Bookishly Ever After (Ever After #1)(63)
I lay my book down and sat up. The launch was on the opposite shore of the lake and most of the canoes hadn’t been able to venture too far past the center. On this shore, the water was mirror-still, reflecting the pines that dipped over it and dotted the shore around me. This was a picture-perfect postcard spot for the Pine Barrens. I slipped off my shoes and dipped my toes into the tea-colored water, pulling them back out right away as the cold hit me with a shock. Another canoe overturned with a splash and I was so glad not to be out there.
I eased my feet into the water and pulled my book back into my lap. In the book, Kaylie was doing the same thing as me, hanging out on a bridge, her feet dangling over the edge into a brook.
Kaylie turned the page of Aunt Ilse’s worn copy of Emily Climbs and shivered as a little breeze kicked up around her. July in Fire Bay was definitely a lot cooler than back home.
Within seconds, I was there again. The barrens faded, their sandy soil replaced by the rust-colored earth of Prince Edward Island.
She was so deep into the book and the brook and sunlight that only the softest notes of a song drifting towards her on the wind made her aware someone else had joined her on the bridge. The singer crescendoed the tiniest bit when he got to the part in Star of the County Down that described a pretty, brownhaired girl, and Kaylie’s heartbeat sped up at the familiar voice.
I shivered along with her. A tingle of anticipation ran up my spine—it had to be Evan, and he definitely was singing about Kaylie. My toes curled in the water and I leaned forward, my lips moving as I whispered the song lyrics aloud with him.
A sprig of purple lupine tickled her shoulder, and when she turned to take it, Evan was smiling down at her. He didn’t stop singing, and instead, crouched down next to Kaylie, so close she could feel his breath on her cheek. He lowered his volume until he was practically whispering the third verse, where the man in the story gave up his roving ways for Rose McCann.
On the word ‘heart,’ his eyes met hers, but she quickly dropped her gaze.
My heart practically burst from possibly one of the most romantic entrances in book history and I wanted to smack Kaylie for being so oblivious to Evan’s hints.
The spark of cold in my toes turned to warmth as he leaned closer…
Then a splash of water hit me right in the face and destroyed the magic of the moment. I looked up with a death glare, my eyes meeting Dev’s. He maneuvered his rowboat right up to my dock. “Wake up, Phoebe,” he said, his grin as wide as the canoes on the lake behind him.
I indignantly wiped at my face with my sleeve and started waving my book in the air to try to dry the pages. “I was awake.” I pushed a soaked strand of hair out of my face. “And now I’m wet. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be over there, making sure no one drowns?” I waved my book in the direction of the canoes and away from me. “Translation: Go away so I can go back to my book.” And forget about you, my brain added much to my dismay.
“Just thought I’d check in. I don’t want those delicate archer arms getting hurt if you doze off and fall into the lake.” Dev dug his oars through the water to move his boat back and forth and I couldn’t help but notice the way his arm muscles bunched with the movement.
I focused on my poor book, instead. “Oh, shut up.” Crud, the pages were definitely going to dry wrinkled. I tried holding up only the individual pages and blowing on them.
“Nice excuse, by the way.”
I tried to arch an eyebrow at him. “Whatever. If I got hurt, would you be able to run the ‘first ever archery module’ at this camp?” When he didn’t say anything, I folded my arms in a way that was supposed to look superior. “I didn’t think so.”
“Jump in. I’ll row and you won’t even have to lift an über-useful finger.”
“Pass.” Why wouldn’t he just get the hint and go away? “I’m good here with my book.”
“You always beg out of stuff.” He squinted his eyes at me in another one of those looks that I couldn’t read, just like in the parking lot earlier. “You make me think that you like being apart from the rest of us up in your ivory, book-filled tower. Like you’re too good for everything.”
That stung. I took a deep breath and ignored how my breath shook. “Maybe I am.” A splash across the lake made us both turn to see the tail end of an overturning canoe. “I think that’s your cue.”
“Damnit.” He gave me one last glance and, with a frustrated sound, backed his boat away from the dock and rowed at top speed towards the canoe.
I lay down and rolled over, burying my face in the wet pages of my book. All I wanted was to act like I wasn’t crushing on him, not to totally alienate him. I turned his words over in my mind. “Like you’re too good for everything.” Was that what he really thought of me?
I blinked to fight off the tears that were threatening to well up in my eyes and pulled back enough to see the pages clearly. I could be snobby and distant, like Kaylie, if I had to. Dev’s laugh carried across the lake and I fought to keep from looking up. It was better this way.
I shut my book and hurried back to the cabin. Before the girls could get back, I pulled my notebook out of its hiding place in my duffel, opening it to a fresh page. I poked my tongue out of the corner of my mouth just like Kaylie did when she was thinking through a problem and grabbed a pen. Flipping through Cradled on the Waves, I found just the right passage and got to work.