Beach Lane

  “Sugar!” Eliza said, bending down to say hello.

  “Careful—I just had it blow-dried,” Sugar Perry said, turning away before Eliza could get any closer.

  “How are you?” Eliza asked, sliding into the seat next to her.

  Sugar was the most popular girl at Eliza’s old prep school. At least, she was now that Eliza had left.

  “I’m all right,” Sugar drawled, taking a cigarette from Eliza’s pack and tapping it on her hand. “I’m so over this scene.”

  “I know, it’s so boring. The same every year.” Eliza knew this was the right thing to say in the Hamptons, even though the truth was, she was thrilled to be back.

  “You’re so lucky your parents sent you to boarding school.” Sugar sighed. “If only I could get away from mine.”

  “It’s never going to happen,” added a similarly hoarse voice. Eliza looked up to see Sugar’s identical twin, Poppy, looming over them.

  “Eliza, you’re back,” Poppy said flatly. She had the same long platinum Donatella-Versace-like locks as her sister, the same seductive languor, but where Sugar had the makings of a porn star in a debutante body, Poppy, who was taller and two minutes younger, projected a more innocent air. Sugar was sexy; Poppy was just cute.

  Finding the banquette fully crowded, Poppy parked herself on Eliza’s lap without a second thought. Eliza didn’t have the nerve to complain. She was too excited not to have to answer any difficult questions. Taylor and Lindsay receded to the background, pretending not to be bothered that Eliza had replaced them for the twins without a second thought.

  Meanwhile, after downing two quick flutes of champagne and making chitchat with some of Eliza’s friends, Jacqui scanned the room again. These people were nice enough, and yes, she could tell they were rich, but after meeting Luca, Jacqui had started caring less about those things. Before him she probably would have made her way straight over to the handsome Almost Forty who was staring at her from across the room—Jacqui knew the benefits of seeing an older man (hello, expense account)—but Luca had changed everything. For once she had found a guy who really liked her for who she was, not what she looked like.

  Jacqui looked around, trying to look through the older man still staring her down. I can see your wedding ring, she thought. And then a flash of familiar stripes made her sit up a little straighter. Was it? No way . . . there was no way. But it was worth a shot. She stood up, pulling her underwear-completely-optional-low-rider jeans up with her, and she walked off to follow the lanky guy wearing a very familiar-looking rugby shirt.

  back at the beach, mara got blown off so eliza could blow out her hair

  MARA COULDN’T BELIEVE THEY PULLED THIS ON THE first night. She packed up the picnic basket, trying to keep an eye on the one-two-three-four (thank God they were all there!) kids. “All right, everybody, follow me.”

  “Don’t want to go! Want to stay play ou’side!” Zoë whined.

  “Can we go over there? There’s ice cream,” Madison said, pulling at Mara’s hand.

  “Why you want ice cream for? Porky Pig Porky Pig!” William jeered. He started snorting and making noises with his armpit.

  “William!”

  “William!”

  “WHAT???”

  “STOP MAKING THAT . . .” Mara clapped. “Arrrghh!”

  William, who was clearly enjoying torturing his sister, cackled. Madison was nearly in tears.

  “Hey, buddy, that’s not nice.”

  Mara looked up to see Ryan Perry standing next to her, holding a death’s-head skateboard in one hand. He wore a faded Groton sweatshirt over his frayed shorts. He smiled at Mara, then put a hand on William’s head and turned the kid around. “Apologize to Maddy.”

  “Erm sorry.” William sniffled.

  Madison stuck a chocolate-covered tongue out at her brother.

  “I saw Eliza and Jacqui back at the house. I figured you might need a hand,” he explained.

  “Oh—that’s so nice. Really, though, it’s all good,” she said, just as William wrestled Madison to the ground and the two of them began rolling down the hill toward the ocean.

  “No—no—no—come back!” Mara cried.

  “Don’t worry, they won’t get far,” Ryan promised as he picked up the picnic basket. “Hey, cool, you brought the Scrabble,” he said when he spied the board game among the Tupperware.

  “I thought it might be fun, you know, to teach Zoë about letters.” Mara shrugged. “I found it in the closet in our room.”

  “You any good?”

  “I’m not bad.” Mara smiled.

  “Bet I can beat you.”

  “Oh, I don’t know—I do a mean triple-triple. I know all the words that begin with x.”

  “All of them?” Ryan cocked an eyebrow.

  “Try me.”

  “I’ll take you up on that challenge.”

  “Deal.” Mara smiled even more broadly.

  Ryan tucked the box under his arm along with his skateboard and began to push Cody’s stroller. He lifted Zoë on his shoulders.

  “Giddyap, Ryan!” Zoë said.

  “Hang on, Zo.”

  The four of them walked down the hill toward the mini–death match.

  “WILLIAM ADDISON PERRY! MADISON ALEXANDRA PERRY!” Ryan roared.

  William and Madison immediately froze.

  “That’s enough of that!” Ryan scolded.

  “You’re not really mad, are you, Ryan?” Madison asked, releasing her hold on William and getting up to take his free hand.

  “Me! Me! Me!” William whined, trying to find something of Ryan’s to hold on to. With no available hand in sight, he grabbed the edge of his big brother’s T-shirt.

  “Easy, big guy,” Ryan said.

  They headed back to the Range Rover. Ryan stashed his skateboard in the back and they drove the half mile back to the house.

  “Sorry they’re so out of control. It’s really not their fault. No one’s ever taught them any boundaries.”

  “The kids?” Mara asked. “Don’t worry, I’ve taken care of worse.”

  Mara told Ryan about the neighborhood nightmare—eight-year-old Tommy Baker, who was famous for locking himself in the bathroom for hours, only to emerge as his parents were pulling back into the driveway. At which time he would pee on the floor, leaving a disgusting puddle for her to mop up.

  “It happened every time I babysat him and his parents never even tipped!”

  “Bastards,” Ryan said.

  “Look,” Mara whispered, turning to look at the backseat, where the children were all sleeping. “Like angels. You’d never think—” But she cut herself off—they were still his siblings.

  Ryan glanced at them from the rearview mirror. “Angels with dirty faces,” he surmised, giving Mara a warm smile.

  They pulled up to the driveway. Mara carried Cody to his crib, and Ryan walked the rest of the sleepy trio back to their rooms.

  “I’ve got to make a couple of calls, then I’ll be in the kitchen,” he said. “Think you’re up for a game later, Madame X?”

  “Yeah, sure,” Mara agreed.

  “Don’t stand me up, now,” he teased.

  “I won’t,” she promised, flushing a little.

  She tucked the kids in, and after she was satisfied the four were safely in dreamland, she tiptoed down the stairs toward the kitchen.

  “Hey, they’re totally out—do you want to bust out the Scrabble? Ryan? Ryan?” she called, a little short of a stage whisper. But he was nowhere to be found. She wandered in and out of the darkened rooms for a while, thinking he might magically pop out of one.

  But he wasn’t anywhere. Mara felt her good mood deflate. A wave of homesickness hit her in the middle of the perfectly spotless kitchen when she saw a Post-it on a French cabinet that she could only assume was hiding the fridge:

  M: Sorry, duty called. Scrabble another time?—R

  Of course he had better things to do. Someone to do, more likely, Mara thought with a tiny twinge of
jealousy. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed.

  “Jimmy? You still up? It’s me, Mara.”

  back at resort, jacqui certainly has an eye for fabrics

  JACQUI WALKED FAST THROUGH THE CROWD, NOT LETTING those rugby stripes out of her sight. Her heart was beating quickly; she was short of breath. There was no way, was there? This was fate. Kismet. This was meant to be. It was what she had been dreaming about since the day she woke up alone in her room in São Paolo. . . . Those broad shoulders, the fine, baby soft hairs on the neck . . . She had kissed that neck many times. . . .

  With trembling fingers she put her hand on his back. “Luca?”

  Jacqui couldn’t believe her eyes. It was him! Luca, with his pale, freckled skin, glossy honey-colored hair, and beautiful green eyes behind those nerdy-but-hip eyeglasses.

  “Luca?” she choked.

  “Excuse me.” Luke van Varick smirked, turning to face her. His eyes widened and he blinked for a minute, unsure of what to do. Then he broke into a lopsided grin.

  “Jacarei!” Luke said as he leaned down to kiss her forehead. “What the HELL are you doing here?”

  “I work here!” Jacqui laughed, so happy she was almost screaming. Luca! Here! In the Hamptons!

  “Here?” he asked, motioning to the floor with the straw from his gin and tonic. He was swaying a little and Jacqui smelled the alcohol on his breath.

  “No, up the road. I’m an au pair.”

  “How cool is that?” Luke laughed. “I didn’t know you worked with kids. I thought you were just a shopgirl.”

  This is making no sense, Jacqui thought. We haven’t seen each other in two months and all he wants to do is chitchat? What about all the stuff they did in São Paolo?

  “Listen, you wanna get out of here?” Luke asked as his eyes roamed around the room.

  “Sí,” Jacqui replied. That was more like it. She took his hand. She loved him. Her Luca! He could lead her anywhere.

  * * *

  A few minutes later Jacqui hung on as Luke sped down the Montauk Highway to his parents’ home in Bridgehampton. The place was as expansive as the Perry homestead, and Luke showed her his private entrance and the four-bedroom suite in his “wing.” It was a classic bachelor pad, with a vintage Foosball table, a Miss PacMan game console, dartboards, a basketball hoop, and dirty laundry strewn around the carpet. He pressed a button on a remote, and a sixty-inch television materialized from the floor.

  Jacqui sat on the edge of his bed, looking around at all of his things—his soccer trophies, his G4 computer, his bulletin board studded with photos from his travels around the world. So this was where he lived. This was where he slept. She drank it all in—intent to know as much as she could about the guy who’d finally opened her heart and made her feel all jittery inside.

  Luke stood in front of her, holding an open bottle of Absolut in one hand. He took a swig. His other hand was underneath his shirt, scratching his stomach. He stared at her hungrily. “You know, you’re even more beautiful than I remembered,” he said, putting down the bottle and reaching for the light switch.

  “What else do you remember?” Jacqui asked with a playful lilt.

  With the lights snuffed out, Luke splayed himself spread-eagle on top of the goose-down comforter. Jacqui curled up next to him. He tossed an arm around her and she snuggled on his chest. She listened to him breathe, happy to be so close to him again.

  “I remember this,” he said, tracing a finger on her cheek.

  Soon she felt his hand move down toward her breast, cupping it over her shirt, then slowly inch its way down underneath the neckline. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and his fingers were cold on her skin.

  “Oh . . . Luca,” she said, turning to kiss him fully on the mouth.

  He pulled her up on him, holding her close so she could feel him getting excited.

  They kissed, slobbering with open mouths, so quickly and urgently that Jacqui could barely catch her breath. All the while Luke tugged at her top. Finally he pulled it over her head and threw it to the corner of the room.

  She realized she was trembling a little—she’d missed him so much. It was everything she ever wanted and everything she had been yearning for when he left her in São Paolo.

  She sat up, looking down on him. They held hands and stared at each other.

  A trick of the moonlight lit up a photograph on his nightstand.

  It was her Luca, smiling, with his arm around a girl.

  Huh?

  Jacqui stopped and released his hands. He reached up to touch her face, but she pushed his hand away. “Who’s that?” she asked, pointing.

  He craned his neck to see what she was talking about.

  “Oh. Nobody.” He shrugged, gently laying the photo down. “Just someone I knew before I met you.”

  Jacqui felt a little better. But somehow the moment had passed. She rolled off him and slid underneath the sheets.

  He joined her, spooning her so that her back was pressed against his chest. He began to kiss between her shoulder blades, her most sensitive part. His hand awkwardly unbuttoned her fly. His fingers reached south.

  “Not tonight. Okay, baby?” Jacqui asked, grasping his hand right above her waist.

  “Uhmmmm?” Luke asked sleepily. “Are you sure?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Mm-kay.”

  They were quiet for a moment, and Jacqui listened to his soft breathing.

  “Luca? I love you,” she whispered. It was something they never had time to say to each other during their two weeks in São Paolo.

  But Luke was already snoring.

  eliza is red, white, and definitely blue

  “ELIZA—WE’RE GOING . . .,” SUGAR CALLED OVER, interrupting the conversation. She stood outside the circle, tapping a kitten heel.

  “We’ll meet you out front,” Poppy said, ignoring the fawning looks from the throng. The sisters stalked off, fully aware that all eyes were on their perfectly sculpted backsides.

  “Sorry, guys. See y’all later?” Eliza asked.

  “Where are you staying?” Lindsay asked, miming a phone call.

  “My uncle’s place—uh, in Sagaponack. He’s not listed—but don’t worry, I’ll be in touch,” Eliza said, putting down her drink. “Sugar! Poppy! Wait up!”

  She ran after them, catching up just as the twins stopped to pose for the paparazzi stationed outside the entrance. She waited hesitantly just out of flashbulb range.

  “Hey—how ’bout one with your friend?” a photographer asked, noticing Eliza and shooing her into the picture. Eliza found herself wedged between the twins, giving them apologetic smiles.

  “Beautiful! Three of a kind!” The photographers wolf-whistled their approval.

  “That’s enough,” Poppy decided when the valet pulled up with their Mercedes SUV. He held open the door and handed her a ticket stub. “Oh no . . . I left my wallet at home,” she said patting her purse and looking around expectantly.

  “Don’t look at me,” Sugar said. “You know I never carry cash.”

  “Here, I got it,” Eliza offered, rooting in her Louis Vuitton Epi pouchette. “How much?”

  “Forty dollars, miss.”

  Holy . . . That was, like, half a day’s salary. Eliza paid the parking fee while Poppy slid behind the wheel.

  “Shotgun,” Sugar called.

  The girls piled into the SUV and Poppy started poking at the GPS screen. “I can never figure this thing out,” she muttered to herself just as Justin came blaring through the speakers. Sugar had dated him for a minute, and she liked to say this song was for her, even if it wasn’t true. Sugar stuck her hands through the sunroof and whooped loudly as they made their big exit.

  “That was fun!” Eliza yelled over “Rock Your Body,” feeling drunk and giddy and happy to be back. After spending the spring locked in her room because she couldn’t bear another cold night in a wet field drinking Natty Light—the only thing that passed for a social life in Buffalo—Eliza finally felt
like her old self again.

  “That place was great!” she said.

  “Are you serious? It was packed with nobodies.” Poppy sniffed.

  “Did you see that troll in last-season’s Gucci?” Sugar agreed. “Totally D-list.”

  Eliza surreptitiously tugged on her not-exactly-new mini. She vowed to hit the shops as soon as she got her fat cash-filled envelope in three weeks.

  “So, what are we going to wear to P. Diddy’s party?” Poppy asked, zooming past a stop sign. “Oberon said it’s strictly red, white, and blue attire only.”

  “That’s so corny.” Sugar yawned.

  “It’s at the PlayStation2 House, isn’t it?” Eliza added.

  “Isn’t that the place where J.Lo had her birthday party last week?” Sugar mused. “I don’t think it’s even open to the public.”

  “Apparently even Brad and Jen RSPV’d.”

  “Awesome!” Eliza leaned forward between the front seats. She was dying to see some real celebrities again. Back when she was still living on 63rd and Park, she hardly ever noticed them. Spotting Julia Roberts hailing a taxicab or Sarah Jessica Parker pushing a stroller was just kind of the backdrop for her life. Good luck catching anyone US Weekly– worthy in Buffalo.

  “This is your street, right?” Poppy asked, pulling into a private driveway a few blocks from the club.

  “Uh . . . actually . . .”

  “You guys rented out your house?” Sugar asked, eyes wide.

  “Well . . . um . . .”

  “What’s the deal? Spit it out,” Poppy ordered.

  “I’m kind of staying with you guys,” Eliza said sheepishly.

  “What?” Poppy exclaimed as Sugar nudged her sister hard in the ribs. Sugar turned around with a sweet smile. “Excuse my sister, she doesn’t know how to mind her manners. Of course you can crash with us tonight. You can borrow something. You’re a size zero like me, right?”

  “No—it’s not that. I’m kind of . . . well . . . Kevin called my dad the other day. He asked me if I could help out Anna with the kids this summer,” Eliza finished lamely. “It’s no big deal.”