Persuaded (12 page)

Eli
excused himself for a bathroom break, and Hanna returned her attention to
Benny. Recalling that she hadn’t yet returned his copy of
Lady of the Lake
,
she went inside to get it. A thought occurred to her on the way—that she could
suggest something for him to read as well. Seizing the book she’d just finished
from her bedside table, Hanna took both outside.

Plopping
next to Benny in the sand, she said, “Hey, how’s it going?”

“Oh,
you know—living the dream. You?”

“Another
day in paradise,” Hanna answered, mirroring his tone.

Benny
almost smiled.

“I
finished
Lady of the Lake
,” she said, handing him the little book.

His
eyebrows shot up—clearly he hadn’t thought her sincerely interested. “You
actually read it?”

Something
about his surprise made Hanna sad, as though everyone pitied him but no one
made an effort. “I loved it!” Hanna declared, gratified by the widening of
Benny’s eyes.

“I’m
impressed. Most people don’t care much for poetry, let alone the classic
stuff.”

“You
have to put yourself in a different frame of mind,” Hanna allowed. “Otherwise
you get all tangled up in the language and end up with a migraine.”

Benny
chuckled, and the sound warmed Hanna’s heart. She watched him for a moment,
deciding that under his shaggy beard and surly temperament, he could be quite
handsome if he tried.

“Anyway,”
she continued, “I brought you something to read as well.”

Benny
lifted a skeptical eyebrow, reading off the title. “
Robinson Crusoe
?” He
eyed her with a speculative expression, running a hand along his scruffy face.
“Is this a chick-lit thing?”

Grinning,
Hanna shook her head. “It’s another classic, actually. Something new for you to
read. I just finished it myself.”

He
considered her through narrowed eyes, then finally sighed his resignation.
“Okay, you win. On one condition, though.”

Delighted,
Hanna waited in anticipation.

“Promise
me when I’m done with it we don’t have to have a book club where we talk about
retaining water or hormonal binging.”

“You
got it,” she assured him with a grin. “See you later,” she told him, moving
toward Eli, who had just returned.

☼

By the
time it was dark and the boys were being shuffled off to bed, Mary began
complaining of a headache and turned in herself. The barbecue participants had
dwindled significantly, until just the guests of the two houses remained.

Across
the fire, Derick and Ella were sharing a piece of pie, polishing off the last
of the canned whipped cream. She was actually spoon-feeding him bites, then
squirting a blob of cream in his mouth to follow it up. Hanna was about to
choke on the wretchedness of the whole display when Ella got crazy with the can
and began spraying it all over Derick’s face. And squealed. Again.

Apparently
Eli had had enough of the show as well. He stood, tugging Hanna to her feet.

“Let’s
go for a walk,” he suggested, clasping her hand in his and setting off.

Hanna
was beyond grateful to him, not only for giving her an escape, but for somehow
understanding her need for silence. Their hands were still twined as they put
Uppercross behind them, winding their way through the moonlit ocean shallows
for several minutes.

“You
okay?” Eli asked as they approached the pier.

“I
think so,” Hanna answered. It was such a relief to have at least one person who
she could be totally honest with, one person she didn’t have to put on a show
for.

“Do
you want to talk about it?”

“Not
really. It’s pretty self-explanatory, don’t you think?”

Eli
shrugged. “What I
think
is that they have no idea what their PDA does to
the appetites of innocent bystanders.”

Hanna
laughed before she could help it, and Eli dimpled at her in response. He really
was beyond charming with his dark curls and twinkly brown eyes. A chunk of the
burden on Hanna’s back lifted as they stepped onto the pier.

“Seriously,
though,” he laughed, feeding off her reaction. “They’re one of those
I love
you more
couples. It’s downright nauseating.”

Hanna
couldn’t agree more, but she didn’t care for his classifying them as a couple.
“He didn’t used to be that way. At least not with me . . .”

“So
what’s the deal, anyway? All you’ve told me is that you dated before.”

“Who
says there’s a ‘deal’?” she asked carefully.

He
laughed without mirth. “Come on, Hanna. I may not know you very well, but I
somehow doubt you’d be this broken up over a guy you went out with a couple
times.”

At the
end of the pier, Hanna stepped away from him, resting her hands on the bleached
wood as she looked out at the black water that heaved in time with her
emotions. Eli faced her, leaning his back against the same stretch of wood in a
posture of patient expectation.

Hanna
sighed her resignation, then relayed the whole awful history. Eli was a great
listener, outraged in all the right places, and fully supportive of Hanna’s
position in general.

“I
can’t believe he just took off like that,” he told her in a disgusted tone as
they began the return journey to Uppercross. “He never called or anything?”

Hanna
shook her head. “I tried calling him, but never got so much as voicemail. It
was like he just dropped off the earth. When I finally heard about him coming
in first in the race, I was so mad I decided I didn’t care about his reasons
anymore.”

“I
think you’re better off. He’s obviously not very mature. Maybe that’s why he
gets along so well with Ella.”

Hanna
nodded absently. Objectively it made sense, but Derick had never been immature.
Even now, he didn’t seem that way to her. Eli laced his fingers with Hanna’s,
pulling her into step at his side as they began the return stroll home. The
feel of his skin on hers sent little tingles up and down her arm. Thank
goodness the darkness would cover her blush.

“How
are your pictures coming along?” she asked once her embarrassment had passed.

“I
think I got what I needed down at the harbor. Tomorrow I’m heading downtown to
get some shots.”

“Old
Town Lyme?” Hanna asked with more than a hint of longing in her voice. She
still hadn’t been back to visit the shops she’d passed on her way in.

“Yeah
. . . you interested in going with me?”

“Of
course!” she answered, hoping she didn’t sound too eager. “If you don’t mind me
tagging along.”

“I
wouldn’t have invited you if I minded,” he told her with a crooked grin,
tightening his grip around her hand for emphasis. Then he cleared his throat.
“Actually, I wanted to ask if you’d like to have lunch with me. There are
supposed to be some great restaurants downtown.”

“I’d
love to,” Hanna answered, a bit flattered that he appeared to be nervous. He
certainly didn’t come across that way with all his flirting for Derick’s
benefit, but perhaps Eli unscripted was a different matter entirely.

They
were nearing Uppercross now. Hanna could see the campfire, melting into embers
as a shadowy figure with two heads sat close by. Derick and Ella, of course.
She slowed, not wanting to make a big production out of her entrance or to see
what had come after the whipped cream incident.

“So,
should we meet downtown tomorrow?” she asked, turning to face Eli.

“Nah,
I’ll swing by and pick you up. We can walk over if that’s okay.”

“Sure,
what time?”

“Let’s
say eleven? We can eat first and then get some photos.”

“Sounds
good,” Hanna said, suddenly feeling awkward about what would be considered an
appropriate parting gesture. A handshake or high five? Maybe a quick, one-armed
hug? It would have been so much easier if there was a rule book for this kind
of thing.

In the
end her worrying turned out to be moot. Eli grasped her hand and grazed her
knuckles with a chivalrous kiss.

“It’s
a date, then,” Eli said, looking up at her from under his lashes.

“Can’t
wait,” Hanna managed, trying to demurely pull her hand back to safety. The last
thing she needed was Ella perking up and focusing on her.

Eli
dropped her a teasing wink, fully aware of her discomfort and enjoying it
entirely too much. “See you tomorrow,” he called out as he backed away.

Hanna
waved and stepped into the house. She hesitated inside for just a moment,
deliberating whether she should go clean up outside. Undoubtedly everyone had
assumed someone else would take care of it.

Then
she decided that since Derick and Ella had chased everyone else away with their
antics, they could quite easily manage it by themselves. With a new bounce in
her step she climbed the stairs to her room, thinking of what to wear for her
date the next day.

FOURTEEN

SPIRES
and SOUVENIRS

A very strange stranger it must be, who
does not see charms in the immediate environs of Lyme.

—Jane Austen,
Persuasion

The
following morning passed uneventfully. Hanna woke early and made chocolate chip
banana bread for breakfast. The boys had it gobbled up and were already outside
making a mud puddle in the sand by the time their mother got up.

Mary
had her health issues to be sure, but Hanna couldn’t help feeling that if her
sister put forth a little effort, such as getting out of bed in the morning,
she would feel better. As far as Hanna could tell, Mary was exhibiting symptoms
of depression. She slept in most mornings, napped nearly every afternoon, and
turned in early some nights. And somehow she seemed to be exhausted in between.
Granted, having two energetic children under the age of seven was draining in
and of itself, but as Mary spent little time dealing with them on her own, it
wasn’t a likely excuse.

Mary
insisted that she had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but according to Charles it was
a self-diagnosis only.

“Did
you put sunscreen on the boys?” Mary inquired as she stood at the back door
looking out.

“They’re
greased,” Hanna answered, biting the inside of her cheek as she scoured the
bread pan. She hadn’t yet informed Mary of her imminent absence for the day,
and she doubted it would go over well. It never did.

She
decided to try presenting the information from an angle. “So, Eli asked me out
last night.”

“Oh?
When are you going?”

“He’s
coming to get me around eleven. He wants to take some pictures downtown and get
lunch.”

Mary
said nothing. From the time they were children, she’d always hated being
excluded from anything.

“And
I’ve been thinking we should do a girls’ spa day sometime,” Hanna tacked on
artfully.

That
did the trick. “We could go shopping and grab a bite too! Maybe ask Ella and
Sophie to come along.”

Gritting
her teeth, Hanna agreed. Her only hope was that she wouldn’t have to listen to
Ella’s effusions of fancy on Derick all day.

Hanna
wiped down the kitchen table and then hugged her sister. “I’ll be home for
dinner,” she told her, then sweetened the deal. “I’ll even cook. How does
chicken Caesar salad wraps sound?”

Mary
smiled, and Hanna silently congratulated herself as she went upstairs to get
ready.

After
showering, brushing her teeth, and drying her hair, it took Hanna a only moment
to choose her outfit. She wanted to look nice, but Eli struck her as a
flip-flop kind of guy. Deciding on a floor-length peasant skirt, she topped it
with a cap-sleeve T-shirt. Obviously they would be walking around, so she
wanted comfortable shoes. Coming to the conclusion that her skirt would mostly
cover her feet, she put on her canvas TOMS. Next she applied light make-up and
plaited her hair loosely over one shoulder. When Hanna stepped out of her room,
with the intention of checking her reflection quickly in the bathroom mirror,
she was surprised to find Eli leaning against the banister in the hall, waiting
for her.

“Eli?
When did you get here?”
More importantly, what are you doing outside my
room?

“A few
minutes ago,” he told her with a sparkle in his eyes. “I saw your sister
outside, and she said to come on in.”

Hanna
frowned. A little warning from Mary might have been nice. What if Hanna had
been traipsing around in her bra or something? Not that she ever traipsed, and
definitely not half dressed. But still . . .

Eli
pulled her from her thoughts. “You look pretty,” he said, his voice and face
full of admiration.

“Thanks.
So do you.” She colored. “I mean, not pretty, but—”

“No
worries.” Eli offered her his arm. “I have no problem being called pretty.”