So they had seen the big tear. Terri was trying to decide whether or not to call their bluff when the teenage girls came running. They hadn’t stopped talking since Terri began pulling the canvas and stapling the ancient, moldy, falling-apart fabric into place.
“Soooo romantic,” the second girl said.
Terri knew they were hinting at something, but she didn’t know what. “All right! I’ll bite. What is so romantic?”
“The house the mayor gave to Nate and Stacy.”
Terri stopped stapling. Behind her, the three knitting ladies also halted.
“The mayor and Mrs. Hartman had just picked up that cute Stacy from the airport and—”
“She was in Italy.”
“All the way across the ocean.”
“Anyway,” the first girl said, “Nate was there and—”
“That’s the Nate who was here,” the second girl added.
“Yes, dear,” said one of the knitting ladies, and there was steel in her voice. “We know who Nate is.”
“And we also know that he is engaged to Stacy Hartman,” said a second knitting lady. There was no steel in her voice, just sadness with a dash of disbelief.
“The house had a big ribbon on the door.”
“What house?” a knitting lady asked.
“That old Stanton place,” a girl said. “I thought it was falling down. Why would Stacy want that? She’s so pretty she could be a model. And she’s—”
“Too short to be a model,” the first knitting lady snapped. “What was going on at that old house?”
“The mayor gave it to Stacy and Nate as a wedding gift. He gave them a key in a box.”
“It had white velvet inside. It was really pretty. And Stacy unlocked the door.”
“And inside was a picnic on the floor. With a white tablecloth and candles and a basket of food.” The girl sighed loudly.
“And the mayor gave everyone a glass of champagne. I had a sip. It was wonderful!”
“Stacy was so happy she was in tears. She was hugging her parents hard.”
“And what did Nate say?” the first knitting lady asked.
“He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t look too happy. I thought he liked boats better.”
“But he carried Stacy over the threshold, then she shut the door so they could be alone.” At that image, the girls giggled in a suggestive way.
The third girl gave Terri a sly look. “I thought he liked you.”
The first knitting lady stepped forward. “Does your mother know you’ve been drinking alcoholic beverages?”
“She’s too busy drinking herself to notice what I do,” the girl said with another giggle, then the three of them turned and ran away.
“They’re never too young to start being bitches, are they?” the third lady said.
“Terri...” the first knitting lady began.
She turned on the ladder to look down at them. “Nate and I are friends. Got it? I’ve always known he was engaged. There’s never been anything between us of a...a romantic nature. Friends. That’s all.” She turned back to the tent and began stapling.
Behind her, the three ladies looked at each other in sadness, then went back to unloading boxes.
Good! Terri told herself. She was succeeding at keeping her feelings under cover. Considering how she’d lost it this morning, she was proud of herself. After she’d sat outside and indulged herself in useless memories of the past, she’d given herself a pep talk. Think of the future, not the past! But then, she’d walked into a barren kitchen and realized that Nate was gone. Really and truly gone. Everything had hit her with the weight of an outboard falling onto her and she’d burst into tears. Of course that was when her father and Uncle Frank and Elaine had decided to show up with her favorite cream-filled doughnuts. Elaine had immediately taken Terri into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face.
“I knew it was coming so I shouldn’t be upset,” Terri said. “Nate and I are friends, that’s all. I knew that from the beginning.”
Elaine had been silent, but her face told her thoughts. Nate was no longer their darling savior.
When Terri went back into her living room, she had recovered—on the surface, at least. It took only a glance at the two men to see that they were furious, and it was up to her to make things right. “You caught me at the wrong time,” Terri said, then went into a defense of Nate. She could tell that they weren’t really listening to her. And their support made her feel better. She grabbed three doughnuts and ran down to her boat. What she needed was so much