So Inn Love (15 page)

“So you’re into the voyeur thing, then,” Hayden said.

“Not funny,” I said.

“Look, I came here because I wanted us to be alone. I want to spend time with you. Just you. I don’t want people watching us, or commenting, or—”

“Or knowing about us,” I said. “I don’t know why, I really don’t. But I’ve never been one to hide before. And I’m not going to be now.”

“But don’t you think it’s kind of fun? Kind of, I don’t know. Exciting. To have a secret?”

“I’m not happy being your secret,” I said. “I thought I kind of made that clear, but apparently not.”

“You’re not being fair,” Hayden said. “I’m trying to make it up to you. What do you think, do you think all this stuff happened by accident? I arranged it all. I convinced Miss Crossley. You were on the beach with Will because of me, you went on the shuttle tonight because of me—”

“So what? That doesn’t mean anything.” It did, sort of, but I wasn’t ready to give him credit for that. “Let’s go,” I said.

“Liza. Come on,” he said.

This was killing me, but I had to do it. I walked over to the van and opened the passenger door. “Let’s go.”

I
walked out onto the Inn porch the next morning around eleven and stopped dead in my tracks. “Where did you come from?”

“Nantucket,” C. Q. Wallace said. His feet were up on the railing, and he had a notebook in his lap.

“Really?” I laughed. “No—I mean…we went to pick you up last night, and you weren’t there.”

“You came to pick me up in Nantucket? How thoughtful.”

“Yeah, well, I wanted to take a road trip,” I joked. “No, we went to the train station to get you.”

“Interesting. I wasn’t coming on the train,” he said.

“You never called to say that you were?” I asked.

He shook his head.

So Hayden had fabricated that whole scenario, like he said. And I was kind of impressed. He had persuaded Miss Crossley to let me go on an errand that even she knew wasn’t real.

“I rented a car and drove down,” C. Q. explained. “Got in this morning. And now that I have wheels, I’ll be able to get my own pens from now on.”

“Great,” I murmured, wondering if I’d underestimated Hayden.

“Anyway. I assume Miss Crossley told you the drill? Can you type some of this stuff up for me?”

“She actually didn’t tell me, but I’m not in the middle of anything else, so sure,” I said. I figured Miss Crossley must be ill, since it was so late in the day and I hadn’t yet been summoned. “But if you wrote it in Nantucket, how accurate can it be about this place?”

“Liza, it’s a funny thing. But sometimes you need to leave a place in order to write about it. It’s a matter of perspective.” He handed me
a pad of legal paper. “If you can type this new material up, I can e-mail it to my editor this afternoon and have her insert it into the manuscript.”

“Okay,” I said. “I guess.” The whole process sounded weird and sort of unprofessional to me, but I guessed someone who wrote best sellers knew more than I did.

Dear Liza,
I typed.

“Wait a second,” I said. “Is this where my character gets really important to the plot?”

“Just type it,” he said.

I stared at the piece of paper. It was familiar handwriting, but I didn’t think it was his. “This doesn’t look like your handwriting.”

“I wrote it when I was driving.”

“You write and drive? That is so wrong.”

“Just type,” he said again.

I’m sorry. I realize what you mean about secrets. And you’re right—I have been a phony. I need to fix that. Hayden.

“Is this all you have?” I asked. “Did you write this?”

“Please. I think I have a little more literary style than that, don’t you?”

I smiled and gazed at the ocean. It was a beautiful day; the sun was sparkling on the water and a light breeze blew my hair back from my face. “Can you give me like five minutes?” I asked.

“I suppose,” he sighed. “But seriously, after this, I do have something for you to type.”

“I’ll be right back.” I sprinted down the boardwalk. As angry as I still was with Hayden, I wanted to see him and talk to him. He could apologize a few more times and explain what it was all about. Maybe I’d forgive him this time. I could see he really was trying now.

But when I got to the beach, Hayden was nowhere in sight. Lindsay was sitting on top of the lifeguard chair. I waved to her. “Is Hayden around?” I asked, forgetting my wounded pride for a second.

“He’s gone for a few days,” Lindsay said. “He went home.”

“Home?” That seemed a little strange. I hoped nothing was wrong. “When is he coming back, do you know?”

“Saturday, I think,” Lindsay said.

“Oh. Okay. Thanks!”

I walked back up to the Inn, wondering if there was a way to reach Hayden while he was home, or if I should bother. He’d made such a nice gesture the night before, and now this note…

But would it change anything?

“Got the tray?” Daunte teased me as I walked past him into the dining room on Saturday. We were hosting another wedding at the Inn.

“Yes, I have it,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.” I shifted the tray of raspberry sorbet dishes in my arms. Every single one of my coworkers had been giving me a hard time about the way I’d dropped my tray the week before.

I flashed back to the last wedding. With any luck, this event wouldn’t be nearly as disastrous, or as painful.

Then I saw Hayden get up onstage, next to the DJ. I didn’t even know he’d come back yet. What was he doing? Was he going to sing? Was this a karaoke wedding?

“Excuse me, everyone. Could I have your
attention please? I’d like to make a toast.”

“Richard,” I said, pulling his best friend aside. “He’s not a guest at this wedding too, is he?”

“No, he doesn’t know them at all.” Richard smiled at me. “Don’t worry, okay?”

What was Hayden doing? Now they were hiring the Inn to even take care of their toasts? What
wouldn’t
these people spend money on?

“My name is Hayden, and normally I’d just park your cars, but today I have a special announcement. But if this takes too long or is too boring and you need your car, just raise your hand.”

A few people in the audience laughed, while Hayden unfolded a crumpled piece of paper and cleared his throat. “Bear with me a second here. Okay.” He looked at the crowd, but didn’t seem to notice where I was standing. “I don’t really know Maisie and Jacob, but, uh, I do know something about, uh, love,” he said.

Just to be on the safe side, I set the tray of sorbet on the table closest to me.

“The thing about love is that you can’t predict it,” Hayden went on. “You can’t plan it.
It’s like the weather.”

Like the weather?
I thought.
Doesn’t the weather change really frequently? Some days love is warm, some days it’s cold…
Where was he going with this? And why?

Claire came up beside me. “I don’t know what he’s doing, but I think it’s going to be good,” she whispered.

Josh stood behind her, his chin resting on her shoulder. “Or really, really awful,” he said.

“Great,” I muttered.

“Sorry, I can’t read his—my handwriting.” Hayden seemed to be squinting at the tiny piece of paper. “The person we love is the one we follow. The one who tells us how to be in the world, and lets us know whether we’re doing the right thing or not. They’re our bellwether,” Hayden went on.

“Barometer!” someone in the crowd yelled out.

“Barometer,” Hayden said, nodding. “That makes sense.” He looked up at everyone. “You’ve got to check out the big barometer in the lobby, if you haven’t already. Antique. Really cool.” He took a deep breath and rubbed
his neck, looking uncomfortable. “Anyway. True love can’t be measured by a barometer, but if it could be…” He squinted at the paper again, then crumpled it into a ball and shoved it in his pocket. “Oh, what the heck. Liza? I’m sorry I’ve been such a jerk. I want everyone here—especially you—to know that…well, I really love you. Now just dance with me, okay?”

He handed the microphone back to the DJ and hopped off the stage. On his way over to me, as the music started, he took his key to the valet key cabinet and handed it to Miss Crossley. Before he could take another step, I rushed toward him, and he caught me in his arms.

I think maybe a couple of people were clapping. Maybe everybody was clapping. But I didn’t hear them or the music, I was so happy.

We danced for a minute, and then I said, “Why isn’t anyone else dancing? It’s not
our
wedding. I feel like we’re onstage. Everyone’s watching us.”

“See? I told you privacy wasn’t all bad—”

“But it’s okay,” I said.

“Okay. Yeah, it is,” Hayden said, smoothing my hair. “But still. You want to get out of here?” he whispered in my ear.

“Do I ever,” I said. “But I’ve got this tray of melting sorbet—”

“Got it,” Hayden said. He grabbed the tray off the table where I’d left it and we quickly handed out dishes. Then we headed for the exit, and as we were walking out, C. Q. Wallace was lingering near the open doorway. “C. Q. helped me with the speech,” Hayden explained.

“You mangled it, but oh well,” C. Q. commented with a smile. “Now where’s that wedding cake?” He moved past us into the dining room.

Hayden and I laughed and ran out onto the porch together, holding hands. I knew exactly where we were heading.

“You know, you could sell that piece of paper on eBay,” I told him as I hopped off the boardwalk. I slipped off my shoes and left them in the sand. “Except that I’m not going to let you, because I’m going to save it.”

“So how have you been?” Hayden asked as
we walked toward the water.

“Fine. Bored. You?” I asked. “How was the visit at home?”

“We got some stuff sorted out. And I told them all about you.”

“You didn’t.”

“I did. They’ll be here next week to visit,” Hayden said. “You can try to talk Grace out of her gothness.”

“What? No way. I want her to like me,” I said.

We stopped at the water’s edge. We were both still wearing our catering uniforms. “So,” Hayden said.

“So.”

“Same as usual?” he asked.

“With a twist,” I said. I reached up and put my arms around his neck, pulling him closer for a kiss.

Then, when he was really getting into it, I broke away and sprinted into the water.

“Hey! No fair!” He rushed in after me, diving under a big wave that was about to break. Hayden came up for air and dove again, this time tugging at my ankle. I held my breath and
went underwater, too, and just as I did, my pager started to buzz. Underwater. Completely submerged. I pulled it out of my pocket to show Hayden, and he smiled, little air bubbles coming out of his mouth.

Miss Crossley wouldn’t believe me even if I told her the truth about where I’d been when she paged me. So I wouldn’t bother to tell her. Besides, it had to stop beeping soon. Right?