lived to eighty-seven in a place she loved. Can’t ask for more than that.”
“Sorry I missed the funeral. I was away at school and didn’t hear the news until after the fact.”
He shook his head. “I missed it, too. I was out of the country.” His restless gaze drifted toward the dance floor. “It’s noisy in here.”
“Yeah,” she said, torn. She wanted to suggest they go somewhere quiet and catch up. At the same time, she prayed she wouldn’t see him again for the rest of the week.
Darn it. She hadn’t wanted anyone to know she was here. Or know who she was. Too late. Still, it was great seeing Rick after all this time, and at least he had no more ties to Oroville. It wasn’t as if he’d go blab about her to anyone in town.
“I don’t really dance,” he said, inclining his head toward the dance floor. “I might shuffle around to a slow number once in a while.”
“No problem. I didn’t expect you to ask.” She shrugged. “If I wanted to dance, I would have asked you.”
The corners of his mouth lifted in a slow smile. “You haven’t changed.”
“Sure, I have.”
His gaze narrowed, and he studied her for a long awkward moment. “Come to think of it, this is about the last place I would have expected to find you.”
Heat crawled up her neck. “You plied me with enough pictures of these islands. And since this is the only resort here and the idea of pitching a tent didn’t cut it…”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
“What?” She grinned. All he’d talked about for the two summers was how he was going to be a famous archeologist some day. How he was going to travel to places that no modern man had ever been. “I wouldn’t have expected to find you here either. I thought you liked roughing it. Sleeping in a tent. Digging around in the dirt.”
“Yeah. Right.” He snorted, but seemed oddly annoyed, his gaze straying, his eyes restless. “Look, I gotta go but maybe we could meet for a drink or something later.”
“Sure.” Carly paused, not understanding what she’d said that was so wrong. She started to ask, but he quickly disappeared into the crowd before she could say boo.
Had his plans changed? Had he taken up another profession? No, he’d been far too passionate about archeology. Of course he’d been young, too young to etch anything in stone. Anyway, that would be no reason to be touchy.
“Who’s the hunk?” Ginger came from behind, fanning herself. “Damn, I’m hot. I hope that’s for me.”
Carly automatically passed her the mai tai, while continuing to stare into the crowd. “His name is Rick. Rick Baxter.”
“Whoa, you guys are on a last-name basis already. I thought that was a no-no.”
“I know him. I mean, we didn’t just meet tonight.”
“No joke? How bizarre.” Ginger took a huge sip and then used the damp cocktail napkin clinging to the bottom of the glass to wipe her neck. “You know him from school?”
Carly sighed. “No, from back home.”
“Good God, girlfriend, you have guys who look like that living in Oroville?”
“No, he doesn’t live there. He visited his grandmother for two summers. But that was over ten years ago.”
“Wow! Imagine running into him here.”
“He’s the one who told me about this place, or at least these islands.” Carly smiled remembering his enthusiasm. “He showed me stacks of snapshots he and his parents had taken. I knew then I’d come here someday.” She lost the smile. “I just didn’t expect to run into him.”
Ginger muttered a mild curse. “This doesn’t blow things for you, does it? I mean, are you gonna be worried that he’s watching you or something?”
She looked at Ginger and laughed, hysteria bubbling up inside her. Worried? She was terrified.
2
“THIS ISN’T GOING to work, girlfriend,” Ginger said around a yawn as she crawled into bed.
Carly had already snuggled into her own queen-size bed. She’d brushed her teeth but hadn’t washed her face. She’d regret it in the morning, but right now she didn’t have the energy. It had been one heck of a long night.
“I give up,” she said, her eyes closed and the covers up to her chin. she felt too tired to guess what her friend was talking about. “What isn’t going to work?”
“This vacation. The whole idea of doing whatever you damn well please. You were so nervous tonight I thought I’d have to pour a couple of dozen mai tais down your throat.”
“Maybe you should have,” Carly murmured. It was true. After seeing Rick, she had spent a good deal of time looking over her shoulder. Jumping at the sound of every male voice that got too close.
“What are you going to do about it?” Ginger turned off the lamp at her bedside.
Welcome darkness washed over Carly. “I don’t know.”
“Maybe you should talk to him. You know, level with him about what you’re doing here.”
Carly started to laugh and then rolled over onto her side before she choked. “Yeah, right.”
“I didn’t mean you should tell him everything. Just that your being here isn’t something you’d like broadcast.”
“I don’t have to worry about that. He has no reason to go to Oroville or to talk with anyone there. It’s just hard knowing he could be watching me move in on some guy.”
Ginger laughed. “I’d like to see that myself.”
“Go ahead and joke. Your vacation hasn’t been ruined.”
“Oh, God, Carly, I’m sorry. I know how long you’ve waited for this week. There’s got to be something we can do.”
It wasn’t as if Carly hadn’t been thinking about a solution nonstop. Inevitably she’d feel self-conscious just knowing he was at the resort. Always wondering if he was watching her. Wondering if he was disappointed in her. Sure, he’d stayed in Oroville for two summers but he didn’t understand the mentality of the residents. Or how it felt to be under a microscope as the town pastor’s daughter.
“Carly, you still awake?”
“Yep.”
“Did you and Rick ever sleep together?”
“Good grief, no. I was only thirteen the last time I saw him. I think I still believed the stork delivered me.”
“Bet you had a crush on him.”
“Well, yeah. He
