Chapter 27
twenty-seven
Chris
I let Percy drag me out of the restaurant and onto the starlit street, my mind still reeling.
What the hell just happened?
Dinner had been a disaster. We’d barely been able to say a word to each other without cringing, and I’m sure even the poor servers could’ve cut the awkwardness with a knife.
I swear I caught one woman at a neighboring table giving me a sympathetic smile like she wanted to reach over, pat my head, and whisper poor thing.
Then, to top it all off, we’d argued over the bill. Which, as Percy so kindly pointed out, was ridiculous. Not only is it a pretty stupid thing to get so worked up over in the first place, it doubly doesn’t matter since money is meaningless as long as we’re trapped in a time loop.
But that abysmal dinner had left me so on edge that I’d seized the first opportunity I could to unleash my frustration.
I hadn’t realized how much I wanted our date to go well until I was sitting there, watching it crumble around me.
And not only because it had been my plan, though that’s part of it.
I’d just thought…well, it doesn’t matter what I’d thought or hoped or whatever. The whole stupid thing had been an enormous mistake. Trying to force something to happen between us will only lead to more heartache.
Except…
Except now, we’re standing outside the restaurant, and Percy still hasn’t let go of my hand. “Look,” he says, gesturing down Main Street with his free hand.
I follow his gaze and hiss in a breath. For the first time since arriving on Mackinac Island, I reel beneath the full impact of its charm.
During the day, it’s easy to get lost in the touristy shops and seas of screaming kids.
But here at night, with the crowds thinned out, the old-fashioned streetlights illuminating the cobblestones and white clapboard buildings, and not a single car engine to be heard, it’s downright magical.
“It’s beautiful,” I whisper. He squeezes my fingers. I’m not sure if he means to do it or if he’s as enraptured by the moment as I am, but either way, I squeeze back.
“I’d sort of forgotten why I fell in love with this place as a kid,” he admits, eyes wide as he slowly pans up and down the street before turning to smile at me. “It’s like nowhere else I’ve ever been. It’s special.”
I swallow and nod, but it’s his face I’m looking at now, not the town, no matter how idyllic it might be. “Yes. It is.”
We hold each other’s gaze for a long moment, and my breath quickens as Percy’s eyes half-close, his lips parting slightly as he shifts closer. Almost like he wants me to—
Hooves clomp over cobblestones, and we both spin in unison to see a literal carriage twinkling with string lights pull up outside the restaurant. A man with bushy eyebrows dressed in a heavy black coat and wide hat smiles down at us.
“You boys care for a ride?” he calls.
“Um…” I glance at Percy, but he’s staring at the carriage with something akin to wonder. “We don’t have anywhere we need to go.”
The man chuckles and reaches out to pat the horse’s mane. “Why, that’s the best time to go for a ride! I can do a slow loop around downtown, give you a chance to relax and take in the island at night. What do you say?”
Sometime in the last minute or so, Percy had dropped my hand. My fingers feel cold without his warm touch. I glance at him, and he gives me a little shrug, but I’m not fooled. He might be feigning nonchalance, but his excitement is palpable.
“All right,” I sigh, unable to suppress a grin when he beams at me. “I guess we’re in.”
Percy and I climb up into the carriage, and the man clacks his reins to get the horse moving.
True to his word, he goes slow, calling out greetings to other carriage drivers as we pass them, along with a few pedestrians I assume must be locals or at least regulars.
Turns out our driver’s name is Frank, and while he wasn’t born on Mackinac Island, he’s lived here for over twenty years ever since falling in love with the place on a vacation.
He and Percy exchange a few stories before Frank frowns, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “Wentworth, Wentworth…you don’t happen to know a Robert Wentworth, do you?”
Percy stiffens beside me, his eyes widening. “That’s my dad!”
Frank chuckles and shakes his head. “Well, now, it’s a small world, ain’t it?
He and that girl o’ his, Lizzie, used to come out here all the time.
Can’t remember the number of times I’d give them a ride back to their place, drunk and happy as could be.
Why, I remember carting people back and forth for their wedding day.
Been a while since I’ve seen ’em though. How are your folks doing?”
Percy takes a moment to answer, and I glance at him, worried about his reaction.
Mentioning his mom’s been enough to send him into a spiral in past iterations, and sure enough, I catch his eyes glistening.
But maybe this trip really is helping him process his grief because he wears a tremulous smile as well.
He leans into me, and I lean back instinctively, wanting to offer as much comfort as I can.
My hand itches to reach for the fingers he’s anxiously tapping on his leg, but I don’t quite dare.
“My mom passed a year ago,” he says. His voice is surprisingly steady, only wavering a hair, and he keeps his face carefully composed other than a tightening around his eyes. “Cancer.”
Frank bows his head. “My condolences, son. She seemed like a lovely lady.”
Percy’s smile grows more genuine. “She was.”
Talk turns to less fraught topics after that.
Frank makes for a great tour guide, pointing out local spots as we pass them and inundating us with all the juicy gossip and small-town facts you won’t find in any book.
I wonder if he does this for all his passengers or if Percy’s earned some kind of special treatment.
I should probably be paying more attention to what he says—after all, this is the kind of insider info we’ve spent entire cycles searching for in the past, trying to glean any tidbit that might apply to our situation.
But all I can think about is the beautiful boy pressed against me, sharing my warmth, and the equally beautiful town spread out around me.
Disappointment curls through me when we finally come to a halt outside the Royal Lilac. Stepping down from the carriage is almost like waking up from a dream. We wave goodbye to Frank and watch the carriage trundle away.
“Well,” I chuckle, desperate to fill the silence before it can grow. “Hopefully, that makes up for dinner.”
Percy beams at me. “I’d say so. Disaster averted.”
“Good. I’m glad it wasn’t the worst date in history, even if the loop’s going to reset it in a few hours.” I glance toward the front doors. “So…I guess we should head inside?”
Something passes over Percy’s face, but before I can make sense of it, he’s got my hand in his again and is pulling me into the street. He looks back at me, his eyes bright and shining. His grin takes my breath away. “The night’s still young. Come on! There’s someplace I want to show you.”
Hand in hand, we follow the road as it winds away from downtown, the buildings and streetlights growing sparser until we’re walking in near darkness lit only by the moon. Trees line our right, and the rocky lake shore meanders along our left.
I eye the shifting shadows warily. Maybe I shouldn’t have spent so much time brainstorming that story about an island serial killer. “You’re not taking me into the wilderness to murder me, right? I mean, dinner wasn’t that bad.”
My body reacts entirely too needily to Percy’s throaty chuckle. “Don’t worry. No one’s dying tonight.”
A stone or root catches my foot, and I stumble, directing a glare at the unseen object. “You sure about that? The hazardous terrain might get me if you don’t.”
“I have faith you’ll survive. Besides, we’re almost there.”
“And where exactly are we going?”
I don’t need to be able to see Percy’s face in the darkness to know he’s grinning at me. “You’ll see.”
And okay, as aggravating and unhelpful as that response is, I’ve gotta admit, I kind of dig this new, assertive Percy—the one who seems a lot less self-conscious and a lot more willing to violate my personal space. Little tingles shoot through me at the thought. Percy’s hand in mine burns.
It’s not a terribly long walk, and soon enough, he leads me off the road onto a trail.
We follow the path up a short incline to a set of narrow stone steps that open onto an outcropping overlooking the water below.
A low stone wall surrounds the sides, no doubt to stop dumb tourists like us from tumbling off.
“This is Sunset Rock,” Percy explains as he tugs me further out along the bluff until we reach the short wall at the tip.
We stand there, pressed shoulder to shoulder.
“I used to come out here all the time when I needed to get away. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made this walk from the Royal Lilac.
Sometimes, I’d watch the sunset with the other tourists.
Other times, I’d wait until it was dark, like this, so I could lie down and gaze up at the stars.
” He shifts, his shoulder rubbing against mine, and lets out a low laugh.
“I mean, I know I could’ve done the same thing in the Royal Lilac’s garden, but it felt more personal this way.
Like the night sky was for me and no one else.
I guess that sounds pretty stupid, huh?”
“Not at all.” In fact, I can imagine it all too easily—Percy overwhelmed by the demands of others and desperate for escape. Isn’t that basically what had happened winter break our freshman year?