36

MONTAUK

Molly sat across from Marshall at the breezy outdoor restaurant of the Crow’s Nest, atop a gentle hill sloping down to the shore of Lake Montauk, about a mile outside the groovy surfer town. She was trying to relax, but she was still angry at Trystan as well as the whole confusing mess in New York, angry at Daddy for sending her to East End in the first place. Worst idea ever. But her fiercest fury was reserved for her sister. Mardi was dead to her. And yet Molly couldn’t get Mardi out of her mind.

“This will help,” said Marshall as their waiter uncorked and poured a French Provençal rosé.

“Yeah,” she said, trying to muster some enthusiasm. “Daddy always says there’s nothing like a little wine at lunch to make you feel like you’re on vacation. Which basically means that he’s been on vacation every day of his life.”

The waiter placed a dish of grilled octopus on a bed of spiced yogurt in between them along with two small share plates. Delicately, Marshall cut the octopus in half. She admired the precise motions of his long graceful hands, which were almost clean now. He’d obviously scrubbed them since they arrived at the hotel, although there was still a trace of dirt beneath his fingernails. She noticed for the first time that his spidery fingers were not unlike Tris’s, a weird coincidence that made her stomach twist. She had to get ahold of herself.

“Look, whatever happened between you guys, it’s over. And whoever he is, he never deserved you. We’re out of North Hampton now. If you don’t want to go back, we never have to.”

“What do you mean, never go back? What about your mom’s shop?”

He shrugged.

Was he proposing or something? All the other tables around them were laughing and lighthearted. She wasn’t up for some big declaration of undying love right now. She was here to forget, not to fend off crazy propositions.

“Or if you’d like, we could talk about the weather, or the flight path of those ducks down there on the lake, or something really pleasant and meaningless.”

Sarcasm? From sweet Cheeseboy? The last thing she felt like dealing with was his adolescent petulance right now. She decided to ignore it. “Anyway, cheers, and thanks for bringing me here.” She lifted her rosé glass to his.

He looked down at his plate and batted around a piece of octopus. He seemed to be groping for the right words to say. Finally, he said, his blue eyes blazing, “Everything I’ve done is for you.”

His intensity was making her uncomfortable. She put down the fork she had been about to raise to her mouth and began to fidget with the neckline of her dress. There was something odd here that she couldn’t place, something deeply amiss. Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to bolt from reality after all. Maybe she should have stayed in North Hampton and faced the music. Maybe she was missing her last chance to solve the enigma of what happened in New York. What if her leaving with the ring meant that Jean-Baptiste could no longer help the others? He had been quite clear when she had gone to consult him: the ring was key.

As she reached to touch it where it dangled in her cleavage, Marshall grabbed her hand and caressed it with surprising skill. A totally unexpected jolt of excitement passed through her body. She felt herself give him an electric smile almost against her will.

“Is everything to your liking?” the waiter asked, interrupting.

Molly nodded, even if she couldn’t keep her eyes off Marshall’s blue ones as the waiter refilled their glasses and cleared their appetizer plates. “Your main courses will be out in just a minute.”

She barely heard the waiter. “What were you saying before? About how everything was for me?”

“Everything I did this summer was for you,” he whispered.

She knew he was cute, but had she ever noticed just how cute?

He strengthened his hold on her. “What do you say we skip dessert—”

Just then, the waiter chimed in. “I would wait to make that decision until the time comes if I were you. We have a pretty tempting dessert menu. I would personally recommend the peach and basil crumble and the wild blueberry crème brûlée, but if you are chocolate lovers, the mousse is incredible.”

Molly had no idea what this guy was talking about. And, judging from Marshall’s rapt expression, he wasn’t paying any attention to the dessert options either.

She took a long cool drink. “I’m not hungry all of a sudden. Do you think we should just skip lunch entirely?” She was churning with desire. How had this happened so fast? One minute she was annoyed with him, and the next, she wanted nothing more than to hook up. How had it never happened before during all those hours working side by side at the shop? Had her infatuation with Tris blinded her to this awesome guy who was right under her nose?

“What are you suggesting?” he asked, a sexy resonance to his sweetness that she had never noticed before.

“It’s like what you said that time I was looking for my ring in the shop. Sometimes you’re so used to seeing something—or someone—all the time that it’s hard to actually notice what’s awesome about him.”

At her mention of the ring, she reached for it instinctively, and again he seized the moment to take her hand.

“I never thought I’d hear you say anything like that.” He was practically trembling. “I’ve—I’ve been infatuated with you, Molly. And not just because you are the most bewitchingly beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. Your potential is enormous. Together, we could be fantastic.”

Although she wasn’t sure what he meant, she was swept away by the grandeur of his language and the racing of her own pulse. Nothing mattered in this magical moment except for the here and now, in Montauk, with him. Not the looming trial in New York. Not the White Council. Not Daddy freaking out. Not her treacherous sister. And certainly not Trystan Gardiner.

Somehow they managed to finish their lunch and stave off the waiter’s enthusiasm for dessert and coffee. Marshall signed the bill to his room number, and they set out arm in arm, hip to hip.

The minute they were outside the restaurant, he pulled her in for a deep kiss.

“What do you say we share a room tonight?” she sighed, whispering in his ear.

“I want that more than anything, believe me. I’ve waited so long.”