Persuaded (10 page)

With a
sigh, Hanna pulled on her knee-length red knit dress and stepped into the
bathroom to run a brush through her hair. When she could find no reason to
delay any longer, she went downstairs and helped Mary pack a cooler with snacks
and drinks. Hanna’s mood soared when it looked like Ella wouldn’t be in their party—then
took an abrupt dive when she learned that Ella would be coming with Derick and
the Crofts later on.

Mary
had never been a crowd person, so the Musgroves set up their blanket and cooler
on the sand between the breakwater and the harbor. The boys, of course, wanted
to be right in the action, but their mother assured them they would be able to
see the fireworks just as well from their current location and that the return
journey would be easier. Hanna found herself diverted by Mary’s attempts to
reason with CJ, since he would most likely be fast asleep by the time the show
was over and would be carried the whole way home by his father.

Hanna
offered to stay with the cooler while Charles and Mary took the boys to the
harbor for ice cream. Since she hadn’t thought to bring a book to read or
anything to do, Hanna plopped down on the blanket, took her phone from her
pocket, and snapped a few pictures of the scenery. She sent them to Maude, who
responded with a direct callback so she could scold her for bragging.

“Well,
poppet. I see you’re wasting away out there on holiday. Looks like a dreadfully
horrid place.”

“It
is. I absolutely hate it.”

“I
suppose you’re lying about on the beach all day, are you?”

Hanna
chuckled. “Not so much. The boys keep me fairly busy, but I get some sun on
those rare occasions when they entertain themselves for any length of time.”

Maude
made a noise that reiterated her opinion on Mary’s lack of duty toward her
children. “Just remember it’s your vacation too, dumpling.”

“How’s
work going?” Hanna thought it best to change the subject.

“The
Walters are selling off their timeshares to pay for that beastly girl’s latest
antics. She spent over six-hundred dollars on a handbag at Harrods of London.
Can you believe it?”

“I’m guessing
that she dropped out of shopaholics anonymous, then.”

Maude
huffed. “Don’t get me started! Have you come across any handsome chaps out
there yet?”

Hanna
thought of Derick, but shooed the idea out of her head before it found its way
to her mouth. He might be “worth looking at” but he was also taken. Besides,
she didn’t feel much like reliving any one of the torturous scenes starring
Derick and Ella. There was Eli, but nothing to tell there either. Not really.
And Hanna couldn’t very well bring up Benny without including Derick.

“Still
there, dear?

“Yeah,
sorry,” Hanna said, giving herself a little shake.

“Well,
I’d better chivvy along, poppet. Give us a bell again soon.”

Hanna
pledged to call in a few days and hung up. She was grateful for the cloud cover
that blotted out the midsummer sun. She forgot to bring a hat along and didn’t
apply sunscreen, since it was later in the day. Mother Nature apparently wasn’t
much of a patriot—the overcast sky mumbled with thunder as a stiff breeze
rearranged Hanna’s hair.

So
much for brushing,
she thought, then jumped when a voice startled
her.

“That
might just be the money shot.”

When
she turned around, Eli was standing behind her, wearing a baseball cap and
looking quite pleased with himself. By way of explanation, he snapped a candid
of Hanna. She would be very much surprised if her skin tone didn’t match her
dress in that photo.

“I’m
pretty sure that a picture of me has nothing to do with New England harbors,”
Hanna replied, relieved that she happened to be alone when she ran into him
again.

“You’d
be surprised. May I?” he asked, indicating the space next to Hanna on the
blanket.

She
nodded, and he sat down next to her. Pulling up the first picture he’d taken of
her from behind, he leaned over and showed her the display. “I’ll have to edit
the blanket out, though. The drama of the photo disappears if you’re just a
sweet girl saving a place for fireworks, instead of brooding on the sand.”

Hanna
laughed nervously while she looked at the photo. The shot he’d gotten of her
from behind was actually breathtaking. He’d captured the restless sea, the
moody sky, the wind shifting Hanna’s hair over her shoulder with invisible
hands.

“It’s
beautiful,” she said, feeling stupid the second the words were out. “I meant
the picture, not me . . .”

Eli’s
dark eyes sparkled as he dimpled at her. “Here are the ones I got the day we
met,” he told her, handing his precious camera over and showing her how to
scroll through the photos. As it was still around his neck, they quite
literally had to put their heads together.

Eli
really was incredibly talented. Mundane things, like a sail or coil of rope,
slats of the dock, bubbles on the water, seemed extraordinary—profound, even.
Each shot felt like a memory, a moment in time rather than a picture.

“These
are really good . . .” Hanna murmured as the images flashed before her.

“It
pays the bills,” Eli said with a shrug.

“Don’t
be so modest,” Hanna protested. “These are amazing! You have a real talent for
capturing beauty, Eli.”

Hanna
met his eyes, letting him know she was serious.

“I
couldn’t agree more,” he said, his gaze steady on her face.

Not
sure what her reaction should be to such a scantily clad compliment, Hanna
returned her attention to the pictures.

After
scrolling for a minute, her thumb froze over the arrow that would take her on
to the next shot. On the one hand, the image on the display was just another
sailboat in Old Lyme Harbor, but on the other, it was so much more. The last
time Hanna had been truly happy was on that boat.

She immediately
knew it was the
Laconia
, but if she needed any confirmation it came from
the close-up Eli captured of the navy blue lettering that spelled out the
vessel’s name on the bow:

Laconia

“Oh,
yeah,” Eli said, “I found the
Laconia
.”

Hanna had
no words, so she acknowledged with a nod and resumed the slideshow. There were
several pictures of the
Laconia
—more than any other boat. The words
tattooed opposite the name gave her another pang:

Never
look back

“It’s
a gorgeous boat,” Eli continued with a note of awe in his voice as he gently
took the camera out of Hanna’s hands and turned to stow it in the black bag at
his side. “Do you know the owner?”

Where
to begin? Hanna never lied, but she didn’t fancy drenching Eli with the whole
sordid tale either. In a voice of forced casualness she said, “He’s a
neighbor/family friend type thing.”

“Gotcha,”
Eli said, facing her now that his baby was safely encased. “You ever been out
on it? The
Laconia
,” he specified when Hanna didn’t answer.

“Um—”
she began, but was spared by the sound of her name being called from a few
yards away. It was Ella, Derick, Adam, Sophie, and Benny. Benny’s face lit with
recognition when he saw Hanna, and he waved.

“Friends
of yours?” Eli inquired politely.

“Sort
of. The one with all the hair is my brother-in-law’s sister, or my sister’s
sister-in-law, whichever is less confusing.” She was rewarded by Eli’s
answering grin. “The others are friends.”

“Cool.”

The
Kelynch party was upon them now, and as Sophie laid out a blanket in front of
Hanna’s, Ella approached with a glint in her eye. “Where are Charles and Mary?”
she asked.

“Getting
the boys’ faces painted,” Hanna answered, coming to the conclusion that if she
hoped to avoid Ella’s saying something stupid like
You must be Eli . . .
I’ve heard
so much
about you!
she was going to have to introduce
them. She was spared the trouble when Eli waved and said, “Hey, I’m Eli.”

Ella
took it upon herself to acquaint Eli with the rest of her party, and the
Musgroves returned a moment later.

CJ had
a macabre skull painted on each side of his face, and Walter had a teddy bear
on one of his pudgy cheeks. Both the boys were clutching tiny American flags
that had little hope of surviving the night. CJ recognized Eli right away,
declaring to his parents that it was the “kite man” who had gone with them for
ice cream. Derick looked over at this, and watched the exchange between Eli and
CJ with mild interest.

When a
megaphoned voice announced that the parade would begin in ten minutes, Hanna
turned to Eli. “I suppose you’ll be heading down to the harbor now to take
pictures?”

“Actually
I think you have a pretty good view from here. Unless you’re trying to get rid
of me?”

“Definitely
not,” Hanna countered. “I just thought you wanted to be closer, or needed
better light, or something.”

“I’m
right where I want to be.” This was said with another unabashed look that sent
Hanna’s pulse racing.

Instead
of showing her embarrassment, she scolded him. “I do believe you are a
shameless flirt, Eli.”

“Shameless,
but never insincere,” he said with pride.

The
sailboat parade was a sight to behold. The clouds parted just long enough for
the sun to make its appearance and then exit in a striking show of pink and
gold across the sky. Hanna found herself pondering why the
Laconia
hadn’t been among the boats in the parade, but perhaps its captain preferred
his current position next to Ella on the blanket.

It was
most inconvenient that the Kelynch party had set up in front of the Musgroves,
because Hanna really had nowhere else to look but straight ahead as the sky
blackened and the fireworks began. Eli was happily snapping shots of the lit-up
sky, but for Hanna it was nearly impossible to focus on the show above when the
one right under her nose was so much more distracting.

Every
pop of color highlighted Derick and Ella’s position before her, and when Ella
leaned her head on Derick’s shoulder, merging their silhouettes, it was all
Hanna could do to keep breathing.

To
anyone else it might have been a sweet, old-fashioned sort of gesture. But the
innocence of it gave Hanna the most acute pain. When Ella’s head fell back and
Derick’s dipped forward as they kissed, an immobilizing numbness spread through
Hanna. It was as if she herself was being peeled carefully apart, then shot up
in the sky like the fireworks for all to see—her soul bursting in a show of
mock brilliance before falling back to the ground in forgotten, smoldering
shreds.

Luckily
for Hanna, fate was not altogether unkind. CJ chose that precise moment, the
one where Hanna couldn’t bear to stay put a moment longer, to announce his need
for a bathroom. Mary, no doubt having taken him at least twice before the show,
was at the end of her rope and about to say so.

Hanna offered
to take him immediately, feeling the stress fall off her shoulders as she put
space between herself and
them
.

Unfortunately
there wasn’t much of a line at the portable facilities, and Hanna didn’t feel
ready to go back yet. Instead she stopped off at a concession stand and bought
herself a soda. By the time she and CJ made it back, the show was over and the
blankets and coolers were being packed up.

“I
hope you don’t mind, Hanna,” Ella called out, looking proud of herself, “but I
invited Eli to the barbecue tomorrow.”

This
was the first Hanna had heard about a barbecue, and the reason was no mystery.
She smiled sweetly at Ella, who turned and flounced away with Derick. Hanna
didn’t realize she was glaring at them until Eli said in her ear, “If looks could
kill . . .”

Shame
warmed her skin as she turned to him, but she had no clue what to say.

“If
you don’t want me to come, just say so.”

“It’s
not that,” Hanna said with a sigh. “I would love you to come. Really,” she
added at his doubtful look.

“What
is it, then?”

Suddenly
she felt so tired. “It’s a really, really long—boring—story, and it’s late.”

“Hm.
Well . . . I think I better walk you home,” Eli said thoughtfully. “So I know
how to get to your place for the barbecue.”

“Are
you sure? It’s like a mile down the beach.”

“Sounds
like just enough time for a ‘really, really long—boring—story.’“

Shaking
her head at him, Hanna smiled a bit, and they fell into step together. She
really had no clue how to begin, so she was glad when Eli started.

“I’m
guessing it has something to do with your sister’s sister-in-law and the guy
she was with?”

Hanna
nodded. “Derick and I used to be friends a long time ago.”

“Friends,
huh?”