Kelsey blew through her lips with disgust. ?/ can tell by talking to them. But you wouldn?t talk. You?re such a snob, Dhanya! You want money, looks, and class.
You?ve been hanging around with your parents too much.? Ivy tried to remember what Beth had told her about Dhanya’s parents. Her mother was from a very wealthy Indian family, had come to the U.S. as a graduate student, and fell in love with an American. Her father was… a lawyer?
?So I have high standards/? Dhanya shot back. ?If I can have what I want, why should I settle for less??
She appealed her question to Ivy; Ivy smiled, remaining discreetly quiet, but mentally awarding Dhanya the ?point.?
?Anyway? Kelsey said, dragging out the word, her eyes shifting from Ivy to the entrance of the solarium, ?I know where they all beach now.?
?Ivy?s not in the market for a boyfriend,? Dhanya reminded Kelsey, then turned to see what had distracted her friend.
?I know, but a girl can always look,? Kelsey replied, leaning closer to Ivy, hinting not too subtly that Ivy should turn around. ?What if I don?t want to?? Ivy baited her. ?Ivy, c?mon! You?re not married yet!? Kelsey sat back in the chaise lounge and raised one knee, providing a nice view of her curvy leg. Ivy wondered who this provocative show was for, but still didn?t turn around.
?Hey! Don?t be shy/? Kelsey called out to the person who had entered the room.
?Come on over.?
?I was just leaving.? The person who held Kelsey?s and Dhanya?s attention had a deep voice. ?But you just arrived,? Kelsey replied, smiling. Poor
?Don?t let my outfit (care you off/? Kelsey persisted. ?It belongs to my roommate.? She pointed to Ivy. ?If you think this is hot, you ought to see her beach wear!?
?Kelsey!? Ivy spun her chair around, ready to defend herself. But when she looked at the guy, all words slipped away. His intense blue eyes seemed to burn through flirtatious remarks and silly explanations. His gaze was both haunted and disdainful, as if he had experienced and knew something terrible mat Ivy and her friends would never understand.
As long as he looked at her, Ivy couldn?t look away. His face, shadowed with several days of stubble, was striking rather than handsome. Clean shaven and lit with a smile, it was a face that could break a girl?s heart, Ivy thought.
Without saying a word more, he turned his wheelchair and left. Ivy heard Andy?s voice in the hall outside the door: ?Enough already? Okay, pal.?
?I bet that?s him,? Dhanya half whispered to Kelsey. ?The guy they were talking about when we stopped to ask directions to Ivy?s room.?
?You mean the one they pulled out of the ocean in Chatham?? Kelsey replied.
Dhanya frowned. ?I thought he was found unconscious on the sand, close to the water.?
?Whatever. Must have been some party, probably wilder than ours,? Kelsey observed, and turned to Ivy. ?He won?t tell them what happened or how he got there. He won?t even tell them who he is.?
?It’ s not that he won?t, he
?So he says,? Kelsey noted.
?What’ s wrong with him?? Ivy asked.
?Nothing, as far as I?m concerned,? Kelsey said. ?He?s rude, but I can forgive that — what a face!? Ivy tried again. ?I meant why was he hospitalized? Was it for any reason other than amnesia??
Kelsey looked to Dhanya for the answer. Dhanya shrugged.
?In any case,? Kelsey said, ?it?s obvious that Chatham is the place to be,”
?We have our own beach at the inn,? Ivy pointed out.
?Ivy, you need to stop thinking about yourself and consider Beth.?
?What?? Ivy asked, taken aback. ?You know my cousin — she will come to Chatham only if you and Will come. She needs to find a boyfriend of her own.
She?s way too attached to you.”
Ivy frowned, wondering if there was some truth to mat.
Kelsey checked her phone again. ?Fat chance!? she said in response to someone?s message. ?Delete. Delete. Delete…. Ready, Dhanya??
Dhanya stood up and grasped the handles on Ivy?s chair. ?I can get myself back,? Ivy told her. ?I?m going to stay here in the sun for a while.?
Dhanya dug in her purse and pulled out a small tube of cocoa butter, handing it to Ivy. ?Put it on, close your eyes, and pretend you?re at the beach,? she said.
Ivy lifted the cap and sniffed. ?Mmm. Much better than hospital disinfectant.
Thanks.? Kelsey stood up. ?I?ve got to get my shirt and shorts, so I?ll drop this gorgeous gown on your bed.? She pirouetted and danced out the door. ?Thanks for coming,? Ivy called after her. Dhanya hugged Ivy lightly. ?Come home soon,? she said, and followed Kelsey out of the solarium.
Ivy rolled her chair to another window, one sheltered by an island of plants. She sat there for a long time, looking out at the trees and buildings surrounding the hospital, thinking about distance. How could she feel as if she?d been kissed by someone who was another world away — and as if she was losing touch with someone close enough to kiss? Memories are a curse, Ivy thought. If she had no memory of Tristan, she would be able to love Will the way he deserved to be loved.
After a while, she wheeled back from the window to return to her room. That was when she saw him: the guy with no memory. He had come back to the solarium and was sitting quietly in the far corner. Turning his head, he met her gaze. The way his glance darted away from her, then back again, and the searching look in his eyes told Ivy that he wasn?t faking it. He was haunted by what he couldn?t recall.
Ivy paused, her chair about ten feet from his. ?Remembering can be as painful as not remembering,? she said.
His face darkened. ?Can it? How would you know?? In some ways he was right; she couldn?t know his pain any more than he could know hers. And there was no point in sharing — he clearly
?Have it your way,? she said, and left.
TUESDAY MORNING, IVY WAS RELEASED FROM THE hospital.
?As soon as I get home, I?m mailing you the rest of your summer clothes/? her mother said, while they waited for Andy to bring the discharge papers.
?The thing is. Mom, we don?t have much bureau or closet space in the cottage.
The only thing I really need is a new pair of sneakers.?
The ones she had been wearing were blood soaked, as were the clothes she had worn to the hospital. The ER staff had put them in a bag for Ivy, and before discarding them she had looked at them with astonishment. She believed more than ever that Tristan had helped her. How else could she have made it through such injuries?
?Everything you brought to Cape Cod looks the same, sweetie,? her mother argued. ?I?ll take some of those clothes home to free up space for pretty things.?
They spent the next ten minutes discussing clothes, going in circles as endless as her mother?s love for ruffles. Finally, Ivy?s brother rescued her.
?Philip, where have you been?? Maggie asked when he entered the hospital room.
?You told me to wait outside the door while Ivy changed. You never told me to come back in.? Ivy laughed. Philip picked up the Yankees cap he had given Ivy and placed it on her head. ?I gave away the angel coin I brought for you. Is that okay??
?Of course,? she said. ?Lots of people in the hospital could use an angel.?
?I told him he could pray to Tristan.? Ivy bit her lip. Philip had never stopped talking about Tristan, believing in him as an angel long before Ivy did; now, his faith in Tristan hit Ivy just as hard as the first time Philip had spoken of him. If she told Philip that she had been with Tristan again, that she had felt Tristan holding her, would PhilipBut no, she didn?t want to confuse her little brother. Andy came in with the discharge papers. ?Well, young
