Chapter 13
Lily woke to the movement of someone sitting on her bed. “Morning,” she murmured, expecting to see Juliet.
“Morning, babe,” trumpeted Wilson, right in her ear. Lily gasped in horror, suddenly wide awake. There he was, in an unbuttoned shirt, smiling in a very self-satisfied way, close enough for her to smell green juice on his breath. She recoiled, gathered the sheets to her chest, and sat up in a rush.
“You look so cute when you’re asleep. Here. This is for you.” He held up a cup of coffee.
“Wilson!” she protested, but he hardly heard her.
“I know how you like it. So.”
He thrust the coffee at her and she took it reluctantly, automatically mumbling her thanks.
“But I’ll have it on the deck. With everyone else.”
Wilson smiled. “Your mom thought it would be nice, just the two of us.”
“No,” said Lily. “I’ll meet you out there. After I’m dressed.”
“I can wait.”
“Get out, Wilson.”
Wilson tilted his head and smiled as he stood up and headed for the door.
“Okay. I’ll wait out there. But a guy can’t wait forever. If you know what I mean.”
“What?”
“You heard.”
He saluted (what does that even mean? Lily wondered) and was gone.
Ew. That was gross. Worst of all, it didn’t seem like just an ordinary case of an inflated ego operating in a culture of general male entitlement.
Wilson had approached Lily many times before, but this time he’d had prior help.
Lily flung on an outfit and took the offending coffee down to the kitchen, where she found her mother.
“Did you send Wilson to my room with this?” she demanded.
“You’re welcome.”
“No, I’m not welcome and he’s not welcome.”
“That’s no way to talk about someone who’s offering you free accommodation in America.”
“He’s not. His mother is.”
“You should be nice to him.”
“I am nice!” Lily barked.
Lydia sighed and looked at her daughter with nostalgic pity.
It was a sore spot for her that Lily had never so much as been on a date, let alone had a boyfriend.
She was eighteen. By that age, Lydia had engaged in all sorts of sexual activity and relationship dramas, most of which had caused nothing but grief, but she bore the scars with a sense of pride and felt that Lily was missing out.
“Honey, I’m just trying to help.”
“I don’t need that kind of help.”
“The guy likes you! Now, I appreciate this hard-to-get thing you’ve got going on, but you’re overdoing it, and then you rub his nose in it by flirting with Mr. Handsome British Backpacker.”
“What?”
“That Alex boy is way out of your league, sweetie. And I mean that in the nicest possible way.”
“I can’t talk to you right now.”
Lily stalked off, fuming. Her mother’s insistence on seeing every interaction as some sort of hierarchical sexual energy exchange was nothing short of infuriating.
Lily wasn’t even thinking about Alex in that way!
And even if she were, why should she pay any attention at all to Lydia’s ancient codes of romance?
Out of her league? This is not sports! And Alex hadn’t come to New Year’s Eve anyway.
“See, this is your trouble!” Lydia shouted after her. “Now you’re being rude. You’re not the only girl here, you know.”
Lily stalked out onto the deck intending to let Wilson know nicely and clearly and firmly that they were just friends (not even that, if she was being honest), and furthermore, friends didn’t go into other friends’ bedrooms while they were sleeping.
But the tide was up and he was already out on the jetty with the others.
The deck was deserted apart from Aunt Jane and Uncle Charles, who were drowsing in deck chairs with hats over their faces, holding hands.
“What’s up, love?” Jane asked.
“Oh. Nothing. Just Mum’s being—”
“Mum’s being helpful,” Lydia shouted as she plonked herself in a deck chair. “You’ll end up by yourself if you’re not careful.”
Lily appealed to Jane with a sigh.
“Mum is trying to get me together with Wilson.”
“Oh. Don’t do that, Lyddie,” murmured Jane.
“I gave the guy a bit of encouragement,” Lydia said defensively.
“And I was just on my way to tell him NO.”
“Why, did he come on to you?” asked Jane.
“Kind of,” said Lily.
“Not even,” said Lydia.
“Well, you’re both very naughty,” Jane decided with a sigh. “You should leave the poor boy alone.”
Lily harrumphed off toward the jetty, determined to put Wilson in his place, but her resolve waned the closer she got.
Aunt Jane was right. Wilson annoyed everyone, not just her, and maybe she was reading too much into it.
He would be gone in a few days anyway, and making a big deal out of a harmless coffee delivery could just make things worse. Best to let it slide and ignore him.
Lily refreshed her mind and body with a quick leap into the water with the others.
If Wilson was at all disturbed by the whole coffee incident, he certainly didn’t show it.
Lily found it quite easy to brush it all off and see the humor in the entire episode, as long as she didn’t have to talk to him or look at him at all.
Wilson conveniently disappeared up the north end of the beach with Nicola and the younger ones and left Lily to talk it all over with Juliet in the kitchen as they prepared for the traditional New Year’s Day kayak and picnic.
“ ‘Babe,’ ” she laughed. “He actually called me ‘babe.’ ”
“Maybe that’s normal in America.”
“Ha! Bet he doesn’t say it to his boss.”
Juliet offered to keep him away from her for the rest of the day by taking him as her kayak partner. Lily laughed off the kind gesture.
“I’m pretty sure you’re spoken for already. I’m not going to let Wilson come between you and Casey.”
Lily was genuinely, unreservedly happy that Juliet had found someone, whatever that might mean and however it might play out.
The distance between Juliet and Casey was vast—they truly were from different worlds—but Lily believed they could overcome it.
They were both so nice and generous, and they had the money to turn their impulses into reality.
If any couple could manage a long-distance relationship, it was them.
And it was hardly an unusual thing. Every couple had to deal with some kind of separation these days. That’s what the internet was for.
When the sandwiches were made, Lily wandered out onto the deck with her phone.
She still hadn’t heard anything from Alex.
Her happiness for Juliet, the whole Wilson debacle, and her mother’s insensitive reference somehow made it impossible to stop her thoughts from circling back to him.
She was sure she didn’t like him. But she was interested in him.
Her thumb hovered over the screen, hesitated, then quickly typed Happy New Year.
That was genuine and not at all reproachful.
She was surprised to receive a swift reply.
HNY to you too! Sorry missed the fun last night— would have loved to see the NY in with you but thought I should keep my distance—didn’t want to ruin the atmos :). Still at the Point—back in a few days—we’ll hang out then?
Clever boy. Such a perfect tone of unaffected charm— she could read into it just the right amount of frisson. She was in the middle of composing the exactly right reply (friendly without tipping over into creepiness or expectation) when Rosie interrupted her with an outraged shriek.
“O-M-freaking-G! They’re leaving!” She was on the edge of the deck with the telescope trained on the cliff house.
“Who? What? Not Casey!” shouted Lydia from inside. She stormed out and grabbed the telescope. “He’s coming kayaking. I didn’t give up on my hangover to go on a picnic with just you lot!”
Juliet, following right behind, was certain that there must be some mistake.
But Lydia zoomed in on the activity at the south end, and there was no doubt.
Those were suitcases, the big suitcases, and the guy from the yacht hire place was back, helping them move luggage from the house to the boat.
Cecilia and Yumi had switched bikinis and braids for full-flowing maxi dresses and carefully blown-out waves.
Casey was hauling freight, head down, and Dorian, infuriatingly, was on his phone.
“Right. I’m going down there,” announced Lydia.
Jane and a distressed Juliet tried to talk her out of it.
In the end, it was only the sight of Casey tearing up the beach toward them that stopped Lydia from storming the house and/or the boat with a cricket bat.
Luckily, at the same moment, there happened to be a kitchen emergency (Martin broke the toaster and set off the fire alarm again), so Lydia and Jane missed Casey’s appearance on the deck completely. It was brief.
“I’m so sorry,” he panted at Juliet, Lily, and a pouting Rosie. “We got a call—got to go now—so boring, just stuff. But Dorian says we have to, so …” He shot an almost furtive look over his shoulder at the yacht, as if he was worried he’d be in trouble if he were caught.
“Is everything okay?” asked Juliet.
“Yeah, it’s just work. You know. God.” He hugged Juliet close. “It’s been awesome. Just … awesome,” he said into her hair, with such intensity that everyone felt close to tears. And as speedily as he’d arrived, he was back on the path, running backward, making promises.
“I’ll call you!”
“Wait! You don’t have my number!”
“Soon!”
“My number, though!”
“I’ll get it from Cece!” he yelled. “Love you guys!”
And then he was gone.
All Juliet and Lily could do was exchange a look of disbelief.
The drama in the kitchen was over and the whole family gathered to watch the yacht reverse from the dock, turn, and glide away as though it were carrying strangers, all to a running commentary of Lydia’s swear words.
No one could quite believe it. What could possibly be so important that they should have to leave so quickly?
On New Year’s Day? When they had already made sandwiches?
And Casey and Juliet had quite literally only just gotten together?
Nobody was in the mood for kayaking or picnicking anymore, except Wilson and Nicola, who went off together in a double kayak, found a deserted beach, hiked through pristine bushland, frolicked in a hidden waterfall, and later declared it was the best day of the whole summer.
Wilson couldn’t stop raving about it and said it was almost as good as a certain megastar’s private beach hideaway in Malibu that he went to once with Stacy Black and, honestly, nobody should be at all surprised that the movie people left so suddenly, this is what the business is like. Unpredictable.
Juliet texted Cecilia but got no answer until late that night. “So sorry, we had so much fun hanging out.”
And that was it.