team.” He glances at me.
“Yes,” I say.
William insists on driving us to our apartment door rather than letting us take the subway up from Tribeca. As he slows down in front of our brownstone, I spot a lone figure.
“Shit,” I say. “It’s that Squirrel journalist.”
“Are you sure?” Tessa asks. “He hasn’t been around in ages.”
“He’s still wearing that fricking fedora hat. He seems to think it gives him the air of a real journalist. And he’s right in front of our door.”
“Do you want me to go first and tell him you’re away for the week?” Tessa asks.
“No,” I say. “It never helps to lie. Then they find out the truth, and they think you’re covering up something. Maybe I should go stay with a friend.”
“Why should you hide?” William asks. “Just tell him you’re not answering questions if you don’t want to answer questions. But it might be interesting to hear why he’s here.”
“It’s probably just a slow news day,” I say.
“This reporter is kind of obsessed with Miranda,” Tessa says.
“His big break was the Weeping Willow story,” I say.
“I’ll find a parking space and come with you.” William pays for a parking spot on Columbus Avenue, and we exit the car.
We walk around the corner, and I can tell the minute Fedora Hat spots me. I feel clammy and cold. Memories of when the article headlined Weeping Willow broke and all the camera flashes blinding me when I left my friend’s house that evening make my mouth go dry.
As we near, he yells out, “Miranda, I got a tip-off that you stole your own painting. What do you say to that?”
What? I freeze. William places his hand in the small of my back as if in support of me. Channel mom.
“No comment,” Tessa says.
“You should be talking to the police then, not me,” I say with a smile. And we walk by him and enter our building.
When we get up the stairs and into our apartment, William turns to me. “You thought Edmund gave him the material for that first article. And you just told Edmund you had a new show. This could be Edmund’s countermove.”
I say, “He knows how much I hate publicity.”
“Let’s call Officer Johnson and see what he says,” William says.
“No. We need to call John’s press secretary. She’ll find out Fedora’s source. He’s never going to reveal his source to the police, but she’s figured out his sources before.”
“How?” William asks.
“He hangs out with some of the other press guys at a bar near City Hall. And he likes to show off when he’s drunk.”
I call John’s press secretary and tell her what Fedora said. She says she’s on it.
“You handled Fedora well,” Tessa says. “The best you’ve ever dealt with him.”
I nod. “I did, didn’t I? I had you two next to me, and I thought I should handle him like my mom does.”
“He looked pretty shocked that you didn’t get upset,” Tessa says.
“I guess I should go,” William says. “You’ll call me if she finds out anything?”
“I will,” I say. “But it will probably take her a few days.”
“We’ll find the paintings.” William squeezes my hand and tucks some stray hair behind my ear. “I don’t like that it’s getting so personal.”
I don’t either. And if Fedora is Edmund’s countermove, I doubt he’s done yet.