The Surfing Lesson (Digital Original) (6 page)
Read The Surfing Lesson (Digital Original) Online
Authors: Elin Hilderbrand
Probably Finn just missed him, the way that Margot missed Edge. The way that Margot lived in a perpetual state of missing Edge. She had sex with Edge, she had conversations with Edge, some more meaningful than others, she occasionally had dinner with Edge—but never the movies, never theater, never ever any kind of benefit or dance or party where other people they knew would be in attendance. Those kinds of events Margot attended alone or with her brother, Nick, who was always sure to leave with someone else.
“Well!” Margot said. She was dying to put the small talk with Griffin Wheatley, Homecoming King, to bed. She would have excused herself to check on the children below, but she wasn’t feeling well enough to even step inside the cabin in the name of such a bluff. “Have fun playing golf!Birdie, birdie, eagle!”
“Thanks,” Griff said. He took a step toward the chair where his
Wall Street Journal
awaited, and Margot thought,
Okay, that’s over. Good-bye, Griffin Wheatley, Homecoming King!
Jenna could have asked Idi Amin to take their picture and Margot might have been less flustered.
“See ya,” Margot said.
“Have a great wedding,” Griff said. And then to Finn, “Nice meeting you, lowly bridesmaid.”
Finn scowled at him, but undeterred, Griff called out to Jenna, “Congratulations!”
Jenna raised her eyes from her iPhone long enough to offer the quick, impersonal wave of an Oscar winner.
Finn said, “I’m going down below.”
Margot nodded, and with a glance at Griff and another awkward, unnecessary “See ya!” she took Jenna by the arm and led her to the railing on the side of the boat opposite from Griff.
“Look,” Margot said. She pointed past the hovering seagulls and the scattered sailboats. They could both see clearly now: the north and south steeples of the churches, the column of Brant Point Lighthouse.
Nantucket Island, their summer home.
Jenna squeezed the heck out of Margot’s hand. Just as Jenna had helped Margot with her seasickness by remembering to bring the Dramamine, so now Margot would forget about the unnerving interaction with Griffin Wheatley, Homecoming King, and focus on helping Jenna with her surfeit of overwhelming emotion.
“I miss her,” Jenna said.
Margot’s eyes stung. The longest, most excruciating weekend of her life had officially begun.
“I know, honey,” she said, hugging her sister close. “I miss her, too.”
The Love Season
The Blue Bistro
Summer People
Nantucket Nights
The Beach Club
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Copyright
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Copyright © 2013 by Elin Hilderbrand
Excerpt from
Beautiful Day
copyright © 2013 by Elin Hilderbrand
Author photograph by Laurie Richards
Cover design by Ploy Siripant; photography by Westend61/jupiterimages
Cover copyright © 2013 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitute unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First ebook edition: May 2013
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ISBN 978-0-316-24286-8