Driftwood Point (27 page)

“What are you doing?” she asked when he stopped and looked around.

“Locating the bride and groom so that we can say thank you for inviting us, it was a lovely party, good night, and enjoy the honeymoon.”

“It isn't over.”

“It is for us.”

They found Sophie and Jason at the bandstand, where they were making several song requests. Alec said their thanks and good wishes and good nights, then they left quietly.

“Where are we going?” Lis asked when they reached the parking lot.

He handed her a rose he'd snagged from one of the table arrangements on the way out and had been holding behind his back.

“I'm taking you to the prom.”

IT WAS QUIET
and very dark when Alec parked the Jeep near the cottage at the point.

“What are you up to?” Lis asked.

“We're going to have the prom we missed.” He unbuckled his seat belt. “Come on.”

Alec got out of the car and Lis followed.

“There's no music,” she told him.

“Ah, but there will be.” He took his phone from his pocket and spent a moment doing . . . she wasn't sure what he was doing, but his face was intent.

“There we go.” He held up the phone. “Pandora. Just programmed with the most romantic tunes from the mid- to late nineties.”

He slipped the phone into his jacket pocket, and when music began to play, he drew Lis into his arms.

“May I have this dance?” he whispered.

Lis nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled in. For a few moments they swayed to “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You.”

“Romantic enough for you?” he asked.

“Totally romantic,” Lis sighed. She paused and pulled away from him just long enough to kick off her heels before returning to his embrace.

The clouds moved away from the face of the full moon, and just a hint of moonlight spread across the point.

“How did you manage that?” she asked. “The moonlight, I mean.”

“Anything is possible tonight, Lis.” He held her closer. “Anything at all . . .”

She closed her eyes, and for a moment, she could almost believe she was sixteen and wearing a blue Cinderella ball gown that swirled around her when she moved. The rose in her hand could have been a nosegay (she never did like corsages) and the sandy soil could have been the gymnasium floor. For just a moment, she was at the prom she'd dreamed about so long ago.

And then she realized that this moment with Alec, here amid the unspoiled natural beauty of the place she loved, was so much more wonderful than
that night ever could have been, even in her most wonderful fantasies. This moment was real, and the boy she'd dreamed about was now the man who was holding her and kissing her neck and the side of her face.

“Is this the part where the chaperones tell us to separate?”

“This is the part where we dance into the darkest corner of the room, so we can do this.” His mouth covered hers and claimed her in a way no sixteen-year-old boy could have done.

Lis pressed herself to him and returned his kiss with every yearning fiber of her body. His hands slid down her back and up to her shoulders, and a shiver the length of her spine followed his touch. It took her less than a minute to realize that kissing him tonight was not enough, might never be enough again.

“Is this where we move to the backseat of your car?”

“I'm not sure how that would work out.” He held her against him and she could feel the rapid beating of his heart. “I have a better idea. Grab your shoes and let's go.”

He led her back to the car and opened not the back passenger door but the front.

“Where are we going?” she asked when he got into the driver's seat and turned the key in the ignition.

“You'll see.”

He backed the Jeep onto the road, then drove to the end of the island and crossed the bridge into St. Dennis.

“Gigi's still awake,” Lis noted as they passed the
store. There was a light in the back room, where Ruby liked to sit at night to watch TV or read. Tonight the light was slightly blue, which meant she had the TV on and would probably fall asleep in her favorite chair.

Alec made the second left off Charles Street onto a side street Lis had never noticed.

“Where are we?” She looked around for a street sign.

“We're on Lincoln Road.”

“What's on Lincoln Road?”

He pulled into the driveway of a small house with a wraparound Victorian porch and a light shining brightly at the front door.

“Who lives here?”

“I do.” Alec turned off the car and turned to face her, as if asking without words if she wanted to go inside and all that might follow.

“Yes,” she said simply. “Yes.”

“You sure?”

“Totally. Absolutely.” She opened her car door and got out, and stood on the sidewalk waiting for him to join her.

“No doubts?” He moved toward her.

“Not a one.”

He reached for her hand and they walked up the front steps. Alec unlocked the front door and stepped aside so she could enter first.

“This is darling,” she said when he turned on the lamp on the desk that stood just inside the hall.

“It was my uncle Cliff's,” he told her. “He left it to me when he died.”

She peeked through an archway off to the left. A
fireplace filled one corner, and the room was slightly overfurnished.

“This was mostly Uncle Cliff's stuff in here. I have some things from my parents, but I've never been able to decide what to move out of here to make room for their things.”

“It's a pretty room,” she said. “That sofa—my dad's sister had one like that. Mohair, right? From the 1950s.”

He moved closer and put his hands on her shoulders, and that slight touch brought her back into his arms. His lips all but devoured hers, his tongue filled her mouth, and she found it hard to breathe. The heat that flashed between them overwhelmed her, and when his lips began to trail her neck, she reached behind her and pulled down the zipper on her dress, then slid the silky fabric from her shoulders down to her waist. His hands were as hot to the touch as the skin on her body, and he backed her to the sofa and watched the dress sink to the ground. He tossed off his jacket as she unbuttoned his shirt, her eyes never leaving his. He finished undressing himself just as she did, and when she eased herself back onto the sofa, he asked, “Lis, are you—”

“Shut up, Alec.”

And then his mouth and his hands were everywhere. His fingers toyed with her breasts while his lips traced a line from her throat before his mouth replaced his hands. The jolt that passed through her arched her back and caused her to cry out, the sensation was so overpowering. She was lost, and she knew it, and she wanted more, couldn't get enough of him.
She raised her hips, inviting him in, desperate to have him inside her, and as he entered her she wrapped her legs around him, urging him to move with her. Their bodies rocked to the rhythm from the unheard music of the ages until her entire world exploded.

The waves of pleasure seemed to go on forever, but when she was finally able to speak, she cleared her throat and said, “That was one hell of a prom.”

Chapter Sixteen

T
he sun was just about to rise when Alec walked Lis to the front door of Ruby's store. She debated over which door was least likely to rouse Ruby or Owen, and decided she'd rather take her chances with Owen, though if she was really quiet, she'd probably get away with sneaking inside.

“I don't think I've ever done this before,” she whispered.

“Come home at dawn after a night of incredible lovemaking?” Alec whispered back.

“Come home at dawn after anything and had to sneak into the house.”

“You really did live a sheltered life.”

“You have no idea.” She slid the key into the lock and pushed the door open slowly. She knew just how far she could open it before the hinges creaked.

“I'll see you later,” Alec promised. “Come have lunch with me at the boat shop. I'll bring in something from . . . somewhere good. You can even choose the take-out place.”

“I would love to do that, but I can't promise.”

“Got plans for the day?”

“Just this painting I've been working on for Gigi. I want to work on it this morning, but once I start, I lose track of time.”

The lights went on in Ruby's quarters, and Lis said, “I'd better get inside and upstairs. It's almost time for the watermen to start coming in for their coffee. I need to get changed out of this dress.”

“Good idea. Especially since it's on inside out.”

She looked down to check, then she laughed. “Great. My dress is inside out and my underwear is in my bag.”

“At least you remembered to pick it up off the floor.” He leaned in for one last kiss.

“Go. Get out of here.” She suppressed a giggle and tiptoed inside, closing the door behind her as quietly as possible. She had managed to avoid the squeaking hinge, and hoped she'd do as well with the creaking stair steps. There were three of them, she knew, and she carefully made her way around them. She crept down the hall to her room and ducked inside.

Not a sound from Owen's room. Good. She was home free and undetected. Not that she felt guilty about where she'd been or what she'd been doing—at thirty-five, she'd left her guilt behind long ago—but she wasn't in the mood for Owen's teasing jabs. She stripped off her dress and hung it in the closet, put on her robe, and headed to the shower.

She wished she could take her time, could savor the night and every touch they'd shared, but if she didn't
make it downstairs as usual, Ruby might wonder why, and Lis wasn't prepared to have that conversation.

She was dressed and at the counter when the first of the early birds arrived, and feeling pretty smug, when Owen sidled up next to her and whispered in her ear, “Big night last night, eh?”

“You don't know where I was,” she said blithely.

“Yeah, right.” He leaned closer. “Two words, sister. Lincoln. Road.”

She felt her eyes widen. “How do you know Lincoln Road?”

“I know who lives in the house in the middle of the block on the right side. I suspect you do, too.”

Before she could speak, he added, “Look, I don't care. As long as you're happy, I don't care who you're with or what you do. Just be happy, Lis.” He uncharacteristically leaned down and kissed the top of her forehead. “Just be happy.”

“I am happy,” she told him.

“That's all that matters.”

“But how did you know where—” She began but Ruby cut her off.

“You, Owen, go into the back room and bring us out some more lids for those to-go cups,” Ruby called from the counter.

“Will do.” Owen winked at Lis, then went off to obey Ruby's orders.

When the morning activity ceased, and Ruby had settled at the round table near the window with her cup of Earl Grey and her newspaper, Lis went back upstairs and studied the work she'd left partially
done on the easel and debated whether to add those landmarks that were missing from her painting. In the end, she decided to leave it as it was, and to complete the painting she'd started. She prepared her paints in the palette and picked up her brush. This was the part she looked forward to, when her vision would blot out everything else and she would be lost in the world she was creating. But she was haunted by the songs Alec had played last night and this morning, the love songs he'd programmed into his phone so that they would play over and over. As she painted, she could hear Whitney's “I Will Always Love You” and
the Goo Goo Dolls' “Iris,” Steve Winwood's “Higher Love,” and a song she wasn't familiar with but that Alec said was one of his favorites: Herb Alpert's “This Guy's in Love with You.”

“I never heard this song before,” she'd told him.

“It's really old,” he'd replied, “like from the sixties.”

“How do you know it?”

“My dad used to sing it to my mom.”

Thinking about it brought a tear to her eyes. It was obviously something that meant a great deal to him, and he'd shared it with her. She found herself humming the tune while she painted.

By the time she put down her brush and stretched, it was midafternoon. She checked her phone and saw that Alec had sent her a text at one.

What's the decision on lunch?

She hit reply and typed,
Sorry. Worked all morning. Lost track of time. Later, maybe?

Lis waited, watching the screen and listening for the familiar ping, but the phone was silent.

He does have a life, she told herself, and things to do besides stand around staring at his phone waiting for a response from me.

She went back to work, but the intensity of the morning was gone. Her stomach reminded her that she'd skipped breakfast and had missed lunch, so she ran downstairs and picked at some tuna salad. She was thinking about how best to replicate a certain blue-green she'd seen in the bay that morning and couldn't quite get right.

“A penny for them.” Ruby came into the kitchen carrying her cup and went right to the sink to rinse it.

“Hmmmm?” Lis looked up. “Oh. I was just thinking about a color.”

“Color of what?”

“Just a sliver of water out on the bay. It's a blue-green with some gray in it, and I've tried mixing it but can't seem to get it right.”

“Put your mind to it, you will.” Ruby dried the cup and put it away.

“I thought I had something like it, but I guess it's in the box I left back at the apartment. I'm pretty sure if I added just a little touch of green to it, I'd have it right.”

“Maybe you should be thinking about that apartment.”

“Thinking about it how?”

“Thinking about how much money you be wasting on rent and such when your heart be here.”

When Lis didn't respond, Ruby went on.

“How much longer you going to be thinking about it, Lisbeth? How much longer till you know for sure where you belong?”

Ruby left Lis standing in the kitchen, leaning on the shiny wooden countertop that Alec had so lovingly created.

“HOW MUCH LONGER
till you know for sure where you belong?”

Ruby's words rang in Lis's ears for the rest of the day. She tried to paint, but she was too distracted, so she cleaned her brushes and put away her paints and turned off the overhead light. Owen was outside washing mud off his car's tires when she ran into him in the yard.

“Where are you off to?” he asked.

“Just a walk. Maybe to the point.” She hadn't thought about it, but now it was clear to her where she was headed.

“That place really calls to you, doesn't it?” Owen turned off the hose.

Lis nodded. How to explain, even to her brother, the feeling she got when she was there, when she walked the length of the pier, or roamed around the cottage where Ruby and her Harold had been so happy?

“Well, I hope it works out for you, but it doesn't look good, does it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Jansen told me he didn't think the cottage could be habitable again.”

“When did he tell you that?”

“I don't know. When we were talking the other night, I guess.” He stared at her for a moment. “How disappointed are you?”

“I would be majorly disappointed, but I haven't given up. I'm pretty sure Alec will figure something out.”

“Think maybe he's just telling you what you want to hear?” Owen turned the hose on and sprayed one of the front tires. Lis stood there watching for a few minutes, thinking about what he'd said.

“I think he knows what he's talking about. Have you gone through the house?”

“I don't have to go through it. I can see the rot and the water damage and the places where animals have gnawed at the wood. I'm surprised you even went inside that place. You and Jansen are damned lucky you didn't fall through the floorboards or have the steps give way or that the roof didn't come down on your heads.”

“Well, on that happy note, I think I'll take that walk now.”

“I just don't want you to be disappointed.”

“I don't intend to be. It's in good hands, Owen.”

Lis walked over the dune and across the road. She stepped down onto the beach and walked along the water's edge. A wave rolled onto the shore, so she took off her sandals and carried them in one hand. The sun had disappeared behind some fast-moving clouds, and she wondered how much time she had before the rain began. She picked up a piece of driftwood that had bleached in the sun and stepped around the empty shells of several horseshoe crabs.
When she neared the place where the rocks began, she cut off to the left toward the road and walked the rest of the way to the point on the shoulder.

She made it all the way to the end of the pier before the first low rumble of thunder rolled in from somewhere down the bay. Ignoring what she knew about lightning, she sat on the pier, her feet dangling in the water as fat drops of rain landed all around her. She could see the movement of the clouds heading north and figured the rain wouldn't last but maybe another ten minutes at the most. Right then, she didn't care if she got wet.

Owen could be right about Alec. Was he just telling her what she wanted to hear to placate her for a while?

She was pretty sure Alec wouldn't play that game. He knew how much the cottage meant to her. The cottage as an art studio had become a sort of Holy Grail. Why hadn't she thought of it sooner?

Maybe if she'd stayed around instead of moving to New York, if she'd had someone look over the place with an eye toward renovating it years ago, perhaps it could have been salvaged before it had deteriorated so badly. Now, after the cottage had suffered so many years of neglect, Alec's first impression could be correct. She'd smelled the rotted wood the second she opened the door, had smelled it in every room including on the second floor, where, if she were to be honest, the odor had been even more prevalent.

She skimmed her toes over the water and watched it ripple.

The last thing she'd expected when she came here was to find her old dreams come to life, but last night, they had. Last night had been magic, and it had started right here, in the moonlight. She raised her legs from the water and turned her back so that she was facing the cottage and the place where they'd danced the night before. She could see the tire marks from the Jeep on the grass, and she was pretty sure if she tried hard enough, she would see them dancing there. Could memories manifest themselves into visions?

Last night, she wanted to weep for all the time they'd lost. If not for her father's stubbornness and prejudices, she'd have had that prom date long before last night. And if she had, in its aftermath, would she and Alec have fallen in love, stayed together after graduation, gone on to . . . what? Would she have left for art school, where she'd had such amazing instruction? Would she have created the art she was so proud of?

“Change one thing, change all,”
Ruby had said.

Lis sighed. Ruby was always right about things like that. So maybe things have worked out the way they were supposed to. Who she had loved, or who he had loved, between then and now no longer mattered. What counted, what was true and important, was that they'd found each other. They hadn't needed words to tell each other how they felt. She knew—and Alec knew, too.

Know where you belong. Right always feels right.

Lis blew out a long breath and noticed that the rain had stopped. She stood and picked up her sandals, and started home.

She knew where she belonged—and it felt exactly right.

It was time to move back home for good.

“WHERE YOU GOING
with that bag, Lisbeth?” Ruby asked when she called Lis down for dinner.

“Owen, your meat loaf smells amazing.” She leaned over the pan that sat atop the stove and inhaled deeply.

“Thanks. I used some of the herbs from Gigi's garden.” Owen looked very proud of himself.