Perfect! I thought, but to Adam I said, “Find anything good?” I nodded to the cases he held.
Holding up both a comedy selection and a classic Hitchcock film, he asked, “Funny or suspenseful?”
The oven chimed before I could answer, and Adam walked back to the sofa. The toe of his shoe hit something on the floor, and he stopped. To my dismay I saw it was one of the DVDs I didn’t want him to see. Crap, I thought I’d pushed them both under the sofa. Adam bent to pick it up, and I froze, catching the image on the cover. Oh no, it was the romantic tearjerker. “Um, we don’t have to watch that one,” I said in a rush of words.
“Is there some reason this one is halfway hidden under the sofa?” Adam smirked as he skimmed over the back cover.
“Um, no,” I muttered.
”Hiding your chick flicks, eh?” Adam teased in return. He was enjoying this way too much.
“I must have dropped it,” I mumbled, embarrassed for the second time in one night, because we both knew that wasn’t true.
The timer buzzed, so I made a quick escape to the kitchen. I’d literally been “saved by the bell.” Or maybe not. As I was getting the pizza out of the oven, Adam came into the kitchen.
He grabbed the paper plates I’d set out on the counter, and I slid the pizza onto a large cutting board. “I bet you’d never guess,” Adam said softly, “but I’ve always wanted to see that movie.”
“The chick flick?” I looked up, shooting him a look of disbelief.
Adam tapped the paper plates against the counter and smiled. “I’ll admit, maybe it won’t make my life complete. But judging from your reaction, it seems like it would be something you’d enjoy watching.”
“It’s only one of my favorite movies, like ever,” I said under my breath as I pulled a cabinet drawer open and rummaged for the pizza slicer.
Adam’s hand stilled mine. “Then let’s watch it.”
I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe I was going to watch such a romantic movie with such a gorgeous guy. Maybe he was starting to fall for me too. A girl could only hope, right?
In the end we watched the “chick flick.” And not surprisingly I cried at all the touching and sad parts, of which there were many. And Adam was sweet, wiping my tears away and showering me with tender kisses. By the end of the movie, I was curled up with Adam on the sofa, wrapped up in his strong arms, feeling happier than I’d felt in a very long time. If only things could have remained so blissful.
Chapter 11
The next afternoon, as I hurried into the toasty warmth of the café, a cold shiver coursed down my spine. Unfortunately it wasn’t just a reaction to the icy drizzle and frigid temperatures that had blown in off the sea. Though the weather did indeed add to my uneasiness, I had this feeling I just couldn’t shake that something bad was about to happen. But I had to put my worries aside for now.
Helena was behind the coffee bar, leaning on the counter and laughing along with a tall, smartly dressed woman with short, dark hair. Though she looked different than I remembered—more chic, more polished—I recognized that she was Adam’s sister, Trina.
Glancing up as I approached, Helena called out a cheerful, “Maddy!”
Trina smiled as I reached the counter, and Helena turned to her and asked, “You remember Maddy Fitch, right?”
“Of course I remember,” Trina said warmly. “It’s good to see you again.”
The next few minutes were spent engaged in reintroductions and small talk. Trina confirmed she was staying until Monday and then confessed she had come up to the island a day early because she’d gotten into an argument with Walker. Helena asked her if it had been about anything serious, but Trina said no. They’d just been getting on each other’s nerves with all the planning for the upcoming wedding.
“Men,” Helena said exasperatedly, shooting Trina a look of solidarity.
“Speaking of which,” Trina said slowly as she turned to face me, her stunning blue eyes so similar to Adam’s that I had to keep myself from staring. “I want to know your secret for getting my boring brother out on a Friday night. If he’s not out of town on business, he’s usually holed up in his study working.”
Helena broke in with, “Aha, I heard you two had made up. But Nate didn’t tell me you had another date.”
“It wasn’t really a date,” I explained. “We just watched a movie together at my place.”
“That sounds cozy.” Helena nudged Trina’s arm. “Come on, tell us all the gory details.”
“Uh, maybe not everything, Maddy.” Trina grimaced. “We are talking about my brother here.”
“It’s not like that anyway,” I insisted. “We watched the movie, and then Adam left.”
Sure there’d been a little bit more than that, like some amazing kissing, but I had no desire to share those details.
“Oh sure,” Helena said with a roll of her eyes. “Editing for Trina’s sake is fine for now. But you know I’ll be expecting the unrated version later.”
“Um…” I trailed off.
Thankfully Trina saved the day when she said, “Really, Helena, leave Maddy alone. You really need to get off this island more often.”
Helena laughed and agreed, and I jumped at the chance to ask how she and Nate had come to live on Fade Island.
She explained that after college, Nate, who’d been trying to get picked up as a quarterback, was drafted by an NFL team across the country. But during training camp, he suffered a career-ending injury, thus halting their plans to move west. Adam, who had moved out to the island following Chelsea’s disappearance, then asked Nate if he’d be interested in “managing” Fade Island. Nate had a degree in a computer-related discipline as well, so Adam went even
