CelebrationAfterDarkKobo Read Free

Mac.”
    “Never been before. Must be you.”
    “Must be.”
    Walking backward in front of her, he said, “What’s your last name?”
    “Rudolph.”
    “Tell me the truth, Linda Rudolph—have you ever harbored a secret burning desire to live on an island?”
    “An island ? Can’t say I’ve ever entertained that particular burning desire.”
    The implication that she’d entertained others had his full attention, and he had to remind himself they were in public, and he wasn’t allowed to let his mind go there—at least not yet.  
    “Why do you ask?”
    “Well, so, it’s kind of like this… Tomorrow, I’m signing papers that will make me the proud owner of a ramshackle marina on Gansett Island that I plan to turn into a gold mine. I was wondering if you might like to help me do that.”
    “Didn’t I just meet you an hour ago?”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “And you’re asking me to come live with you on your island and help you turn your ramshackle marina into a gold mine. Is that right?”
    “That’s about it, yep.”
    “Are you always this forward when you meet someone new?”
    “Nope. I’ve never asked a girl to come live with me anywhere, let alone on my island.”
    “I’m flattered to be the first, but you’ll understand my reluctance, being as I’m in school and all that.”
    “What year?”
    “Going into my junior year.”
    “I won’t be able to wait two years to marry you. There’s just no way that’ll work for me.”
    “ Mac! Are you out of your mind? Do you have some sort of condition that makes you delusional?”
    “Do you believe in love at first sight?”
    “No! That only happens in the movies.”
    “And on front porches in Providence.”
    “You… I…” She pursed her lips, seeming to choose her words carefully. “Are you being serious right now?”
    “Dead serious. You ever feel something right here?” He pushed his fist into his gut. “And you know? You just know ?”
    “That hasn’t happened to me before.”
    “It’s happened to me only one other time.”
    “Were you in love with her?”
    He smiled at the catty tone to her voice. “As much as you can be in love with a dilapidated group of buildings, a sagging dock and a parking lot full of potholes. I took one look at that mess and felt like I’d come home. And I took one look at you, the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid eyes on, and felt like I’d found the other half of me.”
    Her hand came up to her chest, as if she were trying to remember how to breathe. Maybe he had that thought because he was feeling sort of breathless himself.
    “How old are you, Mac?”
    “Just turned twenty.”
    “And you expect me to believe you can take one look at me—at age twenty —and think you’re going to want me forever?”
    “Yes, I expect you to believe that. How old are you?”
    “Nineteen.”
    “Where’d you grow up?”
    “In Massachusetts, outside of Boston.”
    “Ahh, a city girl.”
    “You’re from here, right? Doesn’t that make you a city boy?”
    “Providence is small potatoes next to Boston.” It occurred to him that a girl from Boston might find Gansett Island incredibly boring. “You’re on summer vacation, right?”
    “I am.”
    “Are you working?”
    “I was supposed to be a nanny for a young family, but the dad’s job transferred him unexpectedly, so I’m still looking for something. I’m staying with Josie and Kathy for the summer.”
    “Come to Gansett with me for the day tomorrow. Take a look at what I’m doing there. I want to know what you think of it.” At this point, he was running on pure adrenaline fueled by the gut feeling that she was intended for him. How he knew that, he couldn’t say. He just knew.
    “You’re a very intense young man, Mac.”
    “I’ve been told that before, but I don’t see any point in doing things halfway,” he said, borrowing Frank’s words from earlier. “Tomorrow, I’m gambling my future on a marina that may or may not pay off. I want you