crazy over there, trying to extract the people from under the boat and getting them to the trauma center.”
“Are they all right?” she asked.
“They were, last I heard,” Rory said.
“Rory… could we get together tomorrow? Up there?”
For the first time, he didn’t feel enthusiastic about seeing her. His mind was still on Daria. He winced when he remembered her telling him she was in love with him. Those words had taken him by surprise, and he’d felt guilty, as though he’d used her by making love to her. He’d thought Daria was the type of woman who could not be used, who would never do something she did not have completely under her control. She seemed invulnerable—so independent and strong and self-sufficient—that he hadn’t seen the need in her for anyone, much less for him. His body had responded with instant arousal when she’d kissed him, and he had not considered stopping himself. He’d treated it almost like one more activity with his old friend, like crabbing or fishing. He hadn’t realized that, for her, it meant much more than that. He shouldn’t have let it happen. Yet, it had been so damned good. And he knew he would rather spend tomorrow afternoon pulling crabs out of the bay with Daria than spending time with Grace.
“Why don’t we talk again tomorrow,” he said.
“See how our schedules pan out.”
She hesitated once more.
“All right,” she said.
“But I [eally would like to come up there.”
“We’ll talk then,” he said.
“And I’m sorry again about landing you up at the motel.”
He hung up the phone, and stared at the receiver for a minute before getting up and walking to the front door. There was one more woman he needed to apologize to this afternoon.
Chloe was on the front steps of the Sea Shanty, sweeping away the eelgrass that the storm had brought to their door.
“Looks like you lost some screens,” he said.
Chloe barely glanced at him.
“Yes,” she said.
“But that’s about the worst damage that was done, fortunately. To the cottage, anyway.” She darted her eyes in his direction again, and he had the feeling she knew what had happened between him and Daria the night before. Maybe, though, it was just his imagination—or his guilt—at work. Maybe she was simply alluding to the trauma suffered by Andy’s neighbors. Or more probably, to the embarrassment she herself had suffered when she’d admitted to him and Daria about her affair with Sean Macy.
“Is Daria in?” he asked.
“She’s up in her room,” Chloe said.
“Would it be all right if I went up?”
“Why not?” Chloe said.
“I guess there’s not much mystery left between the two of you, huh?”
Ouch.
“Chloe…” he began, not sure what more he could say.
Chloe sighed and leaned on the broom.
“Don’t listen to me, Rory,” she said.
“It’s just that my sisters are getting jerked around right now, and it’s upsetting me.”
“I’m not jerking Daria around,” he said. “What would you call it?” she asked. “In spite of the fact that you’re involved with someone else, you have sex with a woman who loves you dearly, who would do anything for you. I’m not excusing Daria’s behavior, but at least her motivation was noble. She did it because she’s crazy about you.”
He didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing, just walked past her into the cottage and up the stairs.
The door to Daria’s room was open. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, architect’s drawings spread out in front of her. He knocked on the open door, and she looked up.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi.”
“I thought I’d come see how you’re doing,” he said.
She bit her lip and lowered her eyes to the drawings, pushing them around with the tips of her fingers. He walked across the room and sat down on the edge of the bed, rescuing her hand from its futile wandering across the drawings and holding it on his knee.
“I’m sorry, Daria,” he said.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” she said.
“I started it. I shouldn’t have done that if I wasn’t prepared to accept the consequences.”
“You know I care about you, don’t you?” he asked.
