“I was the control freak who drew up a contract.”
He looked away, shaking his head. “I can’t believe you don’t remember.”
Her mind raced back to that day on the beach. Had she remembered wrong?
He seemed to be on to a different topic—namely, sailing instruction. “Your turn.”
She frowned. She didn’t feel like learning anything about that boat. She wanted to figure out what she was forgetting about their pact. She wanted to remember it—in detail. Should she suggest a reenactment? She was pretty sure most of their conversations that summer ended with kissing—and she was a lot better at that now. Oh, how she wanted to show him.
Another boat approached from the opposite direction. Cody kept his eyes forward, and Louisa didn’t move.
“You’re slacking.”
She stood.
“I’m going to teach you to change direction.”
“I have full confidence that you can handle it.”
“Louisa, you paid big money for my expertise.”
She groaned. “Don’t remind me.” She still had half of her pledged money to pay. Maybe she should buy a lottery ticket.
“Morning, sailors!” Louisa looked up at the other boat and discovered her favorite person, McKenzie Palmer, was on board. Beside her, Charlie Pope, the Coastie Cody had warned her about.
“McKenzie?”
“You weren’t kidding about the sunrise, Cody,” McKenzie called across the water. “It was a beauty today. You might’ve turned me into a morning person.”
He didn’t respond.
“Still on for tonight?”
Cody did not look at Louisa, who once again begged herself to stay cool. “Uh, sure.”
“Great!” McKenzie tossed her long, wavy, too-perfect-for-this-hour ponytail behind her shoulder, and Charlie sailed them off. “Queequeg’s at six. Meet you there.”
A rock of dread lodged itself in her gut, but Louisa kept her eyes forward. “She’s friendly.” She did a poor job of keeping the annoyance out of her tone.
“Yep,” Cody said.
And that’s all he said. That’s it. No explanation of when he’d told McKenzie about the sunrise. Had it been that morning, before he left their mutual dwelling? He didn’t say. He also didn’t explain why he was meeting her later. A date?
“You wanna try this?” he asked, because in his mind, everything was just fine. Because they were just friends. Barely even friends.
Maybe it was time Louisa started remembering that.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?”
Ally was always so impatient. Louisa should’ve known she was a poor choice to bring along on her stakeout. Her business partner was meticulous, not only with the details of her business, but the minutes of her day.
“Just getting a good lay of the land,” she said. “You know, for the regatta.”
The regatta was two days away, and the land had already been surveyed. In fact, Ally had drawn a map and handed it over to Duncan so the guardsmen could set everything up. Louisa had arranged for local vendors to take part in the event, and she’d strategically assigned them each a spot next to another vendor that wasn’t a direct competitor. The amount of thought that had gone into it was astonishing, and trying to pretend sitting in Ally’s car staring out the window was necessary for work was truly one of the most ridiculous things Louisa had ever done.
“Ooh, I love this song.” She turned up the radio and started singing: “‘Time keeps on ticking, ticking, ticking . . . into the future.’”
“Those are not the words. And don’t try to change the subject.” Ally turned down the volume just as Cody emerged from Queequeg’s with McKenzie at his side.
Queequeg’s, the cozy restaurant Louisa had always loved, was the perfect spot for a date. With its gray shingled siding and the adorable deck with outdoor seating, it was charmingly Nantucket. She faintly recalled McKenzie had written a glowing review of the popular spot on her popular blog.
Must be nice to be popular.
“Oh,” Ally said. “Now I get it. You’re spying.”
“Not spying.”
“Stalking?”
“Not stalking.”
“Louisa, this is textbook stalking. You need to get a grip.”
She sighed. “What does he see in her?”
“Nice curves, great hair—” Ally shoved a french fry into her mouth—“hard to say.”
Louisa groaned. “He never looks at me like that.”
“Vaguely annoyed and ready to run? You’re right, he doesn’t.”
“You think he’s annoyed?”
Ally squinted. “No, I’m just trying to make you feel better.”
Louisa sighed.
Ally reached over and took Louisa’s hand. “I’m sorry, Lou. I know you like him a lot.”
I love him a lot.
But she didn’t say that out loud. She’d never say that out loud. Because of all the humiliating things she’d done, loving someone who didn’t love her back ranked right up there at the top.
Louisa woke up on Saturday—regatta day. She had no reason to be nervous. She’d put in all the hours necessary to make this a great event. She’d contacted vendors and organized booths. She’d spoken with Manny and Deborah Wirth the day before, and they planned to be there, though Deborah was definitely struggling now that the day had arrived.
Louisa assured them it would be an uplifting day—a great way to honor their son and bring awareness to water-safety issues that could help save lives in the future. The day would be about the details—something she was very good at.
So why was her stomach churning the second her eyes opened that morning?
Her phone buzzed on the table beside her bed.
Are you ready to kick some serious butt?
She smiled despite herself. Cody was thinking of her. Sure, it was only because of the race, but still. She was on his mind. Her—not McKenzie Palmer.
She quickly texted back: You know I am!
But that exclamation point was a little bit misleading. After all, she’d missed their scheduled practice session yesterday—she claimed she had too much to do, but the truth was, she couldn’t shake the image of Cody with McKenzie. As if that one day of not seeing him could’ve convinced her to give up this misguided fantasy that she and Cody had some sort of magical connection. She was an adult—it was time to start acting like one. And that meant no flirting or joking around with Cody. No daydreaming about what it might feel like to step into his arms and let herself be held.
Today she would be the crew to his skipper. She would handle the jib and keep an eye on the compass while he maneuvered their boat like a chess piece across a board, dealing with the big-picture tactics he claimed would help them win.
Truthfully, she hadn’t picked up much skill in the way of sailing. She’d found herself far too distracted by her instructor to remember much of what he said. The only thing she’d really paid attention to was how good he looked when he said it.
As she trudged out to her Vespa, it occurred to her that her lack of concentration could pose a legitimate issue now that they were heading out on the water. But she was ready. She’d made her peace with the ocean—and besides, Cody would be there. If she were somehow thrown into the watery depths, he’d get her out again.