Page 34 of Summer After Summer

“I don’t think so. I’m tired. The boys wore me out. We’ll catch up another time, okay?”

“How are you getting home?”

“It’s only a mile or so. I’ll walk.”

“What? No, Colin will take you. Colin, Olivia needs a ride home.”

Colin stands up. He’s wobbling a bit on his feet. “My pleasure.”

“I’ll take her,” Fred says smoothly, his voice deep and steady. “I have an early call.”

Lucy looks disappointed, but not jealous. Thirty, she’s open and sunny, like Colin, and runs an estate sale and decorating business in East Hampton. She wears her dark hair naturally and on the shorter side, and she’s wearing a burnt-orange linen wrap dress that shows off her curvy figure.

“There’s no need,” I say to Fred, my gaze steady, though my heart is anything but. “It’s a lovely night to walk.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m going that way. It’s no trouble at all.”

Fighting him is only going to cause a scene, so I gather up my things. Sophie kisses me goodnight, and Colin gives me an apologetic smile.

Fred and I walk out of the house together. The night is warm but pleasant. The moon is half full, a few clouds floating across it, the stars out, pinpoints in the night. I breathe in the bougainvillea and lilac that line the parking circle, hoping their scent will calm me.

No such luck.

Fred opens the passenger door to his black Range Rover. I climb in and put on my seat belt, folding my hands in my lap. It’s a short drive. I can do this. We don’t even have to talk. I need my breath for breathing anyway, which feels like a chore.

“I’m staying at the club,” Fred says without me asking as he pulls out of the driveway. It feels strange to be in this confined space with him. Intimate.

I open my window and inhale the night air. The road is dark and not well lit. “I didn’t know.”

“It’s convenient.”

“Until you move into the house.”

“About that—”

I pull my head back in. “Did it have to be my house? Really?”

He clenches his jaw. “It met all of my criteria.”

“Oh my God, are you listening to yourself? ‘It met all of my criteria.’ What the hell, Fred?”

“I thought you’d be happy. Grateful, even.”

“Why? Because of the money? You know I don’t care about that.”

He grips the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles go white. “Your father was on the brink of bankruptcy.”

“So, you what? Bought the house as a favor? Out of charity?”

He doesn’t say anything, just stares at the dark road.

“That’s what I thought.” We lapse into silence, my breath coming heavy for the minute it takes to arrive at the driveway to Taylor House. “Drop me here.”

“All right.” He stops the car. I open the door, but he reaches for my arm before I can get out. His touch scalds my skin. “Olivia, the point is, I’m going to be around. We need to find a way to be civil to each other.”

“I don’t see any reason why we have to spend any time together at all.”

“It’s a small town …”

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