Chapter 19
CARTER
My sheets smell like her. The cotton still holds the heat from her body. I press my face into the pillowcase and grin.
The balcony doors are cracked open from last night, and I slide on my joggers, standing at the railing.
The yard below has been converted into a full-scale Independence Day production.
There are folding tables and a photo backdrop that’s half assembled.
Josie is in the center of it, directing traffic with a clipboard that’s decorated with stickers. She spots me seconds later.
“Hey! Can you help? Could use your muscles.”
“Good morning to you too!”
“Good morning. Now, please?”
“Sure, sure. Give me five minutes.”
I change clothes and head downstairs. The folding table weighs nothing, but Josie points to a spot under the porch, and I set it exactly where her finger aims and go back for the others.
“Could use a brother-in-law like you,” she says.
“You don’t have to suck up,” I tell her, grabbing the last two.
Preston passes me, hauling a portable bar on his shoulder. He sets it under the pergola and writes drink specials on a wide chalkboard—Coconut Crush, Seaside Sunrise, and Rip Curl.
“The Rip Curl?” I ask.
Preston uncaps a bottle of rum. “Three of those, and you’ll propose to someone. Ask me how I know.”
“Noted.”
By ten, the heat is already suffocating.
String lights hang between the porch posts, and the picnic tables wear flag-covered cloths, held down by mason jars filled with red, white, and blue marbles.
Josie’s hand-painted banner stretches across the front, saying Seaside Summer Celebration in perfect bubble letters.
Mia stands on a ladder and puts together a backdrop with silver streamers and glittery stars.
She hands me a staple gun without looking down at me.
“Can you hold the top-left corner up? Don’t bend the stars.”
“Wouldn’t dare.”
“So …” She glances around and waits until we’re completely alone. “Did you finish the book? What did you think?”
“It was a great book. Annoying that he wouldn’t be honest.”
“Relatable?” she asks with a brow popped.
My hand stalls as I squeeze the staple gun. The vacation romance novel she sold me read like a personal attack. I narrow my eyes and open my mouth to ask her what the fuck she knows, but Gale’s voice carries across the yard.
“Mia! Josie is searching for you!”
Gale wears a floral dress with big firework earrings that dangle when she moves. Families walk through the front gates, and she greets every single one of them, both hands out, like they’re returning guests at a reunion she’s been planning for months.
Wendy appears behind her grandmother, and her eyes find mine across the yard. It’s just a glance, but it’s enough to make my mouth go dry.
“Mm-hmm,” Mia says, climbing down from the ladder. “You’re not fooling me, Banks.”
A kid, who’s around five, is running with a sparkler. I brace myself as he slams into my legs at full speed.
His mom chases after him, yelling, “Matthew! Matthew!”
He holds up the sparkler like a sword, grinning. “Wanna see something cool?”
“Yes, just watch where you’re swinging it.”
He waves it as fast as humanly possible in a circle and sparks spread everywhere. A few land on my shorts, and I brush them off.
He runs off.
His mom mouths, Sorry.
The yard fills with more people, and I know it’s going to be a long day.
The sun heats the grass, and the smell of hot dogs and sunscreen drifts in the air.
Josie’s playlist fills the background of conversations.
Preston pours drinks with a smile, bragging on the B&B.
Wendy stands near the bar, under the shade with Cora, who I’ve met a few times.
Preston hands Wendy an orange drink with grenadine on top.
It’s a Coconut Crush. She drinks it while she talks to guests.
Twenty minutes later, he makes her another one.
By the third, her laugh is louder. I’ve heard it in bed, on the beach, and at the farmers market. It’s a sound I never want to forget.
I walk to the area and order one. While Preston pours, my hand finds the small of Wendy’s back on instinct.
“Subtle,” Preston says, under his breath.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Wendy says, turning her back to him.
Preston grins and hands me my drink. “Don’t drink it too fast.”
She leans into me, and the warmth of her skin makes me want to wrap my arm around her. Our hips touch, and she doesn’t pull away.
The Coconut Crush is dangerous, just like Preston warned.
It’s sweet enough that I can’t taste any of the rum.
When the sun sets, I’ve had two. Josie yells for a group photo.
Wendy grabs my hand, pulling me into it with her.
My arm wraps around her, and Mia takes the shot.
I want that photo. I want proof that this summer happened.
“You should stop looking at me like that,” she whispers, twirling around in that white sundress. It wrecks me.
“Make me,” I say as she moves to the grass to dance with Josie and Fallon.
The playlist shifts to something upbeat, and the three of them spin around and laugh. The rest of the party disappears as I watch Wendy having the time of her life.
“You’ve got it bad,” Preston says from behind the bar.
“Not sure what you’re talking about.”
“You do.”
I take a long sip, and Preston makes me another one without asking.
“You should stop playing games.”
“I’m not taking directives.”
“Just know time is limited, New York. You’ve gotta start living the sweet life before it passes you by.” He squeezes my shoulder.
The Coconut Crush I empty makes the decision for me. I cross the yard toward Wendy. She’s flushed from dancing in the July heat, and when she turns and sees me coming, the corner of her mouth lifts.
“Dance with me,” I say, holding out my hand.
“People will see.”
“And?”
She interlocks her fingers with mine, and I pull her in close to me.
We sway to whatever Josie cued up, and her head rests against my chest. Her hair smells like coconut, and her arms tighten around my waist. I close my eyes, wanting to soak in the moment.
This woman and this island are the best things to have happened to me in years.
I press my mouth against the top of her head and breathe her in.
Fallon catches my eye from across the yard and raises her beer. Each time she looks at me, it’s like she’s trying to figure me out.
“Walk with me,” I whisper in Wendy’s ear.
We stroll toward the beach. The party sounds fade as the sand takes over. Surf competition banners snap in the wind. The sky bleeds purple at the edges, and the ocean catches the last strip of orange before it disappears.
My arm settles across her shoulders. She doesn’t move away.
“Fallon and I made a deal,” she says. “If she enters the surf competition, I enter. She signed us up before I could talk myself out of it.”
I look down at her. “You’re competing?”
“You’re the reason I’m doing it.” She takes a sip, and the words come out fast, like she’s trying to outrun them.
“You made me realize how much I’d missed being in the water.
I spent years telling myself I’d quit because the environment was toxic, and that’s true, but I’d also quit because I was afraid I wasn’t good enough. You never let me sit in that.”
I pull her closer and press my mouth against her temple, and her skin is warm from the sun. “You were never not good enough.”
The first firework launches from a barge off the coast. Red and white sparks spread across the sky, and the boom rolls over the water a second later. Gold and blue follow, crackling outward, and the light catches in Wendy’s hair.
My arm tightens around her, and she leans back against my shoulder. Her body fits against mine, and the B&B glows behind us, lit up and packed with people. Her sister’s celebration worked.
The woman in my arms smells like rum and coconut, and I hold her like August doesn’t exist.
“What are you smiling about?” she asks.
“I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,” I tell her.
“Me too,” she says, and it’s music to my fucking ears.
Knowing how close I was to missing this experience makes me want to laugh. As soon as the celebration is over, I have to tell her everything. She has to know.
The firework finale starts, and the sky cracks open with a display of shimmering gold and silver.
The booms come so fast, and the beach lights up.
Wendy turns toward me. Her brown eyes catch the light, and the gold flecks in them sparkle.
Her hands frame my face, and she rises onto her toes.
I’ve lived a lifetime of control, and none of it matters because I’m about to kiss this woman in front of the entire island.
Our eyes close, and I move forward, only to—
“Wendy?” a deep, confident voice says, and it’s followed by a laugh.
Her fingers drop from my face, and she pulls back away from me. My hands fall from her waist, and the moment slips through my fingers.
A man stands ten feet away. He’s wearing linen pants and a white button-down with the sleeves rolled. A leather duffel is in his hand. The finale explodes above us, and his face lights up with gold and white. His gaze moves from Wendy to me.
I recognize him before either of them says anything.
The photo on her phone has been burned into my mind since I saw it.
His hand was on her ass, and both of them were laughing on a beach.
He’s taller than I expected, the same height as me, and he’s built like he takes care of himself.
Wendy clearly has a type, and I’m looking at the previous model.
He smiles, but it doesn’t meet his eyes. I can read that reaction clearly—because I’ve worn it before. I’m his replacement. In another life, I’d probably like the guy. We’d buy each other a drink and talk shit about the same things.
Wendy steps away from me.
“What are you doing here?” she asks him like she’s seen a ghost.
He moves forward, placing his hand on her shoulder. “I came to apologize, Wen. I’m so fucking sorry.”
Wendy glances around. “Please don’t do this here.”
“I’ve texted you and—”
“Adam,” she says, stepping away from him.
The last group of fireworks fades, and the crowd cheers.
“Is this one of your friends? Hey, man. I’m Adam Harris.”
He holds his hand out and shakes mine. It’s a strong handshake, respectable.
“Carter Banks.”
“The fireworks show was one of the best I’ve seen,” he says, glancing at the fading smoke. “Wen, your grandmother told me to come find you. She’s up at the house. Needs help with my reservation.”
Wendy stares at him like he’s lost his mind. “You’re staying?”
“We need to talk,” he says, glancing at me. “Soon.”
“I’ll be up there in a minute.” She turns away from him.
Adam returns toward the B&B, and I move to Wendy. She’s walking at an angry pace, and I grab her elbow.
“Hey, talk to me,” I tell her. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” she says, breathing out.
Wendy and I stand in the dark while the crowd thins around us. I wish there weren’t space between us.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
“No. My ex …” Her voice comes out flat.
I don’t touch her because the way she pulled away from me is still fresh, and I need to figure out what happens next.
“Does he still have a chance?” I ask.
Wendy stares at the water. “I don’t know.”
A no, I could work with.
I don’t know means she’s not over him. Those five years don’t disappear because I showed up for the summer, and we had good times.
“He’s not supposed to be here,” she says, and her voice cracks on the last word. “This complicates everything.”
“For us?”
She turns and looks at me, and her eyes are glassy from the rum, or the situation, or both. “Everything.”
I want to touch her. I want to pull her close and tell her I choose her.
“I have to deal with this,” she says, defeated. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” I say.
She walks toward the B&B, and I stay behind. Adam is on the porch, talking to Gale. Her hand is on his arm, and she’s laughing at something he said. Wendy’s stride shortens as she moves closer. If at any point in my life I wish I could read someone’s thoughts, it’s now.
He works Gale and charms her without really trying. “I missed Wendy so much and saw some promotions about the celebration online. Considering the Fourth of July is one of Wendy’s favorite holidays, I thought, why not?”
“Aw,” Gale says. “That’s adorable. You’re adorable.”
Josie steps beside Wendy before they take the stairs up to the deck. Josie’s expression says everything. She’s pissed, but she says something to Wendy, then hugs her.
Wendy takes the stairs to the deck, and the three of them enter the B&B together.
The party winds down, and tourists drift toward the bonfire on the beach. Mia packs up the photo backdrop, and Josie stacks chairs. The string lights glow above the trampled grass, and I stand near the bar alone, pulling out my phone, texting Jameson.
Banks
Happy Fourth!
Jameson
You too, man. How’s the beach?
Banks
Great!
Jameson
Will you still be back on the 3rd?
Banks
That’s still the plan.
I tuck my phone into my pocket and go back to the B&B.
I don’t pass Wendy, Gale, or Adam. My room is dark, and I sit on the balcony, replaying the night.
The Coconut Crushes wear off, and the clarity that replaces them is worse than any hangover will be.
I rub the back of my neck because tension is building at the base of my skull.
I’m the rebound.
The thought sits with me.
I told her I’d stay if she asked, and she refused.
Adam smiled at me, knowing he has the upper hand with their history.
Wendy chose him once, and she could choose him again.
Does he have a chance?
I don’t know.
I lie back and stare at the star-filled sky, wishing I could see into the future.