Marin woke up to pouring rain. She felt almost as depressed as she had the first morning at the house. She stared at the Portuguese good-luck rooster on her nightstand for a long while before forcing herself out of bed.
The Miller family showed up in the kitchen just a little after eight for their last breakfast at the inn, and Marin made coffee since Rachel was MIA. She pulled corn bread, hard-boiled eggs, raspberries, and orange juice out of the fridge and set it out on the round kitchen table, whose white paint was chipped just enough to be charming.
While Mr. Miller loaded up the car, and the kids looked around for outlets to give their devices a last-minute charge, Mrs. Miller told Marin how sorry she was that she’d barely gotten to see Amelia and Kelly.
“Please tell them we look forward to seeing them next summer. I’ll be e-mailing as soon as I get home to make my reservation.”
Molly jumped up, tail wagging with a thump against the table at the sound of someone coming down the back stairs. “Maybe that’s Amelia and you can tell her yourself,” she said.
But it wasn’t Amelia. It was Nadine, dressed in a black sundress and carrying a laptop. Molly barked and Nadine shushed her.
“You’re back,” Marin said.
“I am. And…who are you? Another long-lost relative?” she said to Mrs. Miller.
“What? No…we’re guests. We stay here every August.”
“I thought the inn was closed this summer,” Nadine said to Marin. Mrs. Miller looked at her in confusion.
“No. Obviously not,” Marin said quickly. “We’re up and running.”
“Closed? Don’t even say such a thing!” Mrs. Miller said with a small laugh. “I was just telling Marin, I’m already reserving our rooms for next summer.”
“Well, that might be a bit premature,” Nadine said.
Mr. Miller appeared in the doorway and announced that the car was packed and the kids were just doing one last bathroom run.
“I’ll see you out,” Marin said, glancing over her shoulder and shooting Nadine a look that she hoped read, loud and clear, Just keep your mouth shut.
After a quick good-bye on the porch, waving as the Millers drove away, she hurried back to the kitchen. Nadine was busy eating the last of the orange muffins.
“What was that about?” Marin said. Nadine poured herself coffee and shrugged.
“You tell me. My mother said she closed this place to guests this summer.”
“It’s a long story. You didn’t have to be so rude.”
“That wasn’t rude. That was honesty. This place won’t be taking guests next summer so that woman might as well hear it here first.”
“How do you know what Amelia will or won’t be doing next summer?”
Nadine glared at her. “You should just go back to New York. Pack it up like those other guests. I don’t know how long you think you can sponge off my mother, but I’ll tell you one thing, it’s going to be coming to an end fast. She’s selling this house.”
Rachel awoke to the sound of rain pattering against the window. It took her a few seconds to remember she was in Luke’s bed. She smiled contentedly, turning to look at his sleeping face. She couldn’t believe it; after all that time fantasizing about having sex with Luke Duncan, it had actually happened. Just thinking about the way he’d touched her made her stomach do a little flip.
And then she realized that her alarm had never gone off.
“Shit!” She sat up and searched the nightstand for her phone. It was almost eleven.
“What’s wrong?” Luke said groggily, reaching for her.
“I overslept,” she said. “I meant to get back to the house for breakfast. It’s the Millers’ last morning.”
“Don’t worry. Amelia’s back. I’m sure she has it covered.”
She sank back into her pillow, pressing against him. He kissed the top of her head.
“This is crazy,” she whispered.
His arms tightened around her. She wondered if she should get dressed. He probably wanted to get some work done on the book.
“I should go,” she said.
He sat up, looking across the room at the rain-splattered window. “Not a beach day,” he commented.
“No,” she said.
“We could see a movie.”
“Luke, it’s okay. You don’t have to, you know, entertain me.”
He shook his head. “Silly. I know that. I wasted this whole summer pushing you away. Now I want to make up for lost time.”
She smiled. “Really?”
“I’m starving,” he said. “Let’s see what my dad has in the kitchen. Breakfast is the one meal of the day I can manage to pull together. Do you like eggs?”
“I like eggs,” she said, slipping on the jeans she’d worn the night before; they had been hastily discarded next to Luke’s bed. He pulled a blue University of Rhode Island sweatshirt from his closet and passed it to her. “When it’s cool outside, the kitchen has a draft.”
She felt mildly self-conscious walking down the stairs holding Luke’s hand as they made their way to Thomas and Bart’s kitchen. In weather like that, there was no doubt they were both hunkered down inside the house, and this made Rachel feel she was doing the beach-house version of the walk of shame. Except there was nothing to be ashamed of. And, really, Thomas and Bart would not exactly be scandalized. There had been more than a few wink-winks along the way that summer. If she was surprised about last night’s turn of events, she was probably the only one.
“There you are!” Fran jumped up from the kitchen table. “I went back to the other house looking for you.”
“Well, you found me,” Rachel said, sitting in one of the Arts and Crafts chairs across from her.
“I’m taking off after lunch,” Fran said.
Rachel wondered if Fran was at all upset about their conversation last night, but she seemed to be in her usual chill mood.
“Coffee, Fran?” Luke said, pouring a mug for Rachel.
Fran said no, she was starting a cleanse. Luke made small talk with her about the Cape Cod yoga retreat, and Rachel was content to just revel in the luxury of looking at him. At one point, he caught her eye and winked, and she felt she could die of happiness.
The doorbell rang, and he excused himself to go answer it.
“Well, well,” said Fran. “Good for you. No wonder you stayed here all summer. You should have mailed me a postcard of him. No further explanation needed!”
Rachel shook her head. She wasn’t about to get into it. Fran wouldn’t understand. She would have somehow managed to sleep with him the first day they met.
“I should get going,” Rachel said.
“Why?”
Why? Because this was making her uncomfortable. She didn’t need a post-hookup brunch with her mother. “Come by the house to see me before you leave.”
Rachel glanced at the kitchen door, wondering what was taking Luke so long. She climbed the stairs back to his room and found her handbag. Looking out the window, she decided to keep his hooded sweatshirt for the walk to the house. He wouldn’t mind. She looked at the disheveled bed and smiled. This is really happening.
Back downstairs, heading to the front hall to find him, she heard his voice before she saw him. He wasn’t alone.
She followed the sound of conversation into the living room. Luke’s back was to her, and so she was greeted by a surprised expression from a very lovely Asian woman. She was around Rachel’s age, with prominent cheekbones, a heart-shaped mouth, and shoulder-length hair styled with neat bangs.
Luke, following the woman’s gaze, turned around.
“Hey,” he said, clearly trying to sound casual. But the set of his jaw and the way he squared his shoulders undermined that completely.
“Hey,” she managed in a way that hopefully conveyed Who the hell is that? Even though she knew. Of course she knew: Vanessa.
Luke stumbled through the awkward introductions, and Rachel’s body went cold at the same time her face turned hot. In all their intense talking the past fifteen hours—not to mention intense fucking—how had he failed to mention that his girlfriend was coming to visit? Okay, maybe the timing was a surprise. But surely he knew it was on the table, so to speak. No wonder he’d been pushing her away all summer. He was still involved with Vanessa!
Rachel almost knocked over an end table on her way to the front door. She ignored Luke’s pleas to wait, stop, hold on a sec. Outside, the rain pelted her hard and she welcomed the punishing needles. She deserved to be soaked, drenched, washed out to sea. She was an idiot! When the Beach Rose Inn finally appeared in the distance, she ran the rest of the way.