The Rest of the Story(76)

Maybe, I wrote back to her now. A single word, without weight in either direction. Immediately, she texted back a thumbs-up.

“Emma?” My dad was outside, his voice clear through the thin door. “Are you in there?”

“Yes,” I called out, sliding my newspaper under a pillow. “Coming.”

When I opened the door, he was standing there, in an ATHENS T-shirt and swim trunks. Sunscreen streaked his face. “Ready to sail?”

“No,” I replied.

“Great,” he said easily, too happily distracted to notice this. “The boat is ready for us. Tracy went to grab the cooler from the Club. Walk down with me?”

Clearly, I wasn’t getting out of this. I took my stuff and followed him.

“Breakfast?” Nana asked as we passed by, gesturing to the expanse of room service plates that sat before her. “Sailing requires energy.”

“No time,” my dad said, plucking a muffin from a tray of pastries. “We’re headed out right now.”

I kissed her cheek as I passed her, taking a doughnut after she told me again to help myself. Once out in the hallway, as my dad pushed the button for the elevator, I wrapped it in a tissue, stuffing it deep in my bag.

“I think you’ll really like this,” he said as the doors slid open and we got in. “Going down,” the voice informed us. “It won’t be like those days at Topper Lake back at home, so choppy. Just an easy sail.”

“I can’t stay out long,” I told him. “Bailey wants me to do something with her later, and then there’s this party.”

“Party?” he asked. “When?”

“Tonight,” I said. “I told you, my friend Taylor. It’s her birthday.”

“I don’t know,” he said. “We’re supposed to eat with the Delhommes tonight.”

I’d forgotten. Nana’s friends, who owned the Tides, had invited us to dinner at the Club. “I don’t have to be there, though, right? It’ll be all you guys drinking wine and talking.”

“I think it’s the least we can do to thank them for this vacation,” he replied as we reached the lobby. “Plus, they’re expecting you.”

“Dad,” I said. Before, I hadn’t been that into going to Taylor’s party. Now that it seemed I might not be allowed to do so, it felt imperative. “I’m going sailing. You have to let me do something I like today. It’s my vacation, too.”

He looked at me. “Emma. You’ve already spent a month with your friends. I think you can miss one party.”

“But it’s her birthday!”

“Maybe,” he said, and having this same word as my answer felt like payback after all of Bailey’s pleadings that I’d ignored. “We’ll see. For now, let’s just have a good time, okay?”

Sure. Because that was what always happened when we went sailing. I bit this thought back, though, as we stepped outside. The heat was like a thick wall, even with the chill of the A/C still on my skin, and I immediately dug in my bag for the baseball hat I’d brought, pulling it down to shade my face.

“Great day to be on the water,” he announced, leading me down a side set of stairs to the pool area. The beach was just beyond, a girl in a white Club shirt sitting in the lifeguard chair, swinging a whistle on a chain. The sand was dotted with beachgoers, some with their chairs in groups, kids digging with shovels and pails nearby, others alone, soaking up the sun. A waiter moved through them with a tray in hand, taking orders. “The dock is just this way, I think . . . yes. Look, that’s ours!”

I followed his finger, which was pointing at a small sailboat bobbing just off to one side. Staring at it, I felt a nervousness not unlike what I felt when I had to drive, a mix of dread and fear.

“Great,” I said as another white-shirted Club worker came around from behind the sail, wiping his hands on his shorts. It was Blake, not that I had time to react, as in the next moment my dad was walking right up him.

“I think that’s for us,” he said, nodding at the boat. “Payne?”

“That’s right,” Blake replied, hopping onto the dock. “All ready for you as promised. Do you need a quick lesson?”

“No, no,” my dad said as I pulled my hat down a bit farther. “I know what I’m doing. Actually taught sailing here when I was your age.”

“Really?” Blake asked. “That’s cool. Did you live on Campus?”

“Room fourteen,” my dad told him proudly. “All four years. Could still find my name on the wall, I bet, if I looked. Matthew Payne.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Blake.” He stuck out his hand and they shook while I stood off to one side, willing myself to be invisible. “I’ve left a card with our number here at the docks and a backup Club one, just in case you run into any trouble.”

“Hopefully not,” my dad said. “We’re just doing an easy sail. My daughter, Emma, here isn’t exactly a fan.”

Blake gave me a quick glance, nodding, then turned back to the boat. A beat later, though, he looked at me again. My hat had covered my face some, but not enough. Damn. “Saylor? Is that you?”

My dad, surprised, looked at me as well. “You guys know each other?”