Persuaded (15 page)

Was it
his imagination, or did she grimace slightly at the name? Derick shook his
head, clamping his hands on one of the empty kitchen chair backs. “Not
tonight.”

Pleased,
Sophie nudged the chair with her foot. “Have a seat, then.”

Plopping
in the chair, Derick took a breath. It was best to get it all out of the way
here and now.

“I,
uh, actually wanted to talk to you guys about that.”

“About
Ella?” Sophie clarified, her eyes darting to her husband and back to Derick.
Sometimes he wondered if marriage enabled mind reading.

“Yeah.
I think I’m going to . . . slow things down with her.”

A
pregnant pause, another glance between the marrieds. When Adam broke the
silence with, “Dude, are you—” Sophie kicked him under the table. Maybe saying
I
do
didn’t give one telepathic abilities after all. Abandoning whatever he’d
been about to say, Adam shoveled a forkful of pie into his mouth.

“Where
did this come from?” Sophie asked.

“It’s
getting a bit heavy,” Derick said evasively. He wasn’t sure how specific he
wanted to be at the moment.

“Someone
complained about the PDA, didn’t they?”

“Scolded
was more like it,” Derick admitted, bowing his head at the memory. “Hanna,
actually.”

“Hanna?”
Adam verified around his mouthful.

Sophie
looked beyond impressed. “I wouldn’t have thought she had it in her.”

“She’s
got spunk,” Derick said. His sister gave him a speculative look, and he felt
the need to clarify. “From what I’ve observed.”

“Sounds
like you need this more than we do,” Sophie said, sliding the pie plate over to
Derick.

He dug
in obediently. The three of them sat in silence for a moment, before Derick set
down the fork and looked up. “I know I haven’t been the best brother this
summer. I haven’t been myself. I just want you to know that I’m sorry and that
I’m going to do better.”

Adam
laughed. “I’m going to get you something to drink, bro. I think you need something
to wash down all that humble pie.”

“Thanks,”
Derick said without humor, but Sophie gave him an empathetic look and laid a
hand on his arm. He only hoped sending Hanna a couple slots up on Sophie’s
approval list wouldn’t turn and bite him later.

“I’m taking
the
Laconia
out tomorrow morning,” Derick told them. “I want you guys to
come, and Benny.”

“What
about Ella?” Sophie asked.

“Ella
will be there too,” Derick admitted. “But I invited Hanna as well.”

Sophie
perked right up. “What did she say?”

“I
think she’s planning on it.”

“I
guess we can rest assured you’ll be on your best behavior, then,” Sophie
reasoned, patting her brother’s cheek and then delivering the empty pie plate
to the sink.

“Scout’s
honor,” Derick agreed, his hand in the air.

Sophie
beamed at her brother, actually hugging him tight before going to bed. If that
wasn’t enough reward in itself, Derick felt that little “click” again—the one
that told him he was on the right path. He had braved the dungeon, freed the
beast, and made it back into the light. And he never had to live in the dark
again.

EIGHTEEN

THE
UN-DATE

He could not do
it now . . . time had changed him.

—Jane Austen,
Persuasion

Early
the next morning, Hanna and Ella met the Kelynch party on the beach before
heading down to the harbor. Sophie gave Hanna a wide, encouraging smile and
expressed her delight at the addition of Hanna’s presence for their outing.
Benny looked as if he weren’t fully awake yet, which left Hanna wondering if he
slept in most mornings. Certainly a crab fisherman was used to rising early,
but perhaps his dingy outlook on life didn’t give him quite enough motivation
to spring out of bed each day.

If she
hadn’t been so happily engaged with Sophie’s conversation, Hanna would have
focused all her attention on cheering him up. Pledging to return her attention
to the effort later, Hanna answered Sophie’s curiosity about Eli. Her questions
felt nothing like the grilling Hanna had endured from her own family on the
subject, and she didn’t blush even once.

The
trip to the marina took no time at all, and soon Hanna was stepping onto the
Laconia
.
For just an instant, Hanna thought she could sympathize with Neil Armstrong
when he touched down on the lunar surface:
That’s one small step for most,
one giant leap for me.
Derick chivalrously took her hand and helped her
aboard, as he did with his sister and Ella. Hanna tried to smile gratefully at
him, but her mind was elsewhere. She couldn’t help but remember the last time
she’d been here. Was Derick reminded of it as well? Probably not. His memories
of the
Laconia
had nothing to do with Hanna, while hers had everything
to do with him.

Knowing
that the whole experience would be miserable if she allowed herself to flounder
in the nostalgia, she seated herself next to Benny and smiled brightly at him
as the
Laconia
cut a path out of the harbor.

Despite
the early hour, the sun curled its fingers into Hanna’s skin as the ocean blew
a cool breath in opposition. The contrast was a curious, almost pleasurable
sensation that raised gooseflesh on her arms and legs. Closing her eyes, she
tilted her head back until the sun kissed her full on the face. Was this what
it was like for Derick when he’d sailed around the world?

The
thought drew her eyes to him again, and she found him watching her with an
unreadable expression. Buttery sunlight glinted off his strawberry hair and
made his green eyes bright. Hanna smiled at him, trying the gesture out. For so
long it had been awkward—for the longest time she couldn’t bear to meet his eyes,
let alone smile. Apparently pleased that she was enjoying herself, Derick sent
a reserved smile back at her. Less than a second later, his attention was
hijacked by the appearance of Ella, who edged in between him and the large
wooden wheel that steered the boat.
The wily little vixen.
At least they
weren’t eating each other’s faces off, though. That was something.

Hanna
looked away, chiding herself for having so much bitterness in her heart toward
Ella.

After
all, it wasn’t Ella’s fault she had a perfect-ten body and a magnetic
personality or that she managed to attract every male within a fifty-mile
radius. That being said, it was a little harder to excuse the scanty bikini
that did little to cover her curvy, naturally tan figure.

Recalling
her earlier conviction to cheer Benny, Hanna turned to him and found him
watching the very thing she was trying to avoid. There was a sadness in his
eyes that wrung Hanna’s heart.

“You
okay, Benny?”

He
blinked, evidently surprised to find other people on the boat with him. “Yeah,
I’m fine. She just reminds me of someone.” He inclined his head in Ella’s
direction.

“Who,
Ella?”

He
nodded without taking his eyes from her. “Only in looks though. Phee was much
more reserved.”

Phoebe,
Hanna recalled. That was the name of his fiancée. Hanna didn’t know whether to
prod him or let it go; she wasn’t sure if he wanted to talk about it or not,
but as he brought it up, she took a chance.

“Who
was she?”

Benny
gave her an
oh, come on
look. “Sophie already told me that you know.”

Hanna
dropped her eyes. “She only gave me a synopsis. What was she like?”

His
lips curved slightly, his eyes taking on a wistful glimmer as he spoke. “She
was beautiful, but she didn’t know it—Ella’s polar opposite.”

Hanna
looked over at the object of their hushed words and found Derick watching them
with a detached sort of interest. His eyes cut from Benny to Hanna and back
again, as if they were the only remotely entertaining thing on late-night TV.

A tiny
tuck appeared between his brows, and Hanna found herself wondering what that
little crease meant, or if it meant anything at all. He was probably glad that
someone had finally taken an interest in his morose brother-in-law. All hope of
reading anything in Derick’s expression expired when he put on his sunglasses.

“We
were very alike,” Benny went on, finally focusing on Hanna. “I don’t think
there could’ve been a more perfect match out there. That’s why I’ll never find
someone else.”

When
Hanna answered, she tried to do it softly. “It feels that way now, but I think
once you open yourself up, you’ll see things differently.”

He
gave her a skeptical look.

“You
might find that someone less like you still suits you. Opposites attract, as
they say.”

A
mirthless laugh, a halfhearted grin. “But do they stay together?”

“I
suppose that depends on how much effort they’re willing to put in.”

Benny
considered her. “Maybe. Or maybe it only works for Paula Abdul.”

“And
her cartoon cat boyfriend,” Hanna added, referencing the video for “Opposites Attract.”

“Isn’t
that like bestiality or something?”

Hanna
burst out laughing.

☼

Derick’s
attention was snagged by Hanna’s peeling laughter. He hadn’t heard it in
years—not since the time he always tried not to think about. What had made her
laugh that way? It seemed to be her reaction to something Benny said, because
he was looking down and smiling slightly himself, as if her response alone had
reached him when nothing else could. What were they talking about?

Nothing
Benny had to say was ever interesting, and that wasn’t likely to change, even
for someone as kind as Hanna. She was probably just trying to cheer the poor
guy up—it was precisely the kind of thing she would do. Still, Derick found her
complete attentiveness to Benny a little much. There was being polite, and then
there was being an enabler. Yes, Phoebe’s death was an unexpected tragedy and
it wasn’t fair. But that was life, and wallowing in the pain didn’t bring it to
an end any sooner. There was no reason to coddle the guy every second.

And then
there was the way Hanna had greeted Derick with a partial, brief smile before
seating herself next to Benny and beaming at him. And now, you would think they
were lifelong friends rather than recent acquaintances, picking up an
interrupted conversation right where it left off. The whole production made
Derick feel as though he’d been in the sun too long.

“How
am I doing, Captain?” Ella asked, calling Derick out of his thoughts with her
big, flirtatious smile.

“Shipshape,”
he answered, grateful for the distraction.

Evidently
pleased, and simultaneously bored with standing motionless for so long, Ella
stepped away from the helm and looped her arms around his neck instead. Derick
grabbed the wheel just in time.

“I
think I’ll let you take it from here,” she said, standing on her toes to kiss
him.

Twenty-four
hours ago he might have allowed it, but yesterday had somehow changed him, and
he didn’t want to go back.

“You’re
going to capsize us,” Derick told her as he positioned himself at the helm.
“Besides, abandoning your post is grounds for dismissal.” He threw in a
compensatory smile to soften the words.

“You’re
no fun,” Ella complained, sticking out her bottom lip and flouncing off to sun
herself on the bow with Sophie.

This
is the problem with dating someone who isn’t old enough to have had her first
high school reunion
, Derick thought.

NINETEEN

BREACHED

It is something
for a woman to be assured, in her eight-and-twentieth year, that she has not
lost one charm of her earlier youth.

—Jane Austen,
Persuasion

As the
Laconia
sliced through the late afternoon water of the harbor, Hanna
lazed on the bow with Sophie and Ella. Even though the combination of sun
exposure, swimming, and being wind dried had thoroughly exhausted her, she
found herself enthralled by the process of docking the boat. Hanna watched
Derick’s capable hands, the graceful yet effortless way he handled his charge,
as if she was a horse he was rubbing down after a long journey. Each of his
actions was an afterthought, a step in a dance he had long ago memorized. Benny
said something to her, she couldn’t say what, but it was enough to break the
trance and spur her into the action of disembarking.

As the
whole party was positively ravenous by now, they decided to order a pizza at
the marina before going home. While they waited on their order, Hanna fished
her phone out of her bag and frowned. She had several missed calls and a couple
of texts as well. As suspected, the missed calls turned out to be from Mary, no
doubt wondering when she would return. The texts were from Eli, one to say he
was thinking about her, the other to ask what her plans were for the day. A
tingle of guilt coursed under her skin.