so bad after all. Apparently after he got you in the tub, he stayed with you all night.”
“He did?” Shit. I get all the way up on the bed so I can face her. So many questions. What happened last night? How is it I woke up naked? But I’m afraid I don’t want the answers. I don’t remember getting undressed. Someone did that for me. Instinctively, I pull my robe tighter around me.
“Yeah, but he had to leave for work early this morning. Doyle called Doc on the mainland last night. He said you’d be okay, but that you shouldn’t be left alone. Bennet asked me to check on you.”
This knowledge makes me sit up taller against my pillows. To know that he cares…that he’s been worried about me…well, even if I have to hate him for stripping me naked, it still does something for me.
Natalie crosses her legs, letting her foot bob. “When I didn’t get back to him right away with an update, he called two more times, totally pissed off about my”—she makes air quotes—“‘lack of urgency.’”
Well, that was rude of him. He didn’t need to make Natalie feel bad. Though, if I’m reading her correctly, she looks more amused than anything else.
“The guy is tearing his hair out being trapped on the lake not knowing, so I thought I’d better cut him some slack before he had a stroke or something.”
“If he’s so worried, why didn’t he just call me himself?”
She shakes her head. “There’s not much for service out there so they use a ship-to-shore radio to connect with the Coast Guard office. That’s who actually got the message to me. Oh, and here’s your cell phone.” She reaches into her back pocket and tosses it onto the bed. “You left it on the table when you walked out of Paddy’s. Alli picked it up and asked me to get it back to you.”
I pick it up and check it over. It looks fine. Lucy sighs and hops off the bed. She walks stiffly into the kitchen to see if there’s anything left in her bowl from yesterday. “You should follow Lucy’s cue. Y’know, make yourself a nice hot cup of tea,” Natalie says.
“I’m more of a hot chocolate girl.”
She shrugs and picks at the stuffing coming out of the chair’s arm. “Suit yourself. Pretty impressive what you did for Lucy last night. Good thing Ferry Ben was there to rescue you.”
“Don’t call him that. And I hate being the damsel in distress.” The very idea makes me grouchy.
“I’d hardly call you that,” she says on a laugh. “Maybe it’s that superhero underwear you’re partial to.”
My eyes dart toward the discarded pair on the floor. I look back at Natalie, and she’s grinning.
“Anyway. Like I said,” she continues, “people are calling you the town hero for what you did for Lucy.”
I shake my head and look down at my lap, then out toward the kitchen. The bowl must be empty. Lucy’s pushing it across the floor. “It’s what anyone would have done, though probably more gracefully.” The knot on my head gives a little throb.
“Anyone ’round here might have risked their lives for Lu. Maybe. But definitely not what anyone would expect from a summer girl. If you think you’re doing okay, I’m going to go back to town. Tell the coast guard to call the ferry. Best I let Bennet know you’re alive before he tears me a new one. So…you are feeling better, right?”
“Surprisingly so. Thanks.”
“Righteous.” She gets to her feet and walks around the foot of the bed toward the door. “Guess I gotta go back out there.” She looks miserably at the rain-sheeted window. “Oh, I almost forgot! I’ve promoted you from Tater Tot hotdish to the planning committee for Summer Fest.”
This news brightens my outlook considerably, and I lift my head. If I have a project to keep me busy, this summer will be over in a heartbeat. “Seriously? Because I’ve actually been thinking about it, and I have some ideas.”
“Like what?” she asks, her interest piqued.
I swing my legs around so I’m sitting on the edge of the bed. “Like togas and Irish bands don’t have anything to do with each other. You need to come up with a theme, and a better name, too. Summer Fest is too generic.”
Natalie’s mouth purses with skepticism. “Yeah, well, islanders aren’t great with change, in case you haven’t noticed.”