Cant Take My Eyes Off You – Libby Waterford
CAN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF YOU
LIBBY WATERFORD
Harbor Fest-slash-Cove Con is in full swing, and I’ve never had to pee so badly in my entire life.
The combination carnival/concert at the beach that is Harbor Fest gets bigger every year.
Cove Con is the simultaneously running fan convention celebrating Sawyer’s Cove , the TV show that’s been off the air for years, but still has die-hard fans.
My dad happened to create Sawyer’s Cove , and my mom was one of the stars, so I’ve grown up with its legacy.
This weekend I was volun-told to help my parents as their assistant.
Since I graduated college a few weeks ago, and didn’t have anything else lined up, I couldn’t think of a reason to wriggle out of it.
Besides, it’s always nice to visit Misty Harbor in the summer.
I grew up between here and Manhattan; it’s been a while since I’ve visited the small Connecticut seaside town. It’s good to be back.
Except I’m sweating in my navy-blue linen sundress from running around all morning in the summer heat, and I still need to pee.
Call me spoiled, but possibly my biggest phobia in life is porta-potties, which are the only facilities available down by the beach where I’ve been helping my dad and Uncle Jay set up for the benefit concert tonight.
I got a text that Mom needs me back at the con—being held at the Misty Harbor Inn—which is on the opposite end of Main Street.
I’m not going to last that long.
I hurry along the charming brick-lined street, trying to figure out what to do. I could duck into the Misty Harbor Bakeshop, but there’s a line of convention attendees out the door. Then I remember the library, only a little farther. I spy the 19 th -century stone library building with relief.
I slip inside the cool, quiet building, goosebumps raising on my bare arms from the freezing cold air, and make a beeline for the restrooms.
Thank goodness for public libraries.
When I’m done, feeling light and free, I browse the display of new releases on my way to the exit.
I know Mom needs me, but I can’t resist pausing to check out my Uncle Warner’s latest release, a neo-noir mystery featuring his long-running detective Jake Wilton.
It’s prominently featured on the shelf, seeing as he’s a part-time resident of Misty Harbor.
Warner’s not actually my uncle, just like Uncle Jay’s not, either.
The Sawyer’s Cove cast and crew was like one big family back in the day—which means I have a lot of aunts, uncles, and cousins I’m not technically related to by blood, or even marriage.
But since I’m an only child, I’ve always been grateful for my big, happy, extended family.
I put Uncle Warner’s book down, and pick up one with a cherry-red cover that looks like a fun romance. Then I pick up a mystery, then a thriller. I wonder where the horror books are. Spending a day reading sounds like heaven.
I can’t remember the last time I read a book for pure fun.
As an Econ-Sociology double major, my plate’s been full for a while.
But school’s over, and since I have no idea what I want to do with my life, the lure of distracting myself with the problems of fictional characters is too strong to resist.
I don’t think I have an active Misty Harbor Library card, but Aunt Mimi’s in charge of the library—maybe she could call in a favor and let me take out a few of these juicy hardcovers. Oh, there’s another one ? —
“Aurora?”
The voice has me whirling around, arms full of books. When did I pick up so many?
“Mav?”
I haven’t seen Maverick Mercier in a while—maybe it was Mom and Dad’s New Year’s Eve party —but he looks the same.
He’s not especially tall, though taller than me by a few inches, especially since I’m wearing flat-soled sneakers today.
He fills out his black T-shirt with distractingly broad shoulders and his jeans sit perfectly around his hips.
A chunky black metal watch is his only accessory besides the sunglasses he pulls off his unfairly beautiful face.
He could have become a model, with thick dark hair and olive skin like his dad, Oliver, full lips and straight nose like his mom, Kate.
He works for a tech start up, last I heard.
Kate and my mom go way back to when they were both up-and-coming actresses looking for their big breaks.
My mom’s was Sawyer’s Cove , while Kate eventually retired from acting and became a successful LA-based podcast producer.
Once Oliver opened restaurants in New York, they moved to the City.
I grew up with Maverick, who’s a few years older than me, and his sister Madison, who’s a couple of years younger.
She and I have always gotten along like peanut butter and jelly; she’s like the sister I never had.
But Maverick has never felt like a brother. At best, I could consider him a cousin, except for the fact that I’ve always sort of wanted to kiss him, and I’ve never wanted to kiss any of my real cousins. He’s always been the older, hot boy who I wish didn’t make me swoon.
“Hey,” he says, looking down at the cache of books I’ve gathered. Some of them attempt to slide out of my hands, and I fumble to rein them in. Doesn’t matter how old and experienced I am, something about Maverick Mercier always makes me lose my cool.
I manage to ask a coherent question. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh, just getting out of the sun.” He folds his designer sunglasses and hooks them into the vee of his shirt. On anyone else, it would look like they’re trying too hard, but he makes it look effortless. “It’s intense out there.”
“I meant, what are you doing in Misty Harbor?”
“You need some help?” he asks instead of answering my question, nodding to my book haul.
“Oh, no. I shouldn’t even really be here. But I ducked inside to—ah, get out of the sun, like you said—and I got distracted. I haven’t been able to read for pleasure in a while.”
“Congrats on graduating, by the way.”
“Thanks.”
We stare at each other for a second. “Why are you in Misty Harbor again?” I ask, because apparently I can’t think of any other topic of conversation.
“Funny story,” he says.
“Oh, yeah?”
He laughs lightly, and rubs the back of his neck. “Actually, it’s not. I’m… in between jobs and I needed a break from the city. Thought I’d come up and use the beach house. But I forgot about Harbor Fest.”
“What happened to the tech start up?” I try to remember what I’d heard about his job from Madison.
“Yeah, it wasn’t for me,” he says with a shrug. “What about you? You majored in Economics and Sociology, right? What’s next? MBA?”
I’m vaguely surprised that he’s aware of my majors. “I don’t know.” I make a frustrated gesture with my armful of books. “How is anyone supposed to know what to do with their life? Going to grad school just seems like a way to keep avoiding making decisions.”
“I always thought maybe you’d follow in your mom’s footsteps.”
“Acting?” I blink at him. “Oh, no—are you kidding? All that rejection?” I shudder. “No, thanks.”
He gives me a smile that I’ve never seen on him before. It’s as if he has a secret. About me? “I find it hard to believe you’d face much rejection, Aurora.”
What does that mean? “I’m not cut out to act, believe me.”
“What about that student play you were in last year? You were amazing in that.”
“You saw that?” I did an original play written by a theater major friend of mine on campus last fall. I had a blast, true, but it was just for fun.
His smile drops. “Uh. Yeah. Didn’t I come by and say hi after?”
“No.” I definitely would have remembered that.
“Oh, well. I meant to.” He sounds guilty.
Guilty ? Am I dreaming? I shake my head. “Well, acting’s fun. But I don’t have a thick enough skin.”
He looks at my bare arms, wrapped around the books, as if judging my toughness. “You might be surprised.”
“What about you?” I say, wanting to get the focus off me. “You applying for jobs?”
He scrunches his entire face, making him look less like a male model and more like a confused puppy. “I’m actually considering taking a job with my dad. Please don’t make fun of me.”
“Why would I do that? I always thought you liked working with your dad.”
He sighs. “I do. I just—I told myself I should make it on my own. That’s what he did—he broke away from his father’s wine business to start his own restaurant group. Shouldn’t I build something of my own, too?”
“You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, especially if you like the work.
Your dad would probably love it. There’s nothing wrong with going into the family business.
Isn’t your sister interning with your mom this summer?
” I look around. “Wait, is Madison here, too? I haven’t seen her since my graduation party. ”
“Maddy is working for Mom this summer, but she’s taking the week off in Maine.”
“Maine? Not Misty Harbor? What gives?”
“I think there might be a guy involved in her decision.”
“Ah.” That makes sense. Madison is always falling dramatically in love with someone new.
“What about you?” Mav asks, rubbing the back of his neck again.
“What about me?” I respond blankly. I shift the books in my arms. They’re getting heavy and I’m sure Mom is wondering where I am.
“Are you, uh, seeing anyone?”
“Oh.” The question takes me aback, but the answer is simple enough. “No. My boyfriend and I broke up right before graduation.”
“Sorry to hear that,” Mav says softly.
“It’s okay,” I smile at him lopsidedly. “It’s for the best. We both knew we weren’t destined to last.” Josh had been a good boyfriend, but his dream of returning to his home state of Washington to work at a national park was in no way compatible with my own desire to stay on the East Coast, preferably in New York City.
I may not know what I want to do with my life, but I do know I’m a city girl through and through.
“That’s very mature,” Mav says.