Chapter 14 #2
“Oh my goodness,” Nikki said, flabbergasted.
“I know, right? He does incredible work. He usually keeps before pictures on the bench,” Riley said, going to look. “Here they are.”
Nikki went to join him. “That is the same boat?” she asked of the wreck in the pictures.
“No way.”
They flipped through a photo album of before-and-after pictures.
“That’s the one he recently did for my uncle,” Riley said. “My aunt Linda gave it to him for their fortieth anniversary.”
“It’s beautiful. He’s got a real gift.”
“Yes, he does. He’s in hot demand.”
“Why doesn’t he do it full-time?”
“I asked him that once, and he said that before Mac started the construction business, he used to spend all winter working alone on boats, and that turned him into a bit of a weirdo loner. He prefers working with us to being alone all the time, so the boat business is more of a hobby these days.”
“Is this whole island full of talented people, or does it just seem that way to someone who feels like she has no real talents?”
“You have talents.”
“Like what?”
“You must’ve been super organized to run Jordan’s career for her.”
“I was.”
“That’s a true talent and not something you should dismiss as no big deal.”
“I think I’m a pretty good cook, too.”
“That pumpkin bread was really good, as was the pasta sauce.”
Smiling, she said, “I’m glad you liked it. I also take really cool photos.”
“I’d love to see them sometime.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “You’re a really good kisser, too.”
“Does that count as an actual talent?”
“Oh yeah. For sure.”
She looked up at him. “I’m glad you came back today. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you hadn’t.”
“Not coming back never occurred to me.”
She reached up to bring him down for a kiss. “Means a lot.”
Riley put his arms around her and hugged her.
That’s where Luke found them when he returned to the barn. “Sorry to interrupt,” he said. “I would’ve knocked, but it’s my barn.”
Riley laughed and released her.
Nikki felt her face get hot with embarrassment. “Your work is amazing.”
“Thanks. It’s fun.”
“We’re going to head out,” Riley said. “I’m sure I’ll talk to you later on.”
“Snow’s coming around six, or so they say. We’ll see. Get a nap this afternoon. Could be a long night.”
“Will do.”
“Nice to meet you, Luke.”
“You, too, Nikki.”
Riley put his arm around her as they walked to his truck, and Nikki felt a profound sense of relief to realize that nothing had changed between them after her panic attack.
He was sticking with her, and for that, she was thankful.
She liked him more than she’d ever liked any guy, and over lunch, she would tell him the truth.
If only the thought of revisiting the darkest days of her life didn’t make her feel so sick.
Riley took her to The Oar, which was open for lunch and dinner on the weekends during the winter. He and Finn tended to stick closer to town when they went out, so Riley hadn’t been there in a while.
“I love this place,” Nikki said, gazing at the thousands of painted oars that graced every available surface inside the restaurant. Tucked into a cozy corner, they had the place more or less to themselves when it would be packed to the gills on a summer day.
“My name is on a couple of them,” he said of the oars. “We used to do one every summer when I worked at my uncle’s marina.”
“Jordan and I used to talk about doing one for Eastward Look, but we never got around to it.”
“Have you heard anything from her?”
Nikki shook her head. “I texted her last night just to say hi, but she hasn’t replied.”
“I suppose no news is good news, right?”
“I’d like to think so, but who knows with them.”
When the waitress came to take their order, they both requested lobster rolls with fries along with draught beer. Riley requested his lobster roll without mayo.
“Is it a lobster roll without mayo?”
“Mayo is the biggest gagger of all the gaggers.”
“What the hell is a gagger?”
“The gross stuff that people have to put on food to make it edible.”
“Do you mean condiments?”
“Everything except ketchup, which doesn’t count as a gagger.”
“Good to know,” she said, clearly amused by his food rules.
“Having lobster will be like summer in January,” Riley said.
“I love summer in January. Thank you again for taking me to meet Sydney and Luke. They’re really great people.”
“They are. He’s a good guy to work with and for. I really like him.”
“I can see why. I can’t stop thinking about what you told me about her and what happened to her family. I really admire the way she’s put her life back together.”
“According to what I’ve heard from Mac and others, it didn’t happen overnight. Took a long time.”
“I can only imagine.” Nikki took a sip from her beer. “I admire her because, as you might’ve already figured out, I’m still trying to put my own pieces back together.”
He laid his hand over hers on the table. “Anything you want to tell me, I want to hear. I want to know you, Nikki. Really know you.”
Curling her fingers around his, she said, “You’re very sweet, and that helps.
” She licked lips that’d gone dry the way they always did when her anxiety kicked in.
“I went to college in Chicago and met Griffin at freshman orientation. We were in the same group and hit it off the first day. I had no idea who he was until after school started and someone told me he was a big star on the basketball team. He never told me that. I took that as a good sign that he wasn’t caught up in his own hype, you know? ”
“I can see that, for sure.”
“Anyway, we hung out here and there, and I remember my roommate asking me if I was his girlfriend or his buddy. I honestly didn’t know, and I wasn’t in any great rush to make it into something. I was busy adapting to school and being away from my sister for the first time in my life.”
“Where did she go to school?”
“She didn’t. She decided to pursue the modeling career, so she stayed in California.
” She took a deep breath, forcing herself to continue to tell a story that filled her with dread and despair and every other emotion.
“Junior year, we started actually dating and Griffin asked me to go to a party with him at his fraternity. My friends in the dorm were jealous because everyone wanted to go to that party, and it was invite only. I felt special, which is ironic in hindsight. Right away, I realized I was in way over my head at that party. People were drinking anything and everything, and I’d never been much of a drinker.
I had a vodka tonic to go along with the group, but I didn’t really like how it tasted, so I didn’t drink much of it.
The party got really wild, and I decided to leave.
I had no idea where Griffin was, so I got the hell out of there and walked back to my dorm.
I remember how cold it was and how stupid I felt for having gone there in the first place. ”
Their food was served, and while Nikki wasn’t sure she could eat, she took a few tentative bites.
“My roommate had gone home for the weekend, so I was asleep when someone pounded on my door at four in the morning. It never occurred to me that it would be him. I figured it was someone from the dorm who’d gotten locked out of their room or something.
I still think about what would’ve been different if I hadn’t opened that door. ”
Riley signaled for the waitress. “Would you mind boxing this up to go for us?”
“Of course. Is everything all right?”
“Yes, thanks. We’ll take our check, too.”
“Coming right up.”
“We don’t have to go,” Nikki said softly.
“I don’t want you to have to do this in public. I’m sorry I didn’t think of that before.”
“Don’t apologize. I didn’t think of it either.”
He signed for the check, pocketed his credit card and helped her into her coat.
“I was supposed to treat you.”
“Next time.”
He helped her into the passenger side of his truck, and before he could close the door, she stopped him with a hand to his face. “Thank you for knowing what I needed before I did.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I needed to get out of there, too.
” He handed her the to-go bag, gave her a quick kiss, closed the door and went around to the driver’s side.
As he drove them back to Eastward Look, he held her hand, tighter than usual, as tension came off him in waves that had her worrying that maybe she shouldn’t tell him the rest.
When they were back at the house, he put their lunch in the fridge and guided her into the living room with a hand on her lower back.
The protective, proprietary way he touched her gave her the courage to tell him the rest of the story when they were seated together on the sofa.