?Knows it,? Kelsey corrected, then adjusted her iPod and took off for the stairway to the beach. Dhanya sat down. ?Berries?? she asked Ivy, holding out the bowl. ?Thanks.? Setting the bowl on a small table between them, Dhanya rocked back and forth for a moment, then put her feet up on the railing, studying them.
?Lavender polish looks good on you,? Ivy said.
Dhanya wrinkled her nose. ?I?ll never have pretty feet. Dancers don?t — we abuse our toes.?
?Do you do ballet??
?And modern, and jazz, even tap. I used to do Indian, but my teacher was old and strict — she had this thing about attitude.
Dhanya imitated a British?sounding accent, and grimaced. ?Want to come with Kelsey and me to Chatham today? Max is having a group of friends over from college.”
?Thanks, but I?m headed out to Provincetown with Beth and Will this afternoon.?
Dhanya sighed. ?You?re so lucky — Will?s great? ?Mmm,? Ivy replied, and changed the subject. ?Tell me about Max.? Dhanya rolled her eyes. ?Kelsey said you liked him,? Ivy
Ivy was surprised by the blunt question. ?I think most of us are snobs in one way or another. We just don?t see our own prejudices.?
?Yes, but some people really are nose?in?the?air types,? Dhanya asserted. ?I hate that. Especially when they do it to me.?
?So, what?s Max like?? Ivy asked.
?Rich.? Dhanya pointed her toes, then relaxed her ankles. ?I need to stop digging my feet in the sand. They?re paler than my legs. . Max is rich and tacky, into stuff like cigarette boats and gaudy sports cars. He may have lots of money, but he acts so… blue collar.?
Ivy bit her lip to keep from laughing. Before her mother married Andrew, they had lived in blue?collar Norwalk.
?His father owns a chain of discount clothing stores,? Dhanya added.
Ivy cocked her head. ?So??
?Max looks like he buys his clothes from his father. I want someone as rich as Max and as classy as Will.?
?Maybe that guy will show up at Max?s beach party,? Ivy replied, trying to hide her irritation— she didn?t need anyone to remind her that Will was a great guy.
?Did you date someone you really liked in high school??
?No, but I have a Facebook boyfriend,? Dhanya said. ?Of course, it?s hard to take a guy from Australia to the senior prom.
After a long silence, Dhanya added, ?Thanks for not saying, ?Get real, Dhanya/
Kelsey says I live in la?la land. She says I?m afraid of real guys.?
For a moment, Ivy felt bad for Dhanya. ?Kelsey has a lot to say about you.
Maybe she should focus on herself, and leave you alone for a while.?
Dhanya smiled a little, “Yeah. Maybe she should. More berries??
?No thanks”
Dhanya scooped up the last handful, then picked up the bowl and headed back to the cottage.
Opening her mystery. Ivy read the first chapter — read it twice before she had absorbed enough to go on. But eventually the sea, salty air, and sunny porch faded, and Ivy was creeping with the hero down a dark backstreet of London.
About a half hour later, she felt a hand resting on her shoulder.
?Hey, Will,? she said. ?Get everything you wanted??
?Who?s Will?? At the sound of Guy?s voice, Ivy spun around, not sure if she felt annoyed or glad about his reappearance. ?How did you know where to find me??
?Your hospital papers. How did you know I?d come back to the parking lot??
He was wearing the sweatshirt and cargos she had bought him — and his old shoes; the new ones were tied to the backpack.
?I didn?t. I was just too mad to go back in the store and return the stuff.?
One side of Guy?s mouth lifted in a smile. He dropped his backpack on the porch. Seeing a new bedroll attached to it. Ivy hoped he had used her cash rather than shoplifting it.
?Have a seat,? she invited. He shook his head and leaned against the railing facing her. I?m kind of muddy.? ?Where have you been staying?? He shrugged.
?Around.? Ivy closed her book. ?Around here?? ?Here and there,? he replied elusively. ?Have you eaten anything in the last four days??
?Yeah,? said Guy, ?but you don?t want to know what.?
?Sure I do.? He laughed. Was it the unshaven cheeks, the tousled hair, or the mischief in his eyes? What made his laughter sexy? ?Leftovers,? he said. ?An assortment of leftovers.?
?Yum. Why didn?t you come here right away??
?Because you had already done enough.?
?Then why are you here now?? Guy?s face grew serious. There was something mesmerizing about his eyes and the way they seemed to peer into her soul. She had no power to look away.
?Because I?m hungry enough.? He turned away from her and gazed out at the water. ?Nice view.?
?So what will it be,? she asked, ?breakfast, lunch, or dinner??
?Whatever you have.? She stood up and held open the door for him. ?Come on.?
?I?ll stay outside.?
?No one?s here,? she said. ?Come on in.? ?What if Witt comes home?? Ivy thought she caught a gleam in Guy?s eye. ?Then I?ll introduce you/? she said. ?I feel better out here.?
Ivy shook her head. ?All right, but if I make you a meal, and come back and find you?re gone, I?ll be really teed off.?
?If s almost worth hiding in the bushes, just to see you lose it,? he replied, grinning. Sitting on the floor of the porch, he rested his back against the wood railing.
Ivy retreated to the kitchen, and after a moment?s thought made him a cheese omelet, figuring it would have plenty of protein, then cut a huge slab of Aunt Cindy?s homemade bread. She added to the tray an assortment of fruit and a cup of tea, and carried the tray through the parlor, pausing to look at Guy through the screen door. His eyes were closed and his shoulders sagged against the porch balusters. Ivy?s heart went out to him — he was exhausted.
?I smell food/? he said, opening his eyes. She pushed open the screen door, debated for a moment where to set the tray, then put it on the floor next to him.
?Thank you,? he mumbled, and started eating. Pushing aside her chair, Ivy sat on the porch floor a few feet away, studying him. He had removed his shoes and pushed up one sleeve to eat. She saw that his feet and ankles were bruised badly, as was his forearm. The fight he?d been in must have been brutal.
?So where are you staying?? Ivy asked. ?We already went over that,? he replied.
She nodded. ?I thought maybe this time you?d answer.?
?Around.? Ivy drummed her fingers against the porch floor and asked herself where she would go if she wanted to sleep outside inconspicuously yet be around enough people to acquire ?leftovers.? Since he didn?t have a car, some place not too far away. ?Nickerson State Park,? she said aloud.
His face remained a cipher. Having set down his fork, he picked up the mug of tea, holding it with both hands, as if he were warming them. It wasn?t warmth Guy needed. Ivy thought, but com* fort, kindness. She didn?t know how to help him; last time, her comfort and kindness had set him running.
?Have you remembered anything about who you are?? He took a sip of tea.
?No.?
?Are there still things that seem vaguely familiar?? Guy frowned and gazed down at his tea. She wondered if he was choosing his words,
?If anything, it?s gotten worse. Now too many things seem familiar to make a pattern that I can understand.
