Page 17 of Light of Day
“You.” He gestured to a kid holding a water balloon, frozen in mid-toss. “What’s your name?”
The boy, panicking, tossed the balloon over his shoulder. It crashed onto the rocks below.
“Are youlittering?” Luke glowered at the young people. “We have endangered seals out here. You want them to choke on your shitty pranks?”
Since the high-schoolers were temporarily immobilized, Marigold went through the group, seizing their water pistols and Super Soakers. Her arms were bristling with plastic weaponry by the time she was done.
“We didn’t mean to cause trouble,” the boy with the water balloons muttered.
“Yeah, they did.” Alan pushed through the crowd. “Now I gotta comp all these guests who got a shower they didn’t ask for. Someone has to pay for that.”
It took the rest of the evening for Luke and Marigold to sort out the situation. As they walked down the steps, lit by a sensor light and a waxing moon, Luke looked inquiringly at her veil. “Were you at a fitting?”
“Hair rehearsal. Cheryl’s nervous because she doesn’t do a lot of wedding hair. But look.” She violently shook her head back and forth. “Everything stayed in place, even those freaky little daisies she pinned in there. Trial by fire.”
“If it can survive a brawl, it can survive a wedding,” he agreed with a grin.
“But not the wedding night, if ya know what I mean.” She put up her hand for a high-five. “You’re coming, right?”
“Of course.”
“Because you haven’t RSVPed. You’re messing with our head count. My mom is fretting.”
“Sorry. I’m still debating the plus-one part.”
“Oh God. Don’t tell me you’re bringing Abby?”
He and Abby were currently in the off phase of an on-again, off-again relationship. Neither one seemed interested in changing that. “No. Maybe my sister? She’s on the island.”
Marigold made a face. “Sorry, I have a one-Carmichael limit.”
He burst out laughing. Marigold was the best. She never pulled her punches and always said what she thought. “Understandable.”
The thought of inviting Heather McPhee flashed through his mind. He’d enjoyed their journey around the island today. He wouldn’t mind spending more time with her. Of course, she’d probably be gone by the time of Marigold’s wedding, still two weeks away.
“What do you know about Heather McPhee?” he asked Marigold on impulse.
“Heather? Well…” They paused next to Marigold’s red Toyota truck. “I’d say she’s…”
While she thought of the right word, Luke filled in the blanks in his head. Smart? Sexy? A good friend?
“A survivor,” she finally said.
“How do you mean?”
“Her parents are a mess. Did you know her father kidnapped her once and took her to Portland? Then he went off drinking and left her alone. She was like, nine, I think? When he didn’t come back after a day, she made her own way back to the island. She didn’t have a phone or any money.”
“Wow. Impressive.”
“Yah. She got a scholarship to Boston U. I think she got into Vassar, too, but she couldn’t afford it. That family has no money at all. Long line of drunks, especially on her mother’s side. The McPhees have been here since the beginning, they’re one of the original homesteading families here. You’d think they’d have more to show for it, but they don’t. I’m happy for Heather that she broke free and is doing her own thing. I guess she’s kind of like you in that way.” She cocked her head at him.
“How so?”
“A cycle breaker. But in opposite directions, I suppose. She’s going towards the money, you went away from it.” Laughing, she clapped him on the back.
“Ha ha,” he scoffed. “I’m not avoiding money, just all the strings my father attaches to his.”
“Not my business.” She held up her hands in a surrender gesture, then climbed into her truck. “I stay far away from Carmichael drama.”
