Girls of Summer(59)
“What are you saying?” Juliet asked. “Or, what do you mean? That we can’t…have a relationship because you’re so busy?”
“No, I don’t mean that. But I want to be honest. I’m a maniac about this cause. It’s my first priority in life. I want to make a difference in the world, and I feel very strongly that never before has the world needed someone to make a difference. Right now, Ocean Matters is what I’m about, pretty much twenty-four-seven.”
“So you don’t have time for a little pleasure?”
His eyes burned into hers. “Do you think that’s what we’ve got between us? A little pleasure?”
“I don’t know,” Juliet answered honestly. “You’re the one who started this.” She laughed at her own words. “Well, that sounded childish.”
Ryder took her hand and walked with her along the sidewalk toward the ’Sconset chapel. The summer trees hung lush with leaves, and laughter drifted from nearby houses.
The heat of the day had diminished, and a slender breeze drifted past, cooling Juliet’s neck.
“You see,” Ryder began, “a girl like you—”
“A woman like me,” Juliet said.
“Okay, a woman like you…well, I’ve never met a woman like you. You’re beautiful and sexy. And you’re smart and ambitious.”
“I’m ambitious?”
“Oh, yes, I think you’re deeply ambitious. You went to MIT, for God’s sake. You’re not satisfied working for Kazaam. You want something more important.”
Ryder stopped walking and turned Juliet to face him.
“I think the two of us could do some amazing work for this old world of ours. Our knowledge and abilities weave together, and from the moment I saw you I knew I wanted to be with you. To touch you. To kiss you. To see you. To see you every day. To take you to bed every night.”
Juliet put her hands on Ryder’s face, lightly, and it was like making a discovery, like opening a door, or feeling warmth after cold, or seeing a new planet. “I’d like that, too.”
Ryder gathered her close to him and kissed her deeply. They remained in each other’s arms, breathing, learning this new sensation.
Juliet broke away. “You’d better take me home. I want to get back to work on the website.”
Ryder grinned down at her. “You are perfect.”
“Just wait until you see what I can do,” Juliet told him.
twenty-one
Summer was officially here, with its heat and tourists and climbing dawn roses and convertibles bouncing over the cobblestones. Lisa lingered in bed for a moment, watching the play of sunlight through her curtains. She smiled, thinking of Mack. This summer was unlike any other.
Finally she rose, showered, and dressed. Theo was undoubtedly sleeping, and Juliet was either sleeping or tapping away as if possessed on the website she was building for Ocean Matters. Lisa wondered whether Juliet was working so hard to impress Ryder, who was away for a few days, but decided that for Juliet, working was her favorite kind of playing.
She left the house before Tom and Dave came, carrying her coffee as she hurried to her shop. She had two hours before she opened, but Gretchen, her summer help, had arrived last night and Lisa wanted some quiet time to discuss Gretchen’s winter and organize themselves for the season.
She unlocked her front door and entered her shop. Everything looked tidy, enticing. She’d discovered a new fragrance by TokyoMilk called “Honey & the Moon,” which had an original scent, spicy, not sweet, and she sprayed it around the shop lightly. It woke up her senses, and her customers noticed it, too. Later, when the shop opened, she’d play upbeat music, the kind that put people in a good mood, but for now, she wanted silence.
Someone tapped on the front door. Lisa went to open it and welcome Gretchen back. Gretchen was twenty-two, free-spirited, and energetic. She ran and did lots of yoga and she believed in living in the now. Gretchen hugged Lisa and immediately scanned the clothes on the racks.
“So!” Gretchen said. “What’s going to be our big seller this summer?”
Lisa smiled. “You are a breath of fresh air!”
They set to work, unpacking new merchandise, arranging the jewelry in its glass case.
Lisa’s phone buzzed. Mack. “I have to take this,” she told Gretchen and went into the bathroom for privacy.
“Could you come home for lunch?” Mack asked. “Because we’re working here and I’ve got something I want to talk to you about. We can sit out in the sun for a while.”
“What do you want to talk about?” Lisa asked.
“I’d rather not say now,” Mack answered.
“Oooh, a mystery,” Lisa said.
“It’s not that big a deal, it’s just…I need your judgment on this.”
“I’ll be there at one,” Lisa told him, and clicked off. She felt unsettled and oddly annoyed. She had to brace herself emotionally. If Mack wanted to break off with her, it would be kinder to do it now, before it got serious, although Lisa had been serious from the moment she and Mack kissed.
It was fortunate that the shop was busy that morning. Lisa kept her attention back to the store, the clothes, the jewelry, the easy chatter about summer. At a quarter to one, Lisa left the shop to Gretchen’s experienced care and walked home. Her heart was racing, and not because she was walking fast. She lifted her chin, preparing herself for a blow.