by Ginny Baird
“I never said I was a park ranger,” she protested. “You all did. Sofia didn’t say anything about that when she called. Then, when I got here, that’s all anybody was talking about, so I…you know.” She raised a shoulder. “Did the gentlewomanly thing.”
Derrick set his hands on his hips. “That is so not the same.”
“Oh, yes it is. Very close.”
“Nope.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Not true.”
“Yeppers!”
He shook his head. “So, if you’re not living in Acadia, where are you living?”
“I work at a day spa in Bar Harbor.”
“Figures.”
“That was rude. I have bigger plans.”
“Oh yeah? Like what? Coming to Blue Hill to cozy up to your ex’s family?”
“That’s really unfair. Sofia wanted me here.” The next instant, she looked hurt. “I thought you did, too.”
He deserved that and he knew it. “I did. Do. Only, Olivia?”
“What?” She sounded about as irritated as he felt.
“When were you planning to tell me?”
“I just did!” She huffed. “When were you?”
He held up both hands. Derrick realized he was just as culpable as she was. He’d hidden things from her, too, and neither of their motives had been malicious. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
She pulled a pout. “It’s pretty sad that you’re so judge-y. I don’t get how you’re so high and mighty with what you do for a living.”
“What’s wrong with what I do?”
“Nothing! That’s exactly my point.”
“You used to say I was wasting my life,” he said with a bitter taste on his tongue.
“That’s when I thought I was going to be a lawyer.”
“Oh, I get it. It’s a class thing. Now that you’re not, I’m good enough for you?”
Her eyes flashed. “You’re even worse than I remembered!”
Derrick raked both hands through his hair. “Ditto.”
They stared at each other, breathing hard.
When they’d both calmed down, he asked her, “How long have you lived in Bar Harbor, anyway?”
“About five months, two weeks, and four days.”
“That’s specific.”
She studied her nails. “Ever since I moved out of Paul’s.”
“You lived with him in the park?”
“In the park, yeah, in his hut.”
“So, what did you do all that time. Were you working?”
“Sure, I was. Looking after the animals.”
“Which animals?”
She rolled her eyes. “He had a chinchilla and a llama, seven chickens, and a couple of goats—”
“Wait a minute, all in the park? Was he even supposed to do that?”
“No. But I never told anyone. I promised. Not even about the Boa—”
“Constrictor?”
“The worst part was feeding it. I had to keep my eyes closed.”
Derrick felt all turned upside down, like he didn’t know where to find the earth or the sun. This conversation had started out okay but it had taken a bad turn somewhere, and now it was in a downward spiral. On top of that, there’d been a whole lot of yelling.
He needed some space.
“You know what?” he said, standing. “I think I’d better go.”
Her face fell. “You said we needed to talk.”
“Yeah, but I’m feeling all talked out right now.” His head was pounding, too.
Her eyes glimmered sadly. “I’m sorry, Derrick, about the park ranger thing.”
“It’s fine. Really fine.” He exhaled. “But I want you to tell my family,” he said. “About your real job in Bar Harbor, and the park ranger thing.” He heaved a breath. “There’s a lot you don’t know about what they went through last year. If you and I have any shot at going anywhere, you’ll need to come clean with them.”
His stomach clenched. Was that really what he wanted? To be going places with Olivia? His gut churned but then he steeled his nerves.
She didn’t hesitate. “Consider it done.”
He had tons to process here. Things to think through. He was fine with her job, of course. Olivia could do, or be, whatever she wanted.
Only, everything about this seemed wrong.
So incredibly wrong.
He almost felt sick to his stomach.
“Where are you going?” she asked as he left.
“To clear my head.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Derrick met up with Meredith at the main house and called her into the kitchen from the den, where she’d been visiting with his family. His face was flushed and he seemed out of sorts.
“I need to head back to my cabin. Do you want to stay here, or come with me? If you stay, I’m sure someone else can bring you back later.”
“No,” she said, worried about him. Clearly his talk with Olivia hadn’t gone well. “I’ll go.” She hated seeing his mood shift from upbeat to downcast. He’d been so happy presenting the cradle to William and Sofia just half an hour ago. Now he looked like he’d lost his best friend in the world.
They said their polite goodbyes to the others, then Derrick drove them back to his place without saying a word. They’d return to his grandparents’ house tomorrow afternoon in time for drinks and dinner with his folks and Sofia’s parents. At that point, the whole clan would be there. Meredith had figured on Derrick and Olivia being a couple by then.
But, given Derrick’s current expression, that didn’t seem likely.
“If you want to talk about it…” she said.
“No.” He softened his tone. “Not right now.”
She decided to let him open up when he was ready, because she intuited he ultimately would. So she waited and appreciated the pretty vistas along the way until he finally breached the silence, tightening his grasp on the steering wheel.
“She’s not even a park ranger!” His jaw tensed. “Can you believe that?”
“Olivia?” Meredith knew Olivia had been hiding something. She just hadn’t been sure what. “Did she tell you that?”
“Yeah, and also that she didn’t pass the bar.”
“Wow. That was a downer of a conversation—for her.”
“She didn’t tell me all at once,” he said testily, though Meredith understood his anger wasn’t targeted at her. He was peeved with Olivia. “She told me about the bar over frozen yogurt.”
“She couldn’t really help that, Derrick. Not if she studied, and I’m sure she did. The bar can be hard to pass. A lot of people—”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. But a lot of people don’t go on to lie about their profession.”
True, but embarrassment was a real thing, and was especially hard for someone like Olivia who seemed very focused on keeping up appearances. “What was her reason?”
“She said it was our fault. My family’s for laying it on her. She works at a day spa in Bar Harbor.”
“Ah,” Meredith said. “That explains a lot.” Like her eyebrows, and her nails, and her perfectly coiffed hair…
“Anyway,” Derrick said. “She kind of blew me out of the water with that. Plus, she got shout-y.”
“Oh no.”
His shoulders drooped. “I’m afraid I got a bit shout-y, too.”
“I’m sorry that things were rough. Did you talk about the fake fiancé thing at all?”
“Yeah.” He frowned. “I told her.”
“And?”
“Amazingly, she was okay with that.” He shook his head. “It was some of those other things she said. Like she couldn’t resist pushing old buttons.”
“I’m really sorry,” Meredith said, because she was. She hated that Derrick and Olivia had had s
ome huge, knockdown, drag-out fight. “Maybe this big blow up is only temporary? Sometimes you have to get out everything that’s bothering you to move forward.”
“Yeah, I don’t know,” he said sourly. “Maybe.”
They reached his property and pulled into the drive.
He turned off his ignition then sat there stewing.
She wished she could think of a way to help him. “Can I make you some coffee? Or fix you something to eat?” She glanced at his outbuilding. “Maybe you’d like to tool around in your workshop for a while?”
He followed her line of vision, then his gaze settled on the boats beside his workshop. “You know what always makes me feel better?” he asked. “Getting out on the water. It clears my head and helps me focus on the positives in life, you know?”
She liked the way he looked at her, like she was one of those positives.
“So, what do you say?” He grinned and her heart skipped a beat. “Want to go out with me and forget about our worries for a while?”
“I’d love that,” she said, meaning it absolutely.
…
Meredith changed into shorts and a light windbreaker because Derrick warned it might be chilly on the water with dark clouds rolling in. He led her to the overhang beside his workshop and two kayaks, one yellow and the other orange.
“Oh! We’re going out in those?”
“What did you expect?” he teased. “The rowboat?”
Yes. She worked hard to mask her disappointment. “No, kayaking is good. Great! Only…” She set a hand on her hip and studied the craft. “I’ve never tried it before.”
“Just follow my lead.” He gave her a life jacket for her to strap on. “You’ll do fine.”
Yet, once they’d launched their kayaks from the dock, she wasn’t doing “fine” at all.
“Dig in deeper with your paddle,” Derrick instructed.
She did and her kayak turned in a circle. Argh.
He chuckled. “Equally on both sides.”
She tried that and started going toward a bank at the far side of the cove. He caught up with her and grabbed onto the rear end of her kayak, pointing her in the direction of the bay. “Let’s go that way.”
She laughed. “I’ll do my best.”
But he kept racing ahead. “Hey, Derrick!” she called below the wind. “Wait up!”
He grinned over his shoulder. “Sorry about that. Not used to slowpokes.”
She stuck her tongue out at him, happy to see him having fun and not thinking about Olivia anymore. Actually, she was ready to stop thinking about her, too. “I’d like to see you try fitting into my world.”
He laid his paddle across the top of his kayak in front of him, waiting for her to catch up. “In television?”
“On set, yeah. In full makeup and everything.”
“Oh, no you don’t. No makeup for me.”
“Only face powder so you won’t be glossy.”
“I’m afraid ‘glossy’ is my look. We call it sweaty up here.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot. It’s very hot in Blue Hill.”
He leaned toward her with daring in his eyes. “The hottest.”
A sharp breeze blew and she shivered. “Doesn’t feel terribly hot now.”
“That’s because a storm’s coming.”
“When?”
“Not for a while.” He studied the sky. “Probably after sunset.” He nodded for her to keep paddling. “You’ll warm up after a bit.”
She was already exhausted and they’d probably only traveled fifty feet. “How far did you want to go?”
“I thought maybe a couple of hours.”
The blood drained from her face. “Hours?”
He chuckled. “All right, Mer. Given that you’re new to this, I’ll cut you some slack. Want to say an hour and a half?”
“How about thirty minutes?”
“Sixty.”
“Forty-five.”
He stuck out his hand. “Deal!”
She reach over to shake it, and her kayak rocked sideways.
“Steady as she goes,” he said, easing her craft upright.
“So this helps you?” she asked, her breathing growing heavy. “Getting out on the water?”
“Yep. Always has.”
“Since when?”
“Since I was a kid and Grandpa Chad took me.”
“Kayaking?”
He shook his head. “Sailing on his big boat and fishing in the rowboat sometimes. The fishing was my favorite part because it was always just the two of us.”
“Your brothers didn’t go? Or Sally?”
“They’re squeamish.” He made an exaggerated face and she laughed.
“But not you, huh?”
“I have a stomach made of steel.”
Yeah, she’d attest to that because she’d seen him with his shirt off. Her heart got all fluttery just thinking about it, then she told herself to stop.
“That rig back in the cabin is the one that belonged to my grandfather. He doesn’t use it anymore, so he gave it to me.”
“The rowboat? Cool.”
“I gave him a boat once, too: a canoe. It was one of the first things I built and not really that great, but he acted like it was the most amazing gift in the world.”
“You do amazing work, Derrick. I know you could tell how touched Sofia and William were by the cradle.”
“That made me happy, yeah.”
“You’re an interesting man.”
“What do you mean?”
“It makes you happy to make other people happy. I haven’t met too many guys like you.”
“Then you probably hang out at the wrong bars.”
“Ha. I don’t go to bars. Well, not a lot, anyway.”
“What?” He held a teasing glimmer in his eye. “I thought that’s what you hot Boston chicks did? Hang out in bars with your girlfriends torturing men with your good looks.”
She chuckled at him calling her a hot Boston chick. “Ooh, who’s being flirty-flirty now?”
“I’m not flirting, Mer. Just stating facts.”
“Well, your facts about me and bars are wrong. I’m not really your bar-scene kind of girl.”
“No? I would have figured you for a pool shark or something. Stepping all over the competition in those very high heels of yours?”
“Ha!” She glanced down at her feet, glad to be wearing the sneakers he’d given her.
She was so engaged in their conversation she hadn’t realized they’d traveled nearly halfway across the bay and were approaching a small island.
“Is that where you met Jack?” he asked after a moment.
“In a bar? No.” She didn’t mind the question. Somehow her relationship with Jack felt ages ago right now. “It was after a football game. I asked for his autograph.”
“Seriously?” He seemed to admire her nerve.
“Yeah, my friends and I went down on the field.”
“Wow. Impressive.” He set his jaw. “Guess it’s going to be hard for most guys to live up to that.”
“Who? Jack?”
“Well, yeah.”
She took in his handsome profile and the way he glided so seamlessly across the water, while she chugged along, breaking a sweat. “Women look for lots of things in guys,” she said. “They don’t have to be pro ball players or famous.” She cocked her chin. “Some say that even boatbuilders will do.”
He belly laughed. “You’re a good woman, Mer.” His smile warmed her. “One day, the right man will come along for you.”
“Thanks.” That’s what she wanted to believe, too, with all her heart. It was probably too much to hope that he’d be someone as wonderful as Derrick.
He stopped paddling as they approached the banks of an island.
“Sometimes I like to hop out here and walk around, but it will get those new shoes of yours muddy.”
“I’m not opposed to a little mud.”
His forehead rose and then he chuckled. “Oh right. I do remember that part.”
“I’m not as fragile as you think, Der.”
He smirked. “Fragile’s not a word I’d use to describe you.” He ran his kayak aground and hopped out and she did the same. Her feet hit the sticky bottom and sank in. She tried to hide her grimace but wasn’t quick enough because Derrick chortled.
“I warned you.”
“No problem!” she said, trudging forward with a slosh, slosh, slosh… “I’ve got this.”
“You’re a very good sport when you want to be,” he said, when they reached the rocky bank.
She stared down at her legs, caked in mud splatter up to her thighs. “Told you I wasn’t opposed.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Actually. It looks pretty good on you.”
A sharp wind blew and she zipped up her jacket under her life vest.
“Cold?” he asked her.
“I’ll be all right.” She stared up at him and suddenly felt better than all right. She was swept away in his deep blue gaze.
He lifted a hand and gently pushed back a lock of her hair that had blown up against her cheek. Her pulse raced and she felt warm all over. “You certainly will be, won’t you?” He smiled affectionately. “You’re the sort who always lands on her feet.”
“Derrick, I…”
“You’re an incredible woman, Mer,” he said. “Strong, fierce, invincible.”
“I don’t know about the invincible part,” she said weakly, because she sensed her resolve crumbling. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about that moonlit moment on the dock, and now the memory washed over her again. Drenching every inch of her soul with what might have been. Her and Derrick together just like they were now.
He searched her eyes. “Last summer,” he rasped.
Her heart beat harder. “I’ve been thinking about that, too.”
He traced her cheek with his finger and her face heated. “I haven’t been able to get it out of my head... Haven’t been able to get you out of my head. Especially lately.”
His eyes caught the glint of the water as waves splashed up against the bank, soaking their shoes and ankles, but she was no longer chilled. His stare made her skin tingle all over. Did he want to kiss her? Then he brought his arms around her and she was certain he did. He tightened his embrace and she clung to him, sheltered from the winds as his husky words raked over her.
