“Not yum! I don’t want him.”
Sky chuckled. “You mean you don’t want to want him.”
Remembering the sizzle of awareness when their eyes had met, Brittany bit her lip. “Why did this have to happen? Why did he have to pick this moment to come back here?”
“It’s fate.”
“I hate it when you say that.”
“Finish the story. You saw the spider, screamed and then he appeared. And you weren’t wearing anything at all. Not even a teeny tiny thong?”
“I was wearing a teeny tiny thong fifteen minutes before he arrived. It was on the floor.” She heard a sound and frowned. “Are you laughing?”
“I might be. Look, maybe he didn’t notice.”
“He noticed. He smacked his head into the door frame.”
“Oh, poor him. That must have hurt. I always said that door was too low. I can’t walk into that bathroom in heels.”
Brittany gave a murmur of exasperation. “Whose side are you on?”
“Yours, of course, but I do sympathize that he banged his head and I’m not going to be angry with him for looking out for you. So he saw you naked—then what?”
“He threw me a towel and got rid of the spider.” With those big, calloused hands that could break down a door or the defenses of a woman with equal ease.
“Well, there you go. The actions of a perfect gentleman.”
“It was a hand towel. And I can think of lots of different ways of describing Zachary Flynn, but ‘perfect gentleman’ isn’t one of them.”
“Did he, or did he not, get rid of the spider?”
“He did, but—”
“And he came back to check you were okay?”
“Yes, but—”
“It wasn’t his fault the closest thing was a hand towel. So then what? You stood there looking at each other and all you were wearing was a plaster cast. That must have been awkward.”
“It was a little more than awkward.” And hadn’t been made less so by the fact the incident had played out on the same stage as their intense affair. They’d had sex in that bathroom. They’d had sex in almost every room of the house.
“Just awkward? Not sexy? He didn’t push you up against the wall and press his heated body against yours?”
“No! And you need to rein in your imagination.” And she needed to rein in hers.
“Can’t do that, I need it for my job.”
“So keep it for your art and don’t get creative with my sex life, especially not where Zach is concerned.”
“I always thought he’d be the kind of guy to take what he wanted without asking permission.”
“I think we’ve already established he didn’t want me.” And it shouldn’t bother her. It really shouldn’t bother her.
“It must have been hard for him to commit to someone, given he’d been alone all his life.”
“You sound as if you’d like to adopt him.”
“Now you mention it, he’s like one of those stray dogs who have been badly treated and no one ever wants to give a home to because they’re afraid of being bitten.”
“Not every stray dog can be tamed.”
“Agreed. So what happened after he’d performed epic spider removal? He left?”
“Right after I virtually accused him of stealing from my purse.”
“You didn’t! Brit? Why would you do that?”
“Because—because—I don’t know.” She was upset with herself. “I was feeling vulnerable. And he had just broken into my house.”
“To save you! Do you want to know what I think?”
“No.”
“I think seeing him really messed with your head and you wanted to see the worst in him.”
“Of course it messed with my head. I was naked! And I have no idea what I’m going to say next time I see him.”
“You say ‘thank you for removing my spider.’ What are you doing this morning?”
“I’m supposed to be meeting Em for breakfast. She’s in love.”
“I know. Can you believe it? And Ryan is gorgeous. How come we never met him when we came to stay?”
“Bad timing, I guess. Up until four years ago, he was always traveling. How do I handle the fact that Zach is here?”
“How do you think you should handle it?”
She went through the options. “Anger would imply I still care, happy would be too hard to play, so I was going with indifference.”
“Indifference sounds perfect to me.”
“But he saw me naked.”
Sky laughed. “Honey, it’s not the first time.”
BRITTANY TOOK THE PRETTIEST route to the harbor and the Ocean Club, walking up the coast path and then cutting across the fields that skirted the wooded interior of the island.
With the sun shining and the air filled with the scent of grass and wildflowers, it was impossible to feel anything other than pleased to be home.
The spectacular coastline of Maine matched anything she’d seen in the Mediterranean. From the lush, emerald perfection of Acadia National Park to the granite islands inhabited only by puffins and cormorants, Penobscot Bay was a wild, unspoiled paradise.
From high up on the bluff she could see fishing boats bobbing in the sheltered harbor and yachts and windjammers dotted across the bay.
It took her a little over an hour to walk to the Ocean Club. She arrived to find Ryan and Emily already sitting on the deck along with Lizzy, Emily’s six-year-old niece who was now living with her. The little girl was clutching a wooden boat to her chest and the moment she saw Brittany she moved closer to Emily.
Brittany watched as her friend scooped the child onto her lap and murmured words of reassurance.
She knew how hard the past few months must have been for Lizzy, but she also knew how hard it had been for her friend who had always vowed never to have children.
“That boat,” she said slowly, “looks exactly like the Captain Hook. Can I take a look? Where did you get it?”
Lizzy hesitated and then handed it across the table. “John made it for me.”
“He did? I’ve never known him to make anything like this for anyone before.” She turned it in her hands and read the words on the side. “The Captain Lizzy. This is beautiful. You’re lucky. John must think you’re very special to have made you this.”
“It floats.”
“You’ll have to show me.” She handed the boat back. “John taught me to sail when I was your age.”
“I’m learning. Ryan is teaching me.”
Brittany had known Ryan Cooper her whole life. She’d spent her summers with his sister Helen at Camp Puffin and babysat his younger sister, Rachel, to earn money.
She