Page 42 of A Novel Summer
Thirty
Shelby put her phone away and hoped she didn’t look as uncomfortable as she felt. She’d done the right thing making the call, but it interrupted the romantic vibe.
“Sorry about that,” she said.
“No need to apologize,” he said. “Amazing you know just who to call.”
She blushed, feeling bad for not disclosing that she knew exactly who to call because it was her ex-boyfriend. It seemed a little presumptuous to offer up that kind of information—as if Anders cared.
“Do you mind waiting until help arrives? I just want to make sure no one comes by first and messes with it,” Shelby said to Anders.
“Not at all. Do you think it’s injured?”
She eyed the helpless animal. Sometimes the seals, or sea turtles, or dolphins were ill or injured, and sometimes it was just the tricky geography of the coast. The Cape was shaped like a hook encircling Cape Cod Bay, which made navigating back to open ocean challenging.
Minutes later, Doug MacDougal appeared on the dunes carrying a large duffel bag and a banana box. “Hey there, Shelby!” He gave her a wave and began roping off the perimeter.
She turned to Anders. “You met him at your book reading. His girlfriend owns the bookstore.”
“Such a small world out here.”
Justin appeared right behind Doug with a first aid kit.Very small world.
“We can go now,” she said quickly.
“Well, we can’t leavenow. This is the interesting part,” Anders said. “Who was it who wrote, ‘In the eyes of an animal, we find a reflection of our souls’?”
She didn’t know. But shedidknow that it was Carrie Bradshaw fromSex and the Citywho said, “Sometimes we need to leave our exes where they belong—in the past.”
Justin took the lead on giving the turtle a cursory examination.
“Good eye,” he called out to her.
“Oh, yeah. Well, thanks for coming to help.”
“It’s my job,” he said, looking at Anders.
“Oh—Justin, this is Anders Fleming.”
“We met at the book reading,” Justin said evenly, glancing up from his crouched position.
“That’s right,” Anders said, a look on his face like he was putting pieces together. “You were there with Kate from Hendrik’s Books.”
Justin nodded. “Thanks again for the call,” he said to Shelby, punctuating the conversation by turning his back to them. He conferred with Doug before they slowly and carefully lifted the stunned animal.
“Let’s go,” she said, touching Anders’s arm. He put his arm around her. They walked back towards their beach blankets. She felt the heat coming off his body, and her own stirrings of attraction. “I think I’ve had enough of the great outdoors for the night,” she said, looking up at him.
He stopped walking and turned to face her. His intelligent gray eyes had just the faintest crow’s-feet in the corners. “I hate to see our evening end so soon.”
She reached for his hand. “Who said anything about ending the evening?”
“I’ve always wondered about this house,” Shelby said when they reached the landmark East End Victorian where he was living for the summer. She’d passed by it many times.
“Fine Arts Work Center arranged it for me. It’s quite lovely,” he said.
The kitchen was small but welcoming, with granite counters, blue-gray backsplash tiles, and a white vertical-board island where he opened a bottle of New Zealand sauvignon blanc and a California pinot noir.
“A friend brought over the red last night so I can’t vouch for it,” he said. “We have the white for backup.”
