Evercrossed

?Aren?t you going to answer it?? Guy asked. Ivy handed the coin back to him.

?Later. I, uh, want to get my feet wet,? she said, and headed toward the waves.

She felt as if she couldn?t fight it anymore than she could fight the sea, this deep connection she felt with Guy. It was a relief to stand in the surf, the ocean rushing against her legs, making her skin cold and tingly. Tristan had taught her to swim, and after Gregory had died, Ivy had taken lessons, becoming an even stronger swimmer.

Still, her feet fought the undertow and her arms prickled with the ocean?s spray.

She was both afraid of and seduced by the sea. She stood there for a long time, then moved closer to the shore, crouching to look at a sparkling crescent of shells and pebbles. When she glanced up, Guy was standing ten feet away, watching her so closely she became self?conscious. She stood up, and at the same time, he moved toward her, smiling.

?Your hair!? he said

Feeling the wind tossing it this way and that, she reached back and caught her hair, holding it still. ?What about it??

?You should see it. It?s… wild.? She imagined it looked like kinky gold seaweed blowing in the wind. ?Hey, do you see me laughing at yours?? Not that there is any reason to, she thought. His streaky blond hair had a curl to it— like hair an Italian sculptor might give a hero.

Guy laughed, then glanced over his shoulder. Her cell was ringing again. They caught a snatch of it before the breeze carried off the sound. ?Same ringtone,? he observed. ?For some reason, it sounds to me like Will.?

?It is.”

?I made him nervous yesterday.? When Ivy didn?t comment, Guy went on. ?I thought about telling him that he had nothing to worry about. . Does he have anything to worry about??

?Like what??

He smiled. ?Well, when I was making the great escape from the hospital, I asked if I should say that I was your boyfriend. You quickly corrected me — brother, you said.?

Ivy gazed downward and turned over a shell with her toe, as if fascinated by how it might look on the opposite side.

?A girl who quickly informs you that you cannot be her boyfriend is one of two things: very committed to her boyfriend, or feeling guilty because she?s not.?

Ivy crouched to pick up the shell. ?Which was it?? he asked. She didn?t reply.

Rising to her feet, she attempted to distract him from the question by holding out the shell to him. But instead of looking at it, he caught a piece of her hair.

The light tug of his hand, the way he opened his palm and looked down at the lock of her hair, made her heart pound. His gaze was hidden beneath golden lashes. Then he raised his eyes and caught her mass of hair in both hands, lifting it away from her face. His hands slid to the back of her neck with the gentleness of someone cupping a flower. Gazing at her mouth, he bent his head, moving his face slowly closer to hers. A rush of cold water pushed them apart. ?Sorry, I — it startled me. The water.” he said, looking embarrassed.

?Me too.? After a moment of uncomfortable silence, she added, ?I?m starved.

Why don?t we have our lunch now?? He nodded and they returned to the beach towel, where they ate in silence. As Ivy took the last bite of her sandwich, her cell phone went off again. Guy hummed along with the familiar ring, and grinned at Ivy. She dug into her bag.

?I knew you?d give in sooner or later.?

?Did you?? she replied. Leaving the phone in the bag, she pulled out a paperback and sunglasses, and began to read. Guy laughed, then spread his sweatshirt behind her and his T?shirt behind him. In five minutes he was asleep — Ivy knew it by his slow and even breaths.

She reached in her bag for her phone. Three calls and three texts from Will. One call, no message, from Beth. Ivy looked at Will?s first text: WHERE R U?

Can?t I go anywhere without telling you? she thought, then felt guilty. She clicked on the second message. It was an apology for whatever Will had said in his voicemails. Ivy moved on to the third, deciding not to listen to the voicemailsthings between them were strained enough.

R U OK? Will wrote. B SAYS SOMETHING IS WRONG. 1 OF THOSE FEELINGS

SHE GETS. MAKING ME CRAZY. Ivy sighed. She couldn?t blame Will for worry-ing when Beth went on like that, but this time Beth was wrong. @ BEACH.

HOME 4 DINNER, Ivy typed to Will and Beth, then turned off her phone and dropped it in her bag.

Gazing down at Guy, Ivy reached, and with light fingers, touched his hair. She lay down close to him, wanting, for the first time in a year, to live in no other time but the present.

Fourteen

IT WAS NEARLY SIX O?CLOCK WHEN IVY DROPPED GUY off at Nickerson.

Arriving at the Seabright?s lot, she noticed a bright yellow sports car parked next to Kelsey?s Jeep and Dhanya?s Audi.

Hearing voices in the direction of the cottage. Ivy checked her messages before following the path from the lot to the cottage. Will had written that Dhanya?s and Kelsey?s new friends were coming over for a cookout: Y DON?T U STOP BY

SOMETIME? he had added. His concern had changed to sarcasm, and in a way, that was easier for her to handle.

Emerging from the path, she saw that the barbecue had begun. An old banquet table had been dragged out from Aunt Cindy?s shed and covered with a checkered cloth. Extra chairs had been borrowed from the inn?s porch. Will was poking at coals in the grill and glanced up at her as she approached. ?Nice of you to show,? he remarked, and went back to work.

Beth set large bowls of pretzels and chips on the long table and turned back to the cottage as if she didn?t see Ivy. ?Hey,? Ivy greeted her.

Beth looked over her shoulder, then glanced toward Will, which annoyed Ivy. It was as if all that mattered was how Will felt.

?Hey, girl. Where ya been?? Kelsey sang out. She and a dark?haired guy were setting up a badminton net. ?Around,? Ivy replied. ?Looks like I got here just in time.?

?You did, and now you?ve got clean?up duty?? Ivy laughed. For once she was glad to be around a party girl with a big voice. It sure beat Beth?s and Will?s icy welcome.

?Cans are in the cooler. Nothing good,? Kelsey said with a flick of her head toward the inn. Ivy assumed she meant nothing alcoholic, not around Aunt Cindy.

?Back in a minute,? Ivy replied, and went inside. Dhanya was in the kitchen, whipping together a dip, her arm jingling with gold, silver, and copper bracelets.

A guy relaxed in a kitchen chair, watching her. It had to be Max, Ivy thought, noticing the shirt. It was Hawaiian silk, and its bright aqua and lime green floral stood in contrast to his monochrome coloring: tan skin, faded?brown hair, and when he turned to look at Ivy, light brown — almost amber — eyes.

He smiled, his row of perfect white teeth gleaming against his beige coloring.

?Max Moyer,? he said, holding out his hand. ?Ivy Lyons,? she replied, walking over to him, amused that he had offered to shake hands but remained in his chair, his foot casually propped on his knee.

Glancing down, Ivy recognized his brand of boat shoe — Gregory had worn the same ones. ?I?ve heard lots about you,? Max said. ?How much do you think is true?? Ivy asked. Her quick reply seemed to catch him off guard. She smiled, and after a moment Max matched her smile.

?All of it. Dhanya wouldn?t lie to me.? Dhanya glanced over her shoulder, but said nothing. ?Still,? Ivy said, ?you should only believe the good stuff.? She turned to Dhanya. ?Hey. What’re you making??

?Cream cheese and dill. Tell me what you think,” Dhanya said, dipping a clean spoon in her mix and holding it out to Ivy. ?Mmm. I think I?m sitting wherever you put this bowl.”

?Can I taste?? Max dipped a cracker. ?Awesome!? he exclaimed, and then dipped his half?eaten cracker into