Nantucket Romance 3-in-1 Bundle (43 page)

Susan set Kate’s glass down. “Thanks.” Kate let go of the wooden arm long enough to take a sip.

When Roy brought up the food, everyone passed the dishes, helping themselves. Kate couldn’t believe the trouble they’d gone to. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, buttered noodles, and coleslaw that looked homemade.

She picked up a drumstick and bit into the crispy breading.
Heaven.
“This is delicious.”

“Thanks,” Roy said.

“I wish you wouldn’t fry it.” Across from Kate, Susan picked the breading from a wing with a fork. “I keep telling him to bake it skin- less. I swear when you get to be our age, the very smell of food causes weight gain.”

Kate didn’t see a spare ounce on Susan’s petite frame.

“You’ll walk it off this week.” Roy spooned a heap of mashed potatoes onto his plate and covered them with a ladling of gravy.

“Your arteries are clogging as we speak,” Susan said. She took a tiny portion of potatoes and set the bowl on the side table.

“I’ll die a happy man.” The look Roy sent Susan didn’t seem happy.

“Suit yourself,” Susan said. “But for heaven’s sake, could you at least wipe the grease off your chin so we don’t have to look at it?”

Lucas gave Kate a pointed look. Yes, there was tension between the Wrights.

“Would you like the pepper, Kate?” Roy asked.

Kate slid her fork into the slaw. “No, thank you. Everything is perfect. You’re a walker, Susan?” She hoped to ease the tension between them.

“I have to be if I want to stay slender. You should try it.”

Kate felt her temperature soar as heat singed her cheeks. Maybe she wasn’t as small-boned as Susan, but she kept her weight well under control.

“She does,” Lucas said. He looked at Kate. “Mom walks every day too. Maybe you could walk together.”

Kate’s eyes narrowed, but she refrained from outright glaring at the man. Besides, she had to spend time with Susan if she was going to keep her end of the bargain. She just wasn’t sure every day was necessary.

Lucas scooted his chair closer to the table and Kate could have sworn the whole platform shook. Her hand tightened on the metal fork.

“Actually, I use a treadmill,” she said.

Susan poured Brody a second glass of tea. “Well, that’s certainly easier.”

Kate chewed a bite of food, then swallowed the dry lump. “On second thought, walking outdoors might be a nice change of pace from my incline training.”

She wasn’t willing to give up her treadmill time, but walking with Susan would give Kate time to figure out how to help their marriage. If she could stand being with the woman that long.

“It’s settled, then,” Susan said.

“Look, the Porters have their boat out.”

Kate followed the line of Jamie’s finger and saw a bright yellow sail on the water. The view made her dizzy and she focused on her slaw.

Roy was addressing her. “What did you and Luc do on your honeymoon?”

“Roy, for heaven’s sake.” Susan took a bite of white chicken meat.

“Well, I’m not asking for juicy details. I’m just making conversation.”

Kate wanted to crawl under the table.

“We went to the beach.” Lucas smoothed things over. “And to the whaling museum. Kate had never actually gone.”

“We took a boat to the Vineyard and went shopping,” Kate added.

“
You
went shopping?” Jamie asked Lucas.

Roy set his chicken thigh down and wiped the grease from his fingers with a paper napkin. “It’s amazing the things a man in love will do.”

He said it as if to get a dig in on Susan, though Kate wasn’t sure what it meant.

“Well, I wasn’t surprised Lucas was in love with you,” Jamie said. “The way he spent all that time renovating your apartment and refurbishing your floors. I knew he was falling for you.”

Kate tried to catch Lucas’s eyes, but he seemed intent on his food.

“And all the time he spent on the gazebo,” Jamie continued. “We should have known there was more to it. He worked on it forever.”

Kate wondered about the mottled blush that climbed Lucas’s cheeks. She hadn’t known he was so easily embarrassed. Well, Jamie could think whatever she wanted so long as she bought their story.

Tourists and locals alike clogged the cobblestone surface of Main Street. Lucas took Kate’s hand and led her through the Fourth of July throng. They’d watched the watermelon- and pie-eating contests and gotten soaked during the water fight between the fire departments. Now it was time to find a spot on the beach for the fireworks.

When they neared Jetties Beach, Lucas adjusted the blanket and picnic basket in his arms and ushered Kate through the Pavilion. The place looked different than the night of their wedding. Had it only been two weeks? He wondered if she was remembering too.

All day they’d run into friends and acquaintances. Kate had constantly had her hand in his or her arm wrapped around his waist. Having her at his side made him stand taller. At one point, they found themselves standing by Selma Bennett, an editor at the
Mirror
. Lucas had leaned down and pecked Kate on the lips. Her eyes widened before she leaned into him for the briefest moment.

Now they exited through the back of the building and crossed the sand where people were spread out across the beach, lounging on blankets and beach chairs. When they found an empty spot, Lucas shook out the piecework quilt, and they ate their turkey sandwiches and Doritos, then snacked on fresh strawberries.

Lucas popped one in his mouth and leaned back on his hands, his legs stretched out to the edge of the quilt. Smoke from firecrackers and salt from the ocean blended together in a unique concoction that reminded him of Independence Days long past. Laughter and chatter filled the darkness, punctuated by the sharp pop of firecrackers, as the crowd waited for the public display to begin.

“Nantucket knows how put on a Fourth of July shindig,” Kate said.

“Can’t believe you’ve been here three years and haven’t come.”

She shrugged. “I’ve always been out of town.” She didn’t have to say she’d been visiting Bryan.

Two blankets over, Bryce Webber, who ran an online community and discussion forum, saw them and waved. They returned the greeting, Kate leaning into Lucas’s side as if suddenly realizing they were still on display. He sat up, draping his arm across her shoulders. He could get used to this.

When Kate plucked a strawberry from the Rubbermaid container and looked into his eyes, he wanted to claim her mouth then and there. But she touched the strawberry to his lips instead. Lucas opened his mouth, accepting the offer, and her fingertips brushed his lips.
Have mercy
. The tang of the fruit didn’t compare to the sweet taste of her lips.

The first firework exploded, drawing Kate’s attention to the sky over the barge where the fireworks were shot from. A red glow, a reflection of the firework, blossomed over her face. Lucas already had fireworks going off inside. The big booms were only an echo of his heart.

With Kate nestled into his side, they watched the display. He could’ve lain there the rest of the night, her fingers tucked inside his. But all too soon, the fireworks ended, and they were packing their things and heading to his truck.

Lucas felt a disconnect between them as soon as they left the traffic and turned toward home. The ride was quiet. Kate sighed deeply and crossed her arms against the coolness of the night as the truck bumped along the street, jangling his keys. He itched to reach across the expanse and warm her hands in his.

“Quite a day, huh?” he asked.

Kate leaned her head against the passenger window. “Mmm.”

Lucas turned off the air and adjusted the temperature. “What’d you think of the fireworks?” They might not compare to Boston’s, but he’d always thought Nantucket put on a pretty good display.

“They were good.”

Lucas felt his spirits deflating like a punctured inner tube. They’d been close all day. Kate seemed to enjoy his company, even his touch. Her eyes lit when she laughed at the things he’d said. Somehow he’d let himself believe it was real.

But it wasn’t real. Her affection was for appearances. And now, feeling Kate disengage from him was . . . hurtful. He wanted it back, the way they’d interacted, the way she’d looked at him, touched him. How could she turn it off like a spigot?

How had he not realized how difficult this was going to be?

Lucas shut the door hard behind Kate. She set her purse on the sofa table as he brushed by her and disappeared into the bathroom. Ten seconds later, the shower kicked on.

Was it her imagination, or was something bothering him? Kate took the picnic basket into the kitchen and tossed the trash. It had been a good day, but tiring. She’d seen everyone she knew, it seemed, at some point. With everyone congratulating them, she felt obligated to play the happy honeymooners, and it had worn on her.

Not that Lucas was hard to be affectionate with; he’d played along beautifully. But she was tired of being on display. By the time the fireworks ended, she was ready to hole up at the house where she didn’t have to pretend.

As Kate finished putting away the picnic supplies, the shower went off. Good. She could use a rinsing herself. Though the weather had cooled after dusk, the sun had been hot and bright overhead all day. Besides, she wanted to wash the sand out of her hair.

Kate gathered her things from the bedroom and headed for the bathroom, her mind on her plans for the next day. When Lucas rounded the corner, she nearly smacked into his bare chest. He wore a blue towel that barely closed around his waist.

Kate stepped aside, averting her eyes. “Do you mind?” She pulled her own bundle of clothing into her chest as she passed.

“Nope.” His tone was uncharacteristically sharp.

Kate stopped, ready to return and ask him what was wrong. But when she heard the unmistakable whoosh of the towel dropping to the rug, she darted into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

Every relationship you try on won’t fit.
Don’t try to squeeze into it. Put it back
on the rack and look for a better fit.

—Excerpt from
Finding Mr. Right-for-You
by Dr. Kate

Chapter Eleven

Lucas watched his mom and Kate cut across the beach, their bare feet kicking up sand, their evening shadows stretching behind them. He hoped his mom behaved herself.

The warm breeze ruffled the corners of the newspaper in his lap as he thought over the past two weeks. He’d enjoyed having Kate around, grown used to it. It felt good seeing evidence of her presence in his house. Her robe on a hook behind the door. Her toiletries a neat row in the medicine cabinet. Her shoes lined up by color inside the closet. He didn’t see the point in that one, but whatever.

There’d been a learning curve too. Earlier that week, she’d exited the bathroom, a look of strained patience lining her lips. “I appreciate that you shaved, but would you mind rinsing out the sink since we only have the one?”

He shrugged. “Sure.”

She hadn’t mentioned the wet towels until the third morning and by then they were a knee-high blue pile in the corner.

What was it with Kate and order? It was like a god she worshipped. Why did everything have to be perfect?

Lucas opened the
Mirror
and shook his head. It did tickle him to watch confusion shadow her face when he cooked. He’d thought everyone dumped the whole package of bacon into the frying pan until he’d seen the way she’d done it, one tedious strip at a time, all neat and tidy.

The woman kept a record of her workouts, for crying out loud. He’d looked at the clipboard one day after she’d exercised, made notes, and disappeared into the shower. She marked the miles, the speed, the incline, and the time she’d walked, down to the minute.

But as much as her librarian ways amused him, he wondered what had her so tightly wound. She lived as if life could be boiled down to one big list. As if by keeping everything in order, somehow she could control things.