Isabel lingered outside the Baybreeze Café, wondering exactly how to swing this. She wanted to pick up her last check—she didn’t trust Bill to actually mail it to her. She hadn’t spoken to Evan, or seen him, since the dumping, and she had a feeling that he might know about her fight with Rory. There was something unbelievably embarrassing about that.
After pacing back and forth in front of the boutique next door, she took a deep breath and headed straight for the door. Lunch would be long over by now, and hopefully Evan would already be on his break. But before she could get to the door, Evan stepped outside, and almost walked into her arms.
“Isabel,” he said, sounding surprised.
“Hi,” she said.
“What are you doing here?”
“Picking up my last check,” she said, pawing the sidewalk with her toe. At least he was alone, she thought.
“I had Bill mail it to you,” he said. “I hope that’s okay.”
“Oh. Okay. Thanks. Not like it was that much or anything,” she said. “But thanks.”
“Look, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked. “If you’re not going anywhere.”
Isabel checked her watch. The traffic on the way to the North Fork, where Fee had told her Rory was staying, would be intense pretty soon, but she was curious to hear what Evan had to say. “Sure.”
They crossed the street toward the pizza place and the Lilly Pulitzer store. The sidewalks were strangely empty. The heat had only gotten worse as the day wore on.
“I feel bad about how I ended things with you,” he began.
Isabel cringed. “Don’t. It’s okay. Seriously.”
“Let me finish, all right?” He stopped walking and turned to face her. “I’m not the smoothest when it comes to breakups. It’s kind of my weak spot.”
“Well, it would be a little screwed up if you were good at them,” she conceded.
“Yeah, you’re probably right about that.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Anyway, there are some things that I wish I said to you that day. And maybe I can say them to you now.”
“Okay,” she said, kicking the bottom of a lamppost. “I’m all ears.”
He looked right into her eyes. “I think you’re beautiful, Isabel. Stunning, actually. And smart. And funny. And a hard worker. You’re incredible. But we weren’t incredible together. There wasn’t any spark. You know what I mean? And that had nothing to do with Rory.”
Isabel reddened and looked down at the ground.
“Sometimes you can’t force it if it’s not there. And yeah, okay, I had feelings for Rory. But I never got the sense that you were crazily into me, either. I felt like we could be amazing friends. Or maybe it’s just me who thought that, I don’t know.”
Still looking down at the ground, Isabel said, “No, it wasn’t just you. I thought we’d probably be better off as friends, too.”
“But it’s kind of a moot point anyway, because Rory’s totally blown me off.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked, looking up.
He shrugged. “I can’t reach her. She won’t text me back; she won’t call me back. It’s driving me crazy. I got this weird message from her that she was going to stay with a friend on the North Fork for a while. And that’s it. Nothing else. I’ve called her, like, six times.” He stuck his hands in the back pockets of his 501s and sighed. “And now I figure she’s trying to let me down easy. I guess it serves me right.”
“Evan, it’s not you she’s mad at. It’s me.”
“What?” he asked.
“When I found out that you and Rory were seeing each other, I freaked. I told her to leave. I kicked her out. I’m sure she’s avoiding you because of that. Nothing else.”
Evan’s olive-green eyes went wide. “You kicked her out? Damn.”
“I was upset. One of you could have said something to me, by the way.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said.
“But I don’t want to sit at home and stew about it all. So you guys really hit it off. I’m glad. I am.”
Evan exhaled. “Could you… could you… I mean, I don’t want to put you in a weird place or anything—”
“If I find her, could I put in a good word for you?” Isabel asked.
“Yes.” He bit his lip. “If it’s not too weird or anything.”
“You know I could be totally smug right now and say that you do deserve this,” she said, smiling. “But I won’t. I’ll put in a good word for you.”
“Thanks. Thank you. Seriously.” Evan grabbed her and hugged her. “Thank you.”
“Be good to her, okay?” Isabel said. “She really only deserves the best. I’m serious.”
“I will,” he said, smiling. “I promise, I will.”
“Okay. I gotta go.”
“Thanks, Isabel. You’re a cool girl, you know that?” Evan said.
She smiled at him one last time and then hurried to her car.
Isabel was no expert when it came to navigating the North Fork, but she’d been to it enough times to have a vague sense of where she was going when she made the turn at Riverhead. According to Fee, Rory was staying with someone named Amelia Daniels, and according to Google, the Danielses lived in Southold. It was almost dusk by the time she turned on the correct street. She pulled up in front of the listed address and saw Rory’s beige Honda across the street. She’d found the place. She parked the car and got out, smoothing her hair and the front of her dress. Looking as nice as possible would hopefully only support her case.
A short woman wearing a KISS THE COOK apron over a polo shirt and khaki shorts answered the door. “Yes?” she asked, her face coming right up against the screen.
“Hi, I’m here to see Rory? Rory McShane?” Isabel asked.
“Just a moment,” the woman said and left.
Isabel waited on the porch. It had an old-fashioned upholstered swing decorated with what looked like hand-knitted pillows. Sweet, Isabel thought. Maybe Rory likes this place better than my house.
“Isabel?” Rory stood behind the screen in bare feet. She looked a little scared. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Isabel said. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Okay.” Rory pushed open the screen door and joined Isabel on the porch.
“You have to come back home,” Isabel said.
“What do you mean, home?” Rory asked skeptically.
“I mean, my house,” Isabel said. “You have to come back. We miss you. I miss you. And I overreacted. I’m sorry. I had no right to kick you out. I don’t know what came over me; I must have been temporarily insane or something.”
“You said that I sabotaged your relationship,” Rory said, speaking the words very carefully.
“God, no, of course you didn’t,” Isabel said, practically bouncing up and down. “How could you take that seriously? You can’t take anything I say seriously.”
Rory arched a brow. “But you said it, Isabel. You still said it.”
“I know,” Isabel said, contrite. “And I’m sorry for that. I’m really, truly deeply sorry. It was wrong and stupid and childish.” She paused. “And I regret it.”
Rory looked like she might actually burst out laughing. “O-kay, Ms. Mea Culpa. You don’t have to beat yourself up about it or anything. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Evan. I should have. I know that now. But I also didn’t want you to hate me, and I felt responsible…” Rory sighed with her entire body. “What a mess. And I haven’t spoken to him; I’m totally fine with that being over—”
“No,” Isabel cut in. “It can’t be over. Evan needs you. He thinks you’re blowing him off. You need to call him. Before he does something drastic. I’m serious.”
“How do you know this?”
“He told me. I saw him today. At the restaurant. He looked terrible. He made me promise to tell you how much he cares about you.”
Rory still looked pained.
Isabel grabbed Rory’s hand. “Ror, it’s okay. I think it was my ego that was hurt. Nothing else. I give you my blessing. As weird and pope-like as that sounds.”
Rory was quiet. “What about you? You don’t have feelings for him anymore?”
Isabel blushed. “Well, I kind of moved on. To Mike.” Isabel closed her eyes and held up her hands. “Don’t judge.”
Rory sat on the porch swing to absorb the shock. “Did you guys hook up?”
Isabel nodded, biting her lip as if waiting for a painful diagnosis.
“And are you dating him?”
Isabel shook her head.
“Let me explain. It was awesome. I mean, amazing. And then, I think I got scared. All of a sudden he was acting like a boyfriend.”
“But that’s good, isn’t it?” Rory asked.
Isabel sat next to Rory on the porch swing. “I don’t know. For some reason it made me want to run.”
“Maybe you’re scared,” Rory said. “I mean, you did just break up with someone. It’s perfectly normal.”
“I don’t know if I can go through that again,” Isabel said. “I don’t know Mike as a nice guy. And look at what happened with Evan. I still got hurt.”
The screen door opened. “Hey, are you hungry or what?” Amelia asked. She stopped in her tracks at the sight of Isabel.
“Hey, Milly, this is Isabel,” said Rory. “Isabel, this is Amelia. We’re interns together at the East End Fest.”
“Hi,” Amelia said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
Isabel turned to Rory. “Does she think I’m a bitch?” she asked.
“No, she doesn’t at all,” Rory said. “I swear.”
“What are you guys doing out here?” Amelia asked.
“I was telling Rory how sorry I am for kicking her out,” Isabel said.
“And then Isabel was telling me about this guy she may or may not be dating.”
“Oh?” Amelia said, slightly interested.
“Yeah, it’s nothing,” Isabel said, waving it off. “You wouldn’t know him.”
“Actually, she might,” Rory pointed out. “He is from the North Fork.”
“What’s his name?” Amelia asked.
“Mike Castelloni,” Isabel said.
“Mike Castelloni?” Amelia replied. “Yeah, sure I know him. Wait a minute. You’re the girl he dated last summer.”
“What do you mean?” Isabel asked, suddenly intrigued.
“I heard about you. That he was dating some girl from East Hampton last summer who broke his heart. Some blond girl from Lily Pond Lane.”
“Broke his heart?” Isabel asked, almost falling off the swing.
“That’s what I heard,” Amelia said, squinting, as if she needed to concentrate to remember. “That it didn’t work out and the girl left, and he was really torn up about it. And Mike was a guy who was never torn up about anyone in high school. Believe me.”
Isabel slowly stood up. “I didn’t know,” she said.
“That’s what I heard,” Amelia said.
“Amelia!” a voice called from inside the house. “Dinner!”
“Why don’t you guys both stay and eat?” Amelia asked. “My mom’s making cioppino tonight. Fish stew. It’s amazing.”
Isabel looked at Rory.
“Stay,” Rory said. “It’ll be fun. Mrs. Daniels is an incredible cook.”
Isabel looked out at the darkening street and could see the lights on in other people’s homes. Big Wheels and skateboards and other kids’ toys were scattered across front lawns. She could hear the sounds of children and smell the charcoal briquettes of barbecues. There was something cozy and warm about Amelia’s neighborhood. For one thing, it was an actual neighborhood, not a silent, deserted street lined with museum-worthy pieces of real estate hidden behind tall hedges. No wonder Rory was in no hurry to leave, she thought. She wasn’t, either.
“Okay,” she said. “I’d love to.”