A Time for Us - By Amy Knupp Page 0,48
no crowd-entertainment skills to speak of. Again, everyone had adjusted their thinking and seemed to be okay with her sticking to the fringes of group conversations.
One-on-one, Rachel did better. Earlier, she and Andie had talked about Andie’s marine biology classes and her volunteer work at the sea-turtle rescue center on the island. And during lunch, she’d gotten involved in a discussion with Scott, a former paramedic, about some of the things he’d run into on emergency medical calls. Rachel had done ride-alongs with paramedics a few years back, but the stories Scott told were like nothing she’d experienced. It fascinated her to hear what sometimes went on before the EMS people even got the patient to her and the team at the hospital.
“Where’s my baby mama?” Derek asked the group when he noticed Macey wasn’t with the women.
“She’s resting,” Andie said. “Her ankles are a little swollen and she was roasting out here in the sun earlier.”
“I’ll go check on her,” Derek said, trying to hide his adorable overconcern as he headed down to the cabin.
“He’s even worse than Evan was,” Selena said, shooting a loving look up to her husband. “You might need to sit him down and have a talk, hon.”
Evan chuckled. “Already did, darlin’. The guy is hopeless. Can’t wait to see how he handles labor.”
“Not gonna be pretty,” Clay said.
As Selena, Andie, Mercedes and Rachel claimed the four lounge chairs, Mercedes’s sister Charlie climbed up to the flybridge and asked Evan to teach her to drive the boat. Rachel sat sideways on her chair and took the opportunity to soak in the view while the other women chatted.
Cale came over to her, looking concerned, as he had several times throughout lunch. “Would you like a refill on your wine yet?” he asked.
She glanced at her nearly empty glass and shook her head. “I’m okay. Actually, I’ll get myself a bottled water.”
“I’ve got it,” he said, heading to the cooler in the corner before she could get up. He came back over and handed it to her before settling on a bench seat off to the side.
The poor guy... He obviously hadn’t thought about what he was getting himself into when he’d invited Rachel to join him today. Instead of being able to enjoy himself and let loose, he seemed to feel obligated to make sure she was okay—and wasn’t understanding that she was, in fact, doing fine.
He’d been amazingly kind, making a point of sticking close to Rachel, engaging her in conversations with the others when he noticed she was uninvolved. He was again—or rather, still—the superconsiderate guy she’d started crushing on that very first night they’d met.
In other words, he was an awesome “date” and a perfect gentleman, just like Rachel knew he would be. It was easy to get carried away with thoughts of him instead of paying attention to the conversations around her. Then she had to reel herself in and remind herself of the fundamental reason her thoughts were pointless.
He’d loved Noelle.
Even if Rachel could somehow ever lay aside the guilt over her sister’s death and the cause of their argument that had led to it that night, it was like some kind of algebraic law working against her. If A was attracted to B, and B was the opposite of C, then A would never be attracted to C.
“Are you doing okay, Rachel?” Selena asked, leaning forward in her chair. “Do you need sunscreen?”
Rachel realized she was still sitting on the edge of her lounge chair, staring at the scenery, while everyone else had shed their cute, trendy sundresses to don their swimsuits.
“I’m fine,” she said with what she hoped looked like an easy smile as she tried not to cringe yet again over her out-of-place tank-and-shorts combo. “Just taking it all in. It’s beautiful out here. In all the years growing up on the island, I’ve never seen it from this perspective. I’ve only kayaked in the bay.”
They were cruising along the gulf, parallel to the shore of the island but a few hundred yards out. The large hotels were visible, but the people on the beach were barely discernible dots of color. A pair of kite surfers bounced along the water’s surface on the north end of the island, their huge, arched kites patches of vivid color against the light blue sky.
“It’s easy to fall in love with,” Selena said. “It was kind of part of the package deal when I married Evan, but I’ve grown to love it