“Guilty as charged. You’re not?”

  “I like the ocean. I like being on a boat or swimming, or simply staring at the horizon.”

  “I could live here,” Jade-Marie said. She ambled back toward the road and the bike path.

  Jason followed. “You know, I think I could, too.”

  Jade-Marie glanced over her shoulder at him. “I assumed you had joined your father in his scientific research.”

  Jason nodded, looking sad. “My father assumes that, too. And my famous grandfather. They’d like a scientific dynasty. I’ve been working at the university since I graduated.”

  “That is kind of cool,” Jade-Marie said hesitantly.

  “It would be, if I liked science,” Jason told her.

  They walked quietly for a while.

  “Actually,” Jason said, “it’s not the science that I dislike, it’s the repetitive research and documentation. But really, I don’t want to be like my father and grandfather. Their entire lives are science. They’re always, always living in their heads. No other profession in the world matters to them. They are certain that they’re superior to everyone else. My father’s entire connection to nature is through chemical analysis. And he expects everyone to cater to him. He’s not mean to my mom, he doesn’t hit her, but he treats her like a servant. He looks down his nose at her writing. He ridicules her for having her head in the clouds. She’s had fiction published, and he’s never read one word she’s written. And if I don’t make A’s in science, he’s furious. And the worst thing is, he’s always competing with his father and he knows he can never win, but there’s the entire world around him and he doesn’t even see it.”

  Jason drew a deep breath. “Sorry.”

  Jade-Marie held his hand and leaned against his arm. “Why don’t you tell me what you really think?”

  “You must think I’m an asshole. I mean, you and your father have a perfect relationship.”

  “Not perfect at all,” Jade-Marie said. “I don’t think any two people have a perfect relationship. I mean, look at my parents. My father’s a classic extrovert, plus he always needs more. My mother is an introvert. She does some charity work in Paris, and sometimes Dad will show up for one of her occasions, and sometimes she’ll show up for the opening of a new hotel, but mostly they just let the other get on with it.”

  “You seem to want to follow in your father’s footsteps, though,” Jason pointed out.

  “I kind of do. I like the idea of running a hotel. But I also want a husband and children. And I don’t want to travel the way my parents do. I really want to be settled.”

  “Is that okay with your parents?”

  Jade-Marie laughed. “If I wanted to drive a dogsled, they’d be fine with it. I’ll bet your mother would be fine with you doing what you want.”

  “I’m not so sure. A few months ago, I told Mom I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a scientist. She told me that I’ve got science in my blood. That I’m going to continue my father’s research. That I’ll feel better in a few more years.”

  Jade-Marie shook her head. What could she possibly say?

  “I realized then that my mother would always be on my father’s side. That she loved me, kept me safe and healthy, but she wouldn’t protect me from my father’s wishes. That she couldn’t even see how I might yearn for a different life. Just as she wouldn’t stand up for her own worth as a writer.”

  “I’m sorry,” Jade-Marie said. “Really.”

  They’d come into town as they talked, and had to walk single file along the busy two-lane road to the airport. They came to Marine Home Center. Suddenly, Jason took Jade-Marie’s hand and stopped.

  “I apologize for dumping all that on you,” Jason said. “I’m not always such bad company.”

  “I liked talking with you,” Jade-Marie said. “Why don’t we go out to Cisco Brewers tonight. That will be an entirely different world, and I know you’ll enjoy it.”

  “Yeah. I’d like that. I think…maybe I’ll walk down to the beach.”

  She could tell he needed some space. “Of course. I’m going to call Penny and see if she wants to go shopping.”

  “Good idea,” Jason said. He hesitated, then said all in a rush, “I don’t blather on like this to just anyone. In fact, you’re the first person I’ve talked to so honestly.”

  “I like that,” Jade-Marie said. “I’d like to be your first person in a lot of things.” She quickly kissed his cheek and walked away, her face blushing red, her heart beating fast.

  nine

  That Summer

  Wednesday was the first true hot day of the summer.

  At least, people on Nantucket complained that it was hot. They had no idea, Wyatt thought. They hadn’t experienced the breath-stopping humid heat of Missouri where the air plastered itself against a person’s face like damp gauze.

  It was in the caves of the Ozarks where Wyatt’s father had discovered a rock streaked with a mineral that would earn him fame and admiration and a raise in salary. Wyatt was ten when that extraordinary event took place. Suddenly his father, who Wyatt considered boring and way too strict, was being interviewed on television and visited by scientists from around the world. Wyatt flew with his famous father to visit the NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., to meet important people, some in military uniform covered with ribbons and metals. Wyatt was taken on a special tour of the National Air and Space Museum and spent the evening in the Hay-Adams hotel, eating room service and watching television while his father went to a dinner given in his honor.

  It was on that trip that Wyatt realized he was doomed. In all the photos taken of his father, Wyatt was invited—forced—to stand at his father’s side. His father joked, with a serious undertone, that his son was his assistant. Wyatt would carry on the exciting scientific work that began with Dr. Benjamin Smith’s discovery of a rare mineral that would help NASA send men to the moon and Mars. That was what his father announced to the world, and Wyatt watched his fate laid out for him without one word about what he thought of the plan.

  Wyatt majored in science at the University of Missouri where his father taught. He lived with his parents—why spend money for dorms when his mother’s food was so good? By the time he entered his final year, he was depressed and angry. He was restless. His mother understood. She suggested that he take a summer job “back East” before spending the rest of his life in the same town where he’d grown up, so he’d talked with friends who’d traveled, and here he was, in a landscape like nothing he’d ever known.

  He was beginning to feel what happiness was.

  He liked his job at Cabot’s. Wyatt was good at fixing mechanical things. Not so good at personal relationships, but at work Don Cabot talked almost incessantly, and his stories were entertaining.

  And there was Ariel.

  Wyatt knew from the moment he set eyes on her that he was in love with Ariel. Ariel had grown up just outside Boston. She’d been to Paris. She was head-turningly beautiful. She was friendly with everyone, and her laughter was magical.

  Why anyone so lovely would be interested in him was a mystery. Wyatt was smart enough to know that he was a good-looking guy. He’d had plenty of girlfriends in his life and any one of them would have married him in an instant. Ariel, for all her sophistication, always brightened when she set eyes on Wyatt, and sometimes, when they were walking and their arms brushed, her face would flush pink. For all her beauty, she was not a snob. As the days passed, Wyatt realized Ariel was not interested in the party scene, in rich people, fabulous venues, expensive jewelry.

  Ariel read a lot. She seemed like someone who would be content in a university town. So Wyatt thought he might have a chance. It was hard to get personal when they were all together, during either Hump Night dinners or beach picnics or parties. He wanted to spend some time alone with her. Getting to know her, letting her get to know him. He knew better than to ask her out on a date. Nick and Sheila would tease them mercilessly.

  He had an idea. A spur-of-the-moment kind of thing, and he told Don Cabot he was leaving for his lunch hour, but he’d be right back.

  * * *

  —

  Ariel usually spent her lunch hour at her desk at the Amos Longenecker Real Estate Agency. This made all the realtors happy, because she was there in case someone dropped in or called. Also, Ariel was frugal, wanting to save her money. She brought a perfectly satisfactory peanut butter, lettuce, and mayonnaise sandwich from her basement kitchen.

  Serious heat arrived on the island. The sidewalk bustled with people in shorts and scallopers’ caps or short tank tops and flip-flops. Ariel always wore a pretty dress and sandals to work. She wanted to look professional. She changed the moment she got home, usually into one of her bathing suits and a T-shirt.

  It was just after noon when the agency door opened and Wyatt walked in. Her heart jumped.

  “Wyatt! Why aren’t you at work?”

  Wyatt smiled. “I’m on lunch hour. I walked into town to get a sandwich and I thought I’d stop by and see if you wanted to go kayaking with me after work.”

  For a moment, Ariel was speechless. “Kayaking?”

  “It’s easy. Mr. Cabot at the boat shop said we could use one of theirs for free. They have two-seaters. Also, life vests.”

  “I’ve never kayaked,” Ariel said weakly.

  “It will take thirty seconds to show you. Basically, you sit and paddle. We could go around the inner harbor, and the cool thing is it’s so quiet. No motor. No sails.”

  “It sounds wonderful. I’d love to do it.”

  “Great! You know where I work, right? Down on North Washington across from the senior citizens center.”

  “I’ll be there. As soon after five as I can get there.” I will run, Ariel thought. I will shoot myself out of a cannon. I will fly.

  “Don’t go to the Sand Palace and change. I mean, because Nick or Sheila might be there, and we only have the one kayak.” Wyatt’s ears went pink as he talked.

  He wants to be alone with me, Ariel realized.

  He wants to be alone with me.

  “I mean, your dress might get wet, but not soaked. We won’t capsize or anything. You can leave your purse or whatever in Cabot’s office.”

  Wyatt is babbling, Ariel realized. She grinned at him. “Good. That’s all good.”

  “So, well, I’ll see you there.”

  “Yes. See you there right after five.”

  Their gaze was a lifeline, tying them together.

  “Okay,” Wyatt said, smiling, “I’m leaving now.”

  “Okay,” Ariel said. “Drive safely.”

  “I walked. The Jeep’s at the Sand Palace.”

  Ariel thought they could be speaking in Mandarin as long as they could stay connected like this.

  “Right,” she said. “Walk safely.”

  “I will. And you, um, work safely.” Wyatt’s eyes were twinkling now, his cheeks as pink as his ears.

  We are stinkin’ adorable, Ariel thought. We can’t leave each other.

  Wyatt stepped outside and shut the door. As he walked past the agency, he waved. Ariel waved back and then didn’t move. She sat smiling, afraid to break the spell.

  Suddenly, Wyatt was back at the wide window. He held up his hand, pointed to his five fingers, and mouthed “Five!”

  Ariel nearly lifted off her chair with joy. “FIVE,” she called.

  The agency phone rang. She had to pick it up. When she did, it took her a moment to remember what to say. “Amos Longenecker Real Estate Agency, Ariel speaking.” She waved again at Wyatt, who waved back at her and disappeared.

  What does this mean? Ariel wondered. It was a question that floated like a banner through her thoughts as she spent the afternoon answering the phone and sorting files.

  She left the office at five and walked through the town down to the street leading to the end of the harbor, the town pier, and Cabot’s Marine. She swung her purse as she walked and hummed a tune about flowers from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. People smiled at her. Little children smiled at her. She felt like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music, except did Maria ever have sex? Did Julie Andrews? Ariel let her thoughts bounce around like silly rubber balls.

  The boat shop was on the end of the harbor beach. It looked like an old barn with weathered shingles and a sailboat weather vane atop the slanted roof.

  Wyatt was leaning against the door, waiting. He pulled Ariel into the shadowy coolness of the boat shop and led her past shelves of rope and strange metal things over to the counter.

  “Don?” Wyatt called. “We’re going out in the kayak now.”

  From somewhere in the depths of the shop came a sound that was very much like the voice of God. “Fine.”

  “I’ll put these behind the counter,” Wyatt said, reaching for her purse and her sandals.

  Their hands touched when she handed them to him. Wyatt seemed so calm and matter-of-fact about it all that Ariel began to worry that his invitation didn’t mean anything, really. Maybe he’d already asked Sheila and Nick and they were too busy working or had other plans.

  “Here.” Wyatt gave her a yellow life vest.

  “I don’t need that, Wyatt. You know I can swim.”

  The voice of God roared, “PUT THE VEST ON.”

  She put the life vest on.

  Wyatt took her hand and led her toward the water. The town pier had boats tied to every available floating dock. In the harbor, sailboats and motorboats bobbed next to their large white buoys.

  The yellow kayak was waiting on the beach. It had two seats and four double-ended paddles.

  “Which one should I take?” Ariel asked.

  “The front. Great view. Here, wear this.” Wyatt handed her a scalloper’s cap with a long bill.

  “I have sunglasses,” Ariel told him, tapping her frames.

  “You’ll want as much protection from the sun as you can get,” Wyatt told her.

  “Oh. Thanks.”

  Now that they were so close to each other, they were awkward. Gathering the skirt of her frilly summer dress around her knees, Ariel stepped barefoot into the boat, lowered herself onto the yellow vinyl seat, and slid her legs into the enclosed deck. Wyatt handed her a double-ended paddle. The kayak rocked as Wyatt shoved it into the water and jumped into his seat behind her.

  “Don’t paddle,” he told her. “I’m going to steer us between all these boats. Don’t worry. We won’t hit any of them.”

  The water made gentle rippling sounds as Wyatt paddled. They went around a wooden sailboat and between two motorboats, all tied to buoys.

  “You can paddle now,” Wyatt said. “See if you can get into my rhythm.”

  After a few attempts, Ariel’s paddle was in sync with his. All around them, the water was clear and blue and cool.

  “I feel like a duck!” Ariel told Wyatt, laughing. “I mean, we’re almost in the water. This is really sea level.”

  “I’m going to steer us between the gap and into Polpis Harbor. The ferries don’t go there and neither do the big stinkpots.”

  Ariel concentrated on paddling. The sensation of sliding through the water without engine or sail was a kind of freedom, a kind of opening up. In the wide blue waters of Polpis Harbor, only a slight breeze blew, cooling Ariel, wrinkling the surface of the water, transforming the colors from indigo to turquoise to deep blue. Nothing was pressing on her. No phone was ringing, no customer or agent needed her attention, the ducks and geese they slid past didn’t even fuss at them. She could hear Wyatt breathing and sense the movement of his body as he paddled. It was intimate. She couldn’t stop smiling.

  They bumped up against someone’s wooden dock. The house was obviously empty, so they felt no sense of trespassing.

  “Let’s take a swim and cool off,” Wyatt suggested. “Be careful, don’t dive here. The water’s shallow.”

  It was impossible to be graceful, getting out of the kayak and into the water, but once there, Ariel floated with her eyes closed, her dress sopping wet all around her, her hair hanging down into the water, and the only sounds she heard were of Wyatt moving. It was a very quiet adventure. She was completely happy.

  “Your nose will be burned,” Wyatt said, treading water next to her.

  “Don’t bother me,” Ariel told him. “I’m having a moment of bliss.”

  “I’ll give you a moment of bliss.” Reaching around her shoulders, he pulled her face up from the water and kissed her.

  Ariel didn’t take her lips away from his as she kicked herself gently into a standing position so she could put her arms around him and pull him close to her. After a long time, Wyatt pulled back, keeping his hands on her arms.

  “I can’t stop thinking about you,” he said.

  “I know,” Ariel replied. “Me, too.”

  “Let’s head over to Coatue.” Wyatt hoisted himself up on the old weathered dock and held the kayak steady while Ariel climbed in.

  They were silent as they paddled across the blue water to the long stretch of beach covered with wild roses and poison ivy. They slid out of the kayak, pulled it up onto the sand, and collapsed on the beach.

  It was quiet. No houses, no cars. The town itself seemed far away, another place. They heard only the lapping of the waves against the shore and the occasional cry of a bird.

  Ariel expected Wyatt to put his arms around her and kiss her again. Instead, he sat up, drew his knees to his chest, wrapped his arms around his legs, and said, in that serene way he had, “I want to know everything about you.”

  Ariel was surprised. “Oh! Well. I mean you know a lot about me already.”

  “Not the real stuff. The deep stuff. Like, which do you prefer, the city or the country?”

  Ariel lay back, taking a moment to enjoy the sensation of the hot sand against her cool back. “I don’t think anyone’s asked me that before. I’d have to give it some thought. I mean, I’ve seen a lot of cities, London, Paris, and so on, and I have dreams of living in a loft in New York, and…”