Chapter 1 More Honest, Not More Careful #5
Kit winked at me and headed for the pool, phone already up, Poppy’s shot list open. She moved through the resort like she’d always known where to stand. Not a guest. Not a secret. Not a woman waiting to be included.
Included.
I signed off on the bar placement, helped Bella argue a shelving unit three inches to the left, then watched Kit crouch near the pool to frame a shot of the chairs with the lake behind them. Sun caught in her hair. My shirt hung loose off one shoulder. She looked back to check if I was watching.
I was.
Bella stepped beside me. “She’s good for you.”
I didn’t look away from Kit. “Yeah.”
“Always has been.”
That one got me to turn.
Mom’s face was soft, but she didn’t make a speech. She just tapped the clipboard against my arm. “Don’t make it harder than it has to be.”
I laughed under my breath. “Is everyone taking turns today?”
“Smart women repeat important instructions.”
Before I could answer, Sally’s voice cut across the deck.
“Oh, good. He lives.”
My sister came around the outdoor bar carrying two iced coffees and wearing the expression she saved for finding something hilarious and disgusting at the same time. She handed one coffee to Kit, one to me, then looked between us.
“You two are a hostile work environment.”
Kit accepted the coffee with a grin. “Thank you.”
“That was not praise.”
“I took it as praise.”
Sally pointed at me. “You look smug and exhausted. I hate knowing why.”
“Then stop looking.”
“I live here. I have rights.” She glanced at Kit, who was still glowing in a way no shower could fully erase, and sighed dramatically. “Honestly, it’s offensive. Some of us had to answer phones this morning.”
“Some of us had priorities,” Kit said.
Sally choked on her drink. “I liked you better when you pretended to be wholesome.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“No,” Sally admitted. “I really didn’t.”
Bella shook her head, but she was smiling now. “Can we save the harassment for after the deck lights are tested?”
“I am multitasking,” Sally said. Then, more quietly, to me, “Fourth’s coming fast.”
The humor didn’t leave completely, but the edge changed.
“I know,” I said.
“People are going to be weird.”
“I know that too.”
Sally glanced toward Kit, who had joined Bella at the pool lounge, both of them bending over Kit’s phone while Poppy’s texts kept arriving in bright little pings. “She can handle weird.”
“I know.”
“Do you?” Sally asked.
That made me look at her.
She shrugged. “You get this look like you’re about to carry everyone’s luggage through a hurricane because you think that’s what love means. Kit doesn’t need a bellhop. She needs you not to act embarrassed when the weather hits.”
My family was apparently having a convention on my flaws.
“I’m not embarrassed.”
“Good. Then don’t look like you’re bracing for impact every time someone sees you happy.” Sally shoved my shoulder with hers. “It’s gross, by the way. You being happy. But I’m adjusting.”
“Proud of you.”
“Don’t be. It’ll pass.”
She wandered off to yell at someone about moving a towel station out of the sun.
Kit came back a minute later and slid her hand into mine. Her fingers were warm. Her coffee was already half gone.
“Poppy says the deck looks sexy.”
“The deck?”
“She stands by the adjective.” Kit lifted her phone so I could see the photo. The new lights looped across the railing, pale bulbs glowing even in daylight. The lake flashed behind them. The pool chairs looked clean and inviting. The outdoor bar waited in the corner of the frame like a promise.
Brewster Bay looked ready to be seen.
“Damn,” I said.
“Right?” Kit leaned into my side. “Your place cleans up nice.”
“So do you.”
“I showered. Heroic effort.”
I kissed the top of her head before I thought about who was watching.
Then I didn’t care who was watching.
Across the deck, Bella saw and went back to her clipboard. Sally saw and pretended to gag. One of the staff saw and smiled before carrying a box of towels toward the pool. Nobody turned it into a scene.
That almost made it feel bigger.
The private thing from the cabin had followed us into the sun. It was still there in the way Kit stood close, in the bite on my shoulder under my shirt, in the mess we’d washed from our skin, in the way Poppy’s name kept lighting up Kit’s phone with plans that pulled everyone toward the Fourth.
The bed was still warm behind us.
July was already out here.
Kit squeezed my hand. “You okay?”
I looked at the deck lights, the pool, the bar, the lake, my mother directing traffic, my sister pretending not to care, and Kit beside me like she’d never belonged anywhere else.
“No,” I said honestly. “But I’m here.”
Her smile was small and proud. “That’ll do.”
Poppy’s next text landed on Kit’s phone.
GOLDEN HOUR DOCK SHOTS LATER. DON’T LET NASH HIDE.
Kit held it up for me to read.
I laughed, because of course she had.
The Fourth was coming. The lake would talk. The women I loved were already moving faster than fear could keep up with. Brewster Bay was becoming a stage whether I was ready or not.
Kit tugged me toward the bar, where Bella was waving us over.
I went with her.
No hiding. Not today.
And not when July finally opened the door.