Jacqui impulsively put her arm around both of them, which was actually rather hard to do, considering Eliza was still in the car. "You guys are the best."
Eliza drove off and Jacqui and Mara walked to the back of the house to the stone pathway.
"I'm going to go get some sleep," Jacqui said to no one in particular as she climbed the rickety attic stairs.
But only after a long, hot shower so she could start with a fresh, clean slate.
268
mara finally makes her move
The main house was empty when Mara snuck
inside; not even the kitchen staff was awake yet. She walked up the back stairs to Ryan's room and opened the door.
"Ryan?" she whispered. "Are you up?"
Now that she had decided she knew exactly what she wanted--him--she couldn't wait to break the news. And if he didn't want her, she could live with that--what she wouldn't be able to live with was if she never told him.
She creaked open the door and walked inside his room. On his desk rested the pack of playing cards from the other night, a few twigs they'd picked up from the beach as potential marshmallow sticks, and the book she'd lent him to read--Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. He'd said he'd never read it and she had chastised him for his lack of literary education.
His surfboards and skateboards were lined up against the wall. But his bed was still made. The blue comforter was turned down perfectly.
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Her heart sank. He probably never even came home last night. If it wasn't Camille, it was someone else. It wasn't as if he was going to wait around for her the whole summer, was he? Mara remembered all the girls at the many parties they attended this summer who had made their interest clear.
She closed the door behind her. By this time he'd probably found someone to keep him company, maybe one of those Bush nieces or Hearst heiresses who hung on his every word. Or maybe even one of the cute Irish girls who worked at every café, bar, and kayak rental shop in the Hamptons.
"Good morning, miss," Stevens, the butler, greeted as he passed her on his way to opening the curtains in the master den. She nodded to him shyly.
The pool sparkled in the morning light and she told herself she was still really, really happy she'd spent the summer in the middle of such gorgeous beauty. The knife edge of the pool blended with the blue horizon of the ocean. It was a sight Mara would never get tired of.
She absentmindedly picked up strewn children's toys as she walked back to the cottage. Zoe's Disco Elmo, William's missing Gameboy, Cody's blankie, Madison's dueling Britney and Christina dolls.
As she turned the corner, she caught her breath.
There, in the hammock behind the cottage, was Ryan, asleep.
She kissed him softly on the lips to wake him up. Her sleeping
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prince. His nostrils flared slightly with every breath. She felt a wave of tenderness and affection.
His eyelids fluttered, and when he saw her, he smiled. "What was that for?"
"I just felt like it." She smiled back.
"I was looking for you all night. Where'd you go?" he asked.
"Nowhere. I was looking for you, too."
"Fancy that."
She leaned down to the hammock, and he pulled her down to cuddle with him. It swung underneath their combined weight and threw them closer together.
"What about Jim?" he asked, gently grazing her bare arm with the back of his hand.