After making a face at him, I turned back toward the sea. I supposed there was something slightly relaxing about watching the boats bob on the smooth surface of the water, and the sun sink lower and lower behind them into the sea. There was only a small crescent of it left now, since Bernadette and I had arrived so late to the party.
“But that’s not the best part,” Kellyjean declared, so loudly that I jumped. I’d forgotten she was standing so close to me. “Tell them the best part, Will.”
“They say that when the last rays of the sun hit the sea,” Will explained, “if you see a green flash, you’ll have good luck for a year.”
“What?” I couldn’t believe it. More magic?
“I’ve heard of that.” Bernadette already had her phone out and was snapping photos of the brilliant sky to send to Jen and her kids. “It’s like a mirage or optical illusion or something.”
Will nodded. “Right. It only happens at sunrise and sunset, when meteorological conditions are exactly right.”
“Of course,” Kellyjean said, with a chuckle, “my kids will tell you that according to the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, it’s something else entirely. Brad and I probably shouldn’t let them watch so much—”
It was at that moment that the last ruby-red sliver of the sun slipped beneath the water. Then three things happened all at once:
First, a roar went up from all the people gathered on the boats, rippling over us like a wave, and applause broke from everyone on the dock around me.
Second, a flash of green shot out from the exact spot the sun hit the sea, dazzling my eyes despite the polarized lenses of my sunglasses.
And third, I snatched instinctively at the person standing closest to me. It was just a coincidence that that person happened to be Will.
“Did you see that?” I gasped.
“I saw it,” Will said quietly. His gaze fell from the water-line to my fingers, digging deep into his arm. Then those dark eyes moved from my fingertips to my face. His lips curled into a smile. “Beautiful.”
I hastily dropped my own gaze. Of course he was talking about the rare meteorological phenomenon we’d just witnessed, and not me, because this was real life and not some cheesy Will Price novel—but I lowered my hand from his arm, suddenly flustered.
“Saw what?” Bernadette glanced up from her phone, where she’d been scrolling through her photos. “What are we talking about?”
“I saw it!” Kellyjean was practically hyperventilating. “Oh my Lord, I saw it! Two falling stars and the green flash, all in one weekend? No one back home is going to believe this when I tell ’em about it.”
“Oh, man.” Bernadette looked like she wanted to pitch her phone into the ocean, she was so disappointed. “I can’t believe I keep missing everything.”
Will, as soon as I’d dropped my hand, had begun to turn away, heading into the restaurant along with most of the rest of the crowd from the festival.
I felt weirdly disappointed. But why? It’s not as if I believed in this stupid magic stuff, and certainly not as if I cared about Will. Unless … unless Bernadette was right, and I’d caught feelings for him.
But that was impossible! He was Will Price, and I hated Will Price, even if he was a really good kisser and it turned out there was a fairly reasonable explanation for why he was the way he was.
But if I hated Will Price so much, why, when he hesitated and looked back at me—and only me—did my heart give a stupid little Kitty Katz schoolgirl flutter?
“Aren’t you coming in?” he asked, those thick dark eyebrows of his raised questioningly. “We should probably toast our upcoming year of good fortune, don’t you think? I’ve ordered some very good champagne for the party—the real stuff, actually from Champagne, France.”
Ordinarily, that kind of statement coming from Will Price would have annoyed me so much, it would have made me want to punch him—or at least one of the cardboard cutouts of him in a bookstore. Did he think I didn’t know that real champagne came from France?
But for some reason, this time, I only felt amused—maybe because I finally knew why he was the way he was. He couldn’t help it. He was Raul Wolf, who’d lost his mom at a young age and then been raised by a beast.
I lifted my sunglasses—I didn’t need them anymore now that the sun had set—so he could see that I’d narrowed my eyes at him in a sarcastic smirk. “Oh my gosh, really, Champagne, France? Catch me before I faint.”
His eyes widened. It’s possible I was the first person in a long time, if ever, to make fun of him to his face. Then he smirked back at me. “I’d be happy to.”
Zing! went my heart. Okay, this was not good. But it was fun.
Inside Cracked, the party was in full swing. Loud, upbeat bossa nova music boomed from the stereo system, while servers bustled back and forth with trays of drinks. On one side of the restaurant, a wall of French doors had been thrown open to reveal the deck overlooking the shimmering sea and still fiery red sky. On the other stood a set of buffet tables so loaded with platters of shellfish I feared they might collapse.
Of course all the donors and readers were gathered on the deck, admiring the view and chatting with one another away from the thump of the music, while all of the authors were crowded in front of the food. I’ve never seen an author—no matter how bestselling—pass up an opportunity for free food. None of us could forget those prepublication days when we were barely scraping by. Many writers never left those days.
So I wasn’t particularly surprised to see Frannie—despite her previous reservations about the locally caught fish—practically inhaling a plate of steamed clams, while beside her, Saul was slurping up raw oysters. Not far from them, Jerome was picking away at a stone crab claw, while Kellyjean had evidently abandoned her vegetarian lifestyle for the evening and joined Bernadette in attacking the shrimp cocktail. All wore rapturous expressions, like they’d died and gone to author heaven.
Only Garrett remained out on the deck, talking with a great deal of animation to Lauren and her friends. Fortunately, their mothers were with them, so I wasn’t worried about anything untoward going on … especially given the fact that Garrett was wearing a floor-length purple velvet cape over a pirate shirt and what appeared to be matching pirate pants and boots.
I was going to have to process that later. The sight was entirely too disturbing to deal with now.
“Shall we have a toast?” Will fortunately distracted me by asking, snagging two glasses of champagne from the tray of a passing server and handing one to me. “To our good fortune in the new year?”
“Sure.” I clinked my glass to his, figuring it would be ungracious to tell him that I didn’t believe in luck any more than I believed in magic. Will seemed to have really fallen hard for the whole Florida Keys lifestyle, though, what with the boat and the linen shirts and the belief in the local superstitions.
“What kind of luck are you hoping the green flash will bring you?” He had to raise his voice to be heard over the music.
“Oh, uh.” No way was I telling him about my wish from the night before … or that it had sort of come true already. “I guess what I’m really looking for is a little, uh … real estate luck.” Yes! This sounded good. “I’ve been checking out places in Florida for a few months now for my dad, and he’s hated every single house I’ve chosen for him.”