Tiny Island Summer (7 page)

“Ben come on,” John called from the dock.

“If you’ll excuse me,” he replied, grabbing his T-shirt from the floor and putting it on over his head before taking the catwalk to the back of the boat to help John get the other coolers.

Darcy and Char were left with Ben’s date, who stood awkwardly on the prow, trying to cover herself with her arms. Darcy nearly pitied her, until she recognized the girl as the waitress from the other day.

“Of course,” she muttered.

“What?” Char whispered.

“Nothing,” Darcy replied and hesitated.

She didn’t want to get too near Ben. She had no desire to start a conversation with him at the moment. She also didn’t want to talk to the waitress. Darcy couldn’t imagine what she’d have to say to her. In Darcy’s mind, she and the waitress could not be more different.

Darcy knew she’d feel rude standing on the front of the boat, chatting merrily with Char and pointedly ignoring the girl. She knew Char would do it for her; ice out this girl. She’d do it for Char if their situations were reversed. But it didn’t feel right to her.

“Do you want to get changed? Did you bring any clothes?” Darcy asked.

“Um, yeah, I think I will,” she said barely meeting Darcy’s eyes before slinking around the side of the boat.

Char’s eyes grew wide as the girl retreated.

“Well, aren’t you glad you wore makeup?” Charlotte teased.

“Come on, let’s clean up this boat, so we can actually enjoy ourselves. Did you bring the sangria?”

“I did. Are you actually going to have another drink?”

“Maybe I’ll have two tonight.”

“Let’s hurry up then, shall we. This is something I have to see.”

“Char, I…” Darcy shook her head, unsure how to continue.

“What is it?”

“I’m a little worried about you and I don’t know how to bring this up without hurting your feelings.”

“That sounds ominous,” Char frowned.

Darcy took a few steps forward, leaving no more than a few inches between them. She didn’t want to have this conversation. But she worried more about not having it at all. Putting her arm around her best friend, Darcy kissed Char on the forehead.

“Do I need to be worried about you?”

“What do you mean?”

“The drinking. Is something going on that you want to talk about? I’ve never seen you… It just seems like a lot lately.”

Char blew out a sigh. “I get it. To be honest, I’ve been letting myself unwind this summer. Law school has been a lot more than I bargained for and I’ve been looking to blow off steam.”

“Can’t you do that in another way?”

“Yes. I can. And I’m working on it. But you know what? I haven’t had a summer off since college and it’s been nice to relax and unwind.”

“I get it.”

“It also doesn’t help that I get buzzed after one drink and am wasted after two.”

“I understand that,” Darcy muttered.

“Come on. Let’s get this cleaned up. And I promise, I won’t leave a mess like this.”

Charlotte and Darcy gathered the scattered cans, twenty in all, and carefully navigated to the back of the boat to throw them away.

“Ah, nice. It looks like it was quite the afternoon cruise,” John commented as they reached the trash can near the captain’s chair. “I’m sorry about this situation.”

“It’s okay.” Darcy replied. The cans clanged against each other as she and Charlotte dropped them into the trash can, one by one.

“Are we taking a stowaway?” John asked pointing down the stairs to one of the two sleeping cabins.

“I think she’s getting changed,” Darcy offered.

Char held up her hands in surrender. “Our hands were tied. Where is he?”

John pointed to the bathroom.

“Before we shove off, shall we have a cocktail?”

“Yes please,” Darcy replied, pulling out three red cups from a paper bag in the corner.

Char pulled out the pitcher of sangria she’d made earlier in the day and filled each cup.

“Cheers,” Darcy said quickly as the waitress reappeared from below deck in a crochet dress that left nothing to the imagination.

The waitress approached Char from behind. Darcy took a sip from her drink and couldn’t help her smile. While not a particularly modest person, Char had often espoused the
less is more
mantra. To Char that meant the less skin on display. But the waitress must have a different interpretation. Char nearly choked when she caught sight of the knit dress putting her bra and barely there panties on full-display.

Darcy slapped Char’s back, and John escaped to yell at the brother who had just come out of the bathroom. Darcy smiled at the girl but made no move to talk to her. After an awkward few minutes of silence among the women, John and Ben rejoined the group.

“Ready to go?” Ben asked before coming to stand next to his date. She practically launched herself at him.

“Can I take this up front? Is that okay?” Darcy asked John.

“Sure, why don’t you and Char go up front. I’ll hand up some blankets so you’ll stay warm.”

“Great,” Darcy replied and beamed.

She and Char walked back to the front of the boat, made themselves cozy with the cushions and a few blankets from John, and settled in. Cold air blasted their cheeks as they pulled out of the slip and slowly made their way out onto open water. They turned north, and Darcy closed her eyes to take in deep breaths of clean air, catching the occasional whiff of a wood-burning fire. When she opened her eyes, they had left Madeline behind and were approaching another island. John slowed down and pulled the boat into a small bay.

Ben came to the front to weigh the anchor, and Char quickly dashed to the back. Darcy would have suspected Charlotte of trying to give Darcy and Ben alone time, but she knew the truth. Charlotte had no desire to leave her man with a tart.

Ben worked in silence, but curiosity got the better of Darcy.

“Ben? Hi, sorry. Where are we?”

Ben finished his task and came over to sit next to her.

“Why do you always apologize?” he asked after a moment’s pause.

“I don’t know. Because it’s the nice thing to do and the other person expects it?”

Ben seemed to consider that for a moment while she rearranged from sitting cross-legged to hugging her knees to her chest. She needed something solid to hold onto.

“Do you always do what’s expected?” Ben asked thoughtfully.

“I guess so,” Darcy answered, then reconsidered. “Yes and no actually. Sometimes I veer off course, but I generally seem to find my way back to what is expected of me.”

“So, you’re not a rebel.”

Darcy smiled and rested her chin on her knees. “Not in the least. Besides, who would I be rebelling against at this stage? I’m a grown-up now. This is my life.”

“Very true,” he nodded and replied, more to himself then to Darcy.

“Nice boat,” she said after a while.

“Thanks. It’s not mine. It’s my family’s.”

“Goes with the house?”

“Exactly.”

“That’s a pretty sweet setup.”

“We always took it for granted,” he said, shaking his head. “Growing up and coming here every summer. But I guess that’s what kids do. Take the good things for granted and blame their parents for all the things they can’t control.”

Darcy had no response for that. “So, where are we?”

“Raspberry Island. There’s a lighthouse here with nice views of the islands. You should come back. It’s a nice path through the woods.”

Darcy nodded.

“Maybe I should apologize.”

“Did John tell you to apologize?”

Ben sighed. “Yes, but he’s right. I kind of lost track of the day.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” Darcy told him. “But you might want to keep your friend away from John and Char. Char is not amused.”

Ben grinned, and at that he stood and walked back to John.

Darcy sat by herself for a moment trying to gather her thoughts. She wasn’t mad at him about being on a date. Not even with his choice of date. He’d let her down, and yet she couldn’t help herself from yearning for him to lie next to her and point out some of the stars he’d supposedly studied in college.

“Darcy? You coming? Dinner’s ready,” Char called to her from the cockpit.

Darcy blinked back the tears on the verge of spilling from her eyes and followed Ben. Dinner passed in a series of stilted conversations. Whenever John or Char started along one line of discussion, it quickly appeared that Ben’s date didn’t follow, no matter what the topic. Not wanting to be rude, or at least obviously so, everyone finally settled on silence. It did not go unnoticed that Ben’s date continued to drink.

By the end of the meal, Ben’s date excused herself, and Char motioned for a word alone with Darcy.

“Look, this is not turning out the way I wanted.”

“I know.”

“No, not just about that. I had been hoping for at least a moment with John. This is a disaster. I’ve been babysitting all night.”

“I get it,” Darcy sighed. “I’ll keep them in the back. You go enjoy yourself.”

“Thank you.” She sighed.

They returned to the guys. Ben’s waitress was still below deck, as the sun began to set.

“John, can we watch this from the prow?” Char asked.

John smiled and followed her to the catwalk. Darcy pulled one of the chairs over to the edge of the boat and put her feet up on the railing. Ben did the same. They sat in silence as the sun dipped down below the horizon, setting the entire lake on fire.

“Shouldn’t we go check on your friend?” Darcy asked after a while as the sky darkened from pink to lavender to dark inky blue.

“I think she’s sleeping it off.”

Darcy nodded and turned to look back at the lake. The setting was too beautiful to waste with a conversation that might turn to a squabble.

“So, what do you know about stars?” Darcy asked.

He obliged the change of subject by pulling his chair next to hers. They sat nearly touching, their arms mere millimeters away from one another. Darcy resisted the urge to push her chair away.

“That,” he pointed to a cluster of stars, “is something important, I’m sure.”

Darcy started giggling. “I’m disappointed. I thought you’d be able to at least wing it and make something creative up.”

“Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not feeling very inventive tonight.”

“Can’t you at least point out the North Star?”

“Probably. But we’re facing south, and to face north we’d have to turn around and witness whatever is happening up front.”

Darcy’s eyes grew wide. “Oh please no.”

She didn’t need to turn her head to see his grin, she could hear it. Darcy fought hard to ignore the fluttering of butterflies in her stomach. She was sitting so close to him that his heat warmed and relaxed her. She turned to look at him, trying to think of something to say, at the same moment he turned to her. They head butted each other. Hard.

Darcy instantly pulled back and put a hand to her head to feel for a bump. She couldn’t feel anything yet, but there might be something the next day. Ben started laughing uncontrollably. In her embarrassment, she couldn’t help but laugh nervously along with him. Ben pushed back her hand and put his own up to her forehead. His fingers lightly grazed her scalp, gently prodding.

Lowering her hand to her lap, she remained still at his ministrations. The chill in the night air snaked over her, contrasting with his warm breath on her face. Frozen under his palm, she caught Ben’s gaze. His hand slid down from her forehead to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
If I lean forward, will he kiss me?

“Don’t go falling in love with me, Darcy,” he whispered as he dropped his hand away from her face.

“I should say the same thing,” she said pertly, turning away to shake her hair and tuck it back behind both ears.

Ben winked at her playfully. “Okay, let’s go round up the crew and get back.”

“Sounds good,” Darcy agreed taking a deep, shaky breath and glad for an excuse to put space between them.

“Honey, what are you doing here?” Ben’s mom asked, as he stood on her doorstep bright and early two days later.

“I told you I’d be coming up. I wanted to see how everything is going. How you’re getting settled in.”

“Come in, come in, I don’t want to talk on my front porch all morning,” she teased, opening the door as wide as she could.

Ben squeezed past his mom and closed the door behind him. Standing in the portico of the grand old house, he quickly surveyed the front parlor to his side. The settees had been removed and the vitrines filled with delicate little objets d’art pushed against the wall to make room for the hospital bed. Books sat in heaps, stacked from floor to the height of the bed along one side.

“I wish you’d let me get you a TV,” Ben grumbled.

He wanted to make her comfortable and keep her entertained. To reduce her social schedule as dramatically as she’d had to, Ben could only imagine how she filled her time. Ben frowned. He hated these feelings.

“You know I’d hate that,” she rolled her eyes.

“You could watch your movies?” Ben offered.

“I can still read, darling. The cancer hasn’t metastasized that.”

Ben froze. He hated saying the word or even hearing it spoken aloud.

“Come on. I have some coffee on, would you like some?”

“Where’s the nurse?”

“Still getting settled in, I have her upstairs.”

“Should she be so far away?”

“It’s fine. I have a call button on the bed.”

“Should you be on your own? Shouldn’t she be with you at all times?”

“Ben, don’t be tedious, darling. I’m allowed to do as much as I feel capable of. Hospice is about living and enjoying the end. I’m not tied to the bed or hooked up to anything.”

Ben nodded slowly and followed his mom to the kitchen. She still moved as sprightly as ever, giving no hint of her condition. In fact, how well she looked had been part of the initial problem when trying to convince his brothers to give up on hospital care. For fifteen months, she’d been fighting lung cancer after never having smoked a single cigarette in her entire life. After all the drugs and chemo failed to stop the disease from attacking more of her body, Ben saw some of the sparkle go out of her.