Chapter Nine #2
He quickly caught me looking at him, winking when we made eye contact. My stomach swirled, but I forced myself to peel my banana and take a bite. “How’d you sleep last night?” Connor called.
“Fine.” I shrugged, even though I hadn’t woken up once—a rarity for me. “How about you?”
“Swede and I had the sweetest dreams,” he replied, then checked his watch and whistled. “Troops, time to head out!”
I watched him shuttle Finn and Teddy outside, and for some reason, I pushed away from the island and followed them. The early-morning clouds had cleared, the sun now shining brightly and a breeze rippling.
“Remind me how often you’re going to reapply?” Connor was asking Teddy as they headed down the front walk.
“Every time we switch sessions,” he replied.
“You’re a genius, my man,” Connor patted his shoulder, then turned to his brother. “Finn, the hat.”
He groaned. “But…”
“Girls don’t like backward hats,” Connor said. “Mary-Grace Van Cleve is never—”
“He likes Claire Dupré now,” Teddy chimed in.
“I do not!” Finn’s voice jumped, but I caught him peek at Connor’s front facing baseball cap before he flipped his around to match.
Someone was clearly an icon.
“Hey!” I called right before they hit the driveway, all three guys turning to face me. “I…” Totally didn’t have anything to say. “Uh, have a question.”
“What is it?” Teddy asked. “We have a schedule.”
“And we’re actually running ahead of time for once,” Connor said. He smiled at me. “What’s up?”
I thought quickly. “We don’t have a shower.”
“Because you’re staying at Summer Camp,” Teddy said, as if that explained everything.
Summer Camp. Our nook’s name again made me think of my favorite Polaroid of Annie—barefoot and smiling with a glass of wine as she posed beside that mysterious green tractor.
“No, our bathroom doesn’t have a shower,” Connor confirmed. “But the outdoor shower’s right off the porch.” He sighed happily. “If heaven were a place on earth…”
I made a face. “An outdoor shower?”
“Wait, have you never taken an outdoor shower?” he asked and laughed when I wrinkled my nose. Finn and Teddy did too. “You’re missing out!”
Was I? Because I didn’t really see the appeal of a shower that didn’t involve steaming up a mirror. Maybe my dad and Erica would let me use their shower.
By way of goodbye, Connor nodded toward the garage; I did a double take when I saw the boys climbing into my car, a blue-gray Jeep Wrangler. Except no, it wasn’t my car, because I hadn’t taken its top off or driven up here or have a Pennsylvania license plate.
I also definitely did not have a Hilton Head sticker on my back bumper.
But a shiver still ran up my spine, not only recognizing that sticker, but also realizing something. I’d seen Connor’s car before—I’d seen it only weeks ago, in a parking lot on a drizzling, dreary night.
And I’d mistaken it for mine.
Last night he’d said he was from Newtown. Elkins Village was in Newtown—it’d definitely been his Jeep I’d accidentally climbed into that night. Beyond embarrassing, but it also made me wonder what relative of his lived there.
Did he visit often?
Now wasn’t the time to ask, and I found I didn’t want to ask. Because while I could talk about Annie, I knew I would tear up if I also mentioned Elkins.
“Have fun at camp,” I told Finn and Teddy.
“You’re welcome to tag along,” Connor said. “We can walk around Edgartown after dropping them off.”
“Oh, that’s really nice,” I said, truly tempted. Because one of Annie’s Polaroids showed her in front of the island’s Old Whaling Church, and, thanks to my research, I knew the Old Whaling Church was in Edgartown. This was the perfect opportunity to start following in her footsteps.
Although I hesitated, as if I weren’t ready to explore Annie’s past yet.
“But I should take a shower and then actually eat breakfast before we leave for the beach.”
“Will you still be there at three?” Teddy, eavesdropping, called from the Jeep.
“I can teach you how to crab!” Finn added.
Connor chuckled. “Dude, what about Claire Dupré?” He shook his head, then turned to salute me. “Duty calls…”
“I see you met Connor,” Sage appeared at my side once Connor’s Jeep had disappeared down the driveway. “He’s something, right?”
“Yeah.” I nodded. “He’s definitely…happy.”
That was the only word for him.
“Oh, yes,” she agreed. “I’ve only known him a couple days, but I think he’s living his best life.” She smiled. “It’s hard not to on the Vineyard.”
I smiled back, hoping it was true.
* * *
The Carmichaels had a small stretch of Oyster Pond Beach, but Nick—who seemed to be the unofficial cruise director—hustled everyone and their beach gear down the dock and into a bobbing Boston Whaler.
This group was all cousins; someone would circle back for my dad, Erica, and other, older adults.
“Where are we going?” Bryce asked once Nick fired up the boat’s engine.
“Over there.” Charlie pointed across the pond, toward the horizon. I could see the bright blue ocean, but there was a beach in the foreground, dotted with a rainbow of beach chairs and umbrellas. “Since we don’t have ocean access, our friends let us use their beach.”
“You mean they own it?” I asked, incredulous. The closer the Whaler puttered, the bigger the beach looked. “The whole thing?”
Charlie nodded. “The whole mile, yes.”
Wow, I thought. And I thought the Carmichaels’ spread was something…
Sage dropped the anchor several yards from shore; the sunbathed water came up to my knees, but it was refreshing as I waded to land, the sand soft beneath my feet.
Although my heart lurched when I felt something scuttle over my toes.
“Hey, are there crabs…” I started to ask, but trailed off upon noticing a pack of children wielding tall nets in the pond’s shallows. What had Finn told me earlier?
“I can teach you how to crab!”
As if on cue, a curly-haired boy skillfully scooped a blue crab out of the water, its orange-tipped claws tangled in the netting. “Everyone, look!” a girl in a pink suit shouted. “Look what Oliver caught!”
Bryce and Maisie couldn’t join the scene fast enough; once Charlie had scouted out the perfect place to make camp, my siblings dumped their stuff and fled back to the pond. I watched in wonder; Bryce immediately started helping Oliver untangle his crab while another kid offered Maisie her net.
Oh, to be ten, I lamented, but I unlocked my phone to snap some photos. Annie would love them.
Soon I went from photographer to lifeguard.
“I’ll keep an eye on them,” Luke offered as I shifted from one foot to the other.
His pinging phone was nowhere to be seen; he now looked like he was in total vacation mode, wearing a frayed baseball cap with his sunglasses.
He popped the tab of a lemon La Croix once he’d collapsed into his beach chair. “You relax, alright?”
I nodded, then unfolded my own beach chair and spread out my striped towel behind it, for a little shade. I liked to bake in the sun for a while before taking a dip, so after stretching out on my towel, I flipped open my book.
But someone called my name mid-sentence. “Olivia!”
I glanced over my shoulder to see Nick waving me toward him.
“Guys, this is my elusive step-cousin, Olivia…” he joked when I joined him and Sage. They stood near a huge circle of beach chairs. Music played from a nearby speaker and some people held playing cards while others sipped iced coffee.
“Hi.” I summoned a smile and wave. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too!” One woman smiled back. Her sun-streaked hair was up in a Tinkerbell top-knot and she wore funky sunglasses. Tortoiseshell with flecks of pink, white, and yellow. “I’m Meredith.”
“Our fearless leader.” The blond guy next to her affectionately squeezed her knee, then looked at me. “I’m Stephen, her groom.”
“But we call him Wit,” said the tanned brunette on his other side. “Even though his is questionable…”
Wit laughed. “I love you too, Luli!”
Luli smirked before introducing her husband, and then a guy in a T-shirt reading JUST FLOSS cleared his throat. “Olivia, have you met Connor McCallister yet?”
I raised an eyebrow. “You know him too?”
The court of beach chairs collectively cracked up, and the man nodded. “I’ve met him once or twice—”
“Austin!” A sophisticated blond kicked some sand at him. Austin caught her foot and she squealed when he squeezed it. His wedding band glinted in the sunlight.
“Get a cabana,” Wit said, even though there were none in sight.
“Name a year, Olivia,” Austin ignored him. “Name a year and I’ll be able to tell you what Connor was for Halloween. I’ve known him forever; he’s best friends with my younger sister.”
“Small world!” I said, because wow, was it ever. A really small one. First a near-rom-com moment at Connor’s and my grandparents’ retirement community, and now this?
The blond raised her sunglasses to give me a look. “Be gentle with him, okay?”
“Katie…” Meredith sighed as a ripple went up my spine. Be gentle?
What was that supposed to mean?
“I’m serious!” Katie exclaimed. “He has—”
“A big heart,” Austin finished for her. “Connor has a really big heart.”
Hmm, I thought, but before I could turn that over in my head, the entire vibe shifted—from fun and lighthearted to serious and all business.
“Mer, he’s here!” Luli whisper-yelled. “He’s unloading the surfboards from the Scout.”
“Here we go…” Sage said at the same time Meredith dropped to the sand and reached for a Super Soaker stowed under her chair. Nick clapped his hands and rubbed them together, excited for whatever was about to play out, but Sage made eye contact with me. “You feel like floundering?”
“What’s floundering?” I asked as she elbowed her distracted fiancé.
“Oh, man.” Nick turned to us, his blue eyes twinkling. “You have much to learn, cousin.”
Not your cousin, I thought, even though I smiled and raced after him and Sage into the water.
* * *