The Sweetest Summer: A Bayberry Island Novel

  Right there, in the middle of the dock, was a police department Jeep. No lights were flashing and there was no siren wailing. He unlocked the passenger door with his key fob and helped them inside, Christina still hanging on for dear life. Clancy reached over and squeezed himself between Evelyn and Christina and a police scanner, computer, and all sorts of devices mounted inside the vehicle. She wondered what he was doing when she felt the comforting click of the seat belt, which he’d pulled around them both. He began to pull back but paused a moment, hovering not an inch from her face, those intense blue eyes searching hers. Without a doubt, she saw concern in his expression, and something else. Maybe it was pity. He might even feel a twinge of guilt for turning her over to the executioners. “I’m sorry,” he said.

  She shrugged. What could she say?

  “I don’t have a booster seat, but it’s a short ride.”

  With that, he backed out, and shut and locked the door.

  Her heart was pounding and her mind grasped for a clue . . . what next? Where were they going? Who would make the arrest? Would Wahlman be there to take Christina away on the spot?

  She watched Clancy drop the duffel bag into the back and walk around to the driver’s seat. Soon they were moving, winding their way through an access road along the dock and approaching a huge redbrick building. Faded white block letters along the side said FLYNN FISHERIES but the large sign out front welcomed visitors to the BAYBERRY ISLAND MUSEUM AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY.

  She looked sideways at him. He kept his eyes on his driving, which was probably wise. The rain was coming down even harder and the Jeep’s windshield wipers were racing to maintain visibility, yet Clancy was cutting through parking lots and zipping down one-way side streets designed for horse and buggy. They came to a STOP sign. To her right there was a squat white clapboard building with tiny windows capped with metal latticework. The sign said BAYBERRY POLICE AND MUNICIPAL LOCKUP. She hugged Chrissy tighter.

  He turned right at the STOP sign, heading down the narrow street that ran alongside the building. Evelyn figured he would be pulling up to a back door, so when he drove on by, she jerked her head in surprise.

  “Where are you taking us?” Only then did she realize he hadn’t spoken one word since buckling them in at the dock. “Say something!”

  “I’m taking you home.”

  “You’re sending us back to Maine?”

  Clancy turned his head to meet Evelyn’s gaze. If she didn’t know better, she’d say he looked relieved. “We’ll talk very soon.” He inclined his head toward Christina, indicating he didn’t want to discuss her fate in front of her. “It’ll just be another couple minutes.”

  Evelyn felt foolish—he was doing only what she’d asked. “Thank you for that.” She meant it. “I’m sorry for yelling at you.”

  He gave her a small smile. “Perfectly understandable,” he said.

  The Jeep bumped along, continuing past a congregational church, a school, and the volunteer fire department. The road curved, then suddenly opened up. Gone was the tight squeeze of the town streets, and though it was difficult to tell with the rain, Evelyn thought they might be on a hill overlooking the ocean. Of course, she’d lost her orientation and had no idea where on the island they were. Where was he taking them?

  Clancy pulled into a gravel driveway of a small house that seemed to have been painted red at some point in the past—the distant past. He turned off the engine.

  “What is this? What the hell’s going on?”

  Christina raised her head and looked around, blinking.

  She must have fallen asleep, even in her wet clothes.

  “I’ll get your bag.” He opened the door for her and motioned for them to head up the front steps ahead of him. “It’s unlocked. The dogs aren’t here at the moment,” he said.

  She pulled the screen handle and turned the old brass knob to the wooden door. It opened with a lot of complaining, and she stepped inside. It was dim, but Clancy was right behind them, and reached around to flip a switch just inside the door. “I wasn’t expecting company. Sorry if it’s a little messy.”

  “But—” Evelyn’s mind went blank.

  “Let’s get you guys out of those wet clothes first, okay?” He moved in front of them and headed down the hallway. He dropped the duffel on the floor and disappeared inside an open door, reappearing just seconds later with his arms full of dirty clothes. “There’re clean towels on the shelf and plenty of hot water. Feel free to give her a bath if she prefers that, but I’m sorry—you’re probably going to have to give the tub a quick rinse first. Cleaning supplies are under the sink.” He motioned with his head for her and Christina to go into the bathroom. “I’ll give you guys your space and get the guest bed made. Looks like she might need a nap.”

  Evelyn couldn’t move. She stood, frozen, at the juncture of the living room and hallway. Her mouth fell open as she tried to sort out this whole bizarre situation. When he said he was taking her home, he meant to his house. She was baffled. Why would he do this? Did he want them to be warm, dry, and well rested before he handed them over to the FBI?

  “I’m sorry, but I just don’t—” Evelyn stopped, suddenly figuring it out. “Oh. This is for the benefit of the news cameras? You don’t want a crying, miserable little girl and a drowned rat of a woman making Bayberry Island look bad?”

  Clancy backed away, and toed her duffel bag so he could get around it. “Are you hungry?”

  “What?”

  “Can I have pancakes?” Chrissy was awake.

  “Sure.” Clancy smiled at her. “Do you like the blueberry kind?”

  She nodded with enthusiasm. “And milk, please.”

  “You got it.” Slowly, Clancy raised his eyes to meet Evelyn’s. It felt as if they were locked in a Wild West standoff, each waiting for the other to flinch before they reached for their weapons. In this particular duel, however, the lawman’s arms were full of dirty laundry and the outlaw held a hungry four-year-old.

  Evelyn tilted her head and stared at the handsome tall man in the rain suit. She was confused, unsure of what was next or where this was going, and she still couldn’t decipher that expression in his eyes.

  Despite everything, she felt a tiny flicker of hope ignite in her chest.

  “Trust me,” was all he said.

  Eighteen years ago . . .

  It was a close call. Evie almost wasn’t allowed to go to the clambake, and if that happened, she knew she would completely drop dead in a hysterical, spastic mess. Though she could hardly believe it, it was Amanda who saved her.

  “Oh, Mom, you should let her go. He’s super nice.” As usual, her little sister inserted herself into a conversation that didn’t involve her, but this time, Evie appreciated what a complete nudge she was. “We met him at the beach the other day and he hung out with us at the parade. He’s very polite and intelligent and he and Evie get along great. You know, he reminds me a lot of Ross.”

  Wow. Amanda was good at this. Ross was a cousin on their father’s side, a valedictorian who had been accepted to West Point, and their mom and dad believed he could do no wrong.

  “That’s wonderful, but you’re too young to date, Evelyn.” Her father look worried. “I don’t want you out at night by yourself.”

  “It’s not a date, Dad!” Uh-oh, he now had that stern “don’t argue with me” look on his face. She needed to be more mature. “What I’m saying is that I agree completely—I am too young to date. But this isn’t a boy-girl kind of date, so there’s nothing to worry about.” Evie knew her whole life hung in the balance. If this conversation didn’t go well, she might never see Clancy Flynn again, and she couldn’t accept a world without him in it. Besides, she’d promised she’d be there!

  He didn’t look impressed. “If it isn’t a date to a beach party, then what is it?”

  That was Amanda’s cue to pour on the
crap. “It’s a Bayberry Island tradition, a beach clambake with music and dancing. They’ve been having one at Haven Beach since the late 1800s—isn’t that amazing? And Dad, there’ll be a lot of locals with their kids. We might even be asked to do some babysitting. Tickets are expensive and hard to come by, but Evie’s friend can get her in.”

  Their mother and father exchanged knowing looks.

  “You know the consequences for drinking.”

  Evie gasped. “Mom! I don’t drink!” She was already freaking out with joy. She was almost there! They were going to say yes! “Alcohol will never touch my lips. Drinking rots your brain and I have big plans for my future. I just want to go and enjoy the music. And the clams.”

  Her mother pursed her lips. “I just don’t know.”

  “I’ll go with her!” Amanda smiled innocently at their parents. “That way you won’t have to worry. Evie and I will stick together the whole night and we’ll both be home by ten.”

  Okay. Now she wanted to totally kill Amanda. She’d planned to stay out way later than ten, and besides, she had absolutely no intention of hanging out with her twelve-year-old sister when the cutest guy on Earth was holding her hand. But, if her choice was between taking her along or not going at all, she’d figure out a way to get around it.

  “All right,” their father said. “Ten o’clock and not a minute after.”

  “Please, please can you make it eleven?” Evie knew that begging was unattractive, but Clancy Flynn’s kisses were worth begging for.

  Her mother shook her head, annoyed. “Ten thirty. That’s it. No discussion.”

  So, with their freedom granted for exactly four hours, Evie and Amanda hustled from the Sand Dollar up to Haven Beach. It turned out they were part of a line of people heading up the hill from town, and Evie noticed that many of them were dressed in summer whites.

  “Do we look okay in jeans?”

  Amanda made a face. “Derrr. This is the nineties. We’re teenagers. Jeans are acceptable anywhere. We could even wear them to a wedding if we wanted.”

  “Uh, not. First off, you’re twelve. And jeans at a wedding? I don’t think so, unless somebody’s getting married in a barn.”

  “Uh, thirteen, remember?” Amanda imitated Evie’s tone of voice and then rolled her eyes. “Jeans are fine. Besides, we’ve got our bikini tops on under our shirts.”

  “Stop a second.” Evie tugged on Amanda’s arm, leading them into the beach grass along Shore Road. “Once we get there, you are on your own. You understand that, right? I don’t want you to talk to me even one single time until a quarter after ten. Then we’ll run back to the motel. Got it?”

  “Chill out, would ya? I don’t want to hang with you and your little Baldwin boy. I have my own plans tonight.”

  Evie laughed. “Oh yeah? Let me guess. Brad Pitt, maybe? Johnny Depp?”

  “Ha! Wouldn’t you like to know.”

  They walked past a huge mansion on the way to the beach, and Evie couldn’t stop staring at it. It was stone and cedar, with a huge front porch, a roof that rose to a point in several places and then leveled off in others, all of it topped off with at least a dozen chimneys. She decided it was beautiful and interesting to see in the evening light, but it would probably creep her out after dark.

  “We should take off our shirts before we get close to the beach.”

  “Why?” Evie looked at her sister like she was insane.

  “So we can arrive at the party already in our bikini tops. That’s cooler than taking them off in front of everybody and basically announcing to the world that our parents wanted us covered up like nuns.”

  “Oh.” Evie removed her shirt. “Now what? Do we just throw them in the grass or something?”

  “God.” Amanda grabbed her shirt and balled it up with her own, then shoved them into a mailbox by the road. She flipped up the red flag. “That’s so we don’t forget them on the way home.”

  Eventually, they made it to the public access stairs to Haven Beach. Clancy was waiting at the top of the steps, leaning against the railing with his hands in his pockets.

  Evie’s heart skipped at least two beats at the sight of him. He was so totally cute. He wore jeans, too, thank God, and an old and faded Red Sox baseball jersey. His face busted out into a happy grin as soon as he saw her, but when he noticed Amanda, he couldn’t hide his disappointment.

  “I know. I’m sorry. The only way I could come tonight is if I brought Amanda.”

  Clancy shrugged. “Hey. No problem. I’ll make it work.” The girls followed him down to the beach, and Evie already knew deep down in her soul that this would be a night she would remember for the rest of her life.

  Clancy walked up to a woman in a mermaid costume sitting at a table. “These are my guests, Ma. Evie and Amanda.”

  “Welcome, girls.” She snapped a neon green wristband on each of them and gave them a friendly smile. Evie thought his mom was pretty. “The bracelet lets you into the buffet and drink station.” Then she stamped the top of their hands with big red letters: UNDER AGE. Gee. Embarrassing enough?

  “Thank you so much,” Evie said.

  True to her word, Amanda was off like a shot, already heading up the beach. “I wonder where she’s going.”

  “There’s a party up there. A bonfire.”

  “How did she know about it, though?”

  Clancy shrugged. “We can go check on her later if you want, make sure she’s safe. It’s not too wild of a party, but you never know what young kids will get into.”

  Evie glanced around the crowded beach. Once she knew no one was looking at them, she kissed Clancy softly right on his lips and gently touched his chin. She felt a little stubble, which made her strangely warm all over. “You’re so sweet to me.”

  Clancy shrugged again. “Of course I am. You’re sweet to me.”

  Oh, how her spirit twirled, her legs danced, and her heart sang that night. She barely talked to another soul for the entire four hours. It was all Clancy Flynn, everywhere she went. They ate together at a little folding table. He devoured three ears of corn and refilled her lemonade without even being asked. They walked at least a mile down the beach, holding hands and talking, and turned around and headed to the bonfire to check on Amanda. She was dancing but not drinking, thank goodness, and Evie reminded her what time she needed to be ready to go.

  On their way back to the clambake, the moon appeared over the ocean, sprinkling silvery light across the water. In that perfectly romantic moment, Clancy turned Evie to him, put his hands on her waist, and kissed her. It was the bomb of all kisses that had happened anywhere, anytime. Evie couldn’t imagine that a girl had ever been kissed like this in the history of the earth—sweet and tender, full of emotion, full of hunger. It dawned on her that this is what girls meant when they warned of going too far to stop. She’d never understood the concept before. She always figured that if a person wanted to stop, they just said, “Hey. I think we should stop.” But right at that moment, if Clancy had pressed the issue, Evie might have said yes.

  The kiss was that good.

  Fortunately, he didn’t push. He was too much of a gentleman. And that made her love him even more.

  “You are special, Evie. I’m so glad you came here this summer and that I had a chance to meet you.” He played with her hair and let his eyes take her in, all the way from her hands and fingers to her bikini top, belly, jeans, and bare feet. She felt a little shy and it must have shown. “Don’t ever be embarrassed about how gorgeous you are. I can’t stop looking at you, you’re so beautiful.”

  Evie ran her fingers through his curls and slipped her fingers inside the neckline of his shirt, just to feel more of his bare skin. “You are the most wonderful person I’ve ever met, Clancy. I love kissing you, touching you, laughing with you—just being with you makes me happy.”

  They dropped into the sand
. They rolled, kissed, and stroked each other, right there in the sand on the dark beach. At one point, he rolled with her so that she was on top of him, with her legs spread. She started breathing fast. And then she let him put his hand on her jeans, right on her butt! And a few minutes later, when they’d reversed positions, she did the same to him! Evie couldn’t believe she had the nerve to do something like that! To think—a few days ago she didn’t even know how to kiss, and now look at her, touching a guy’s butt!

  When they returned to the clambake, the DJ was rockin’ the crowd. He picked some truly lame music for the old people, like the Rolling Stones and even the Eagles. Evie and Clancy sat those out. But when he got around to the real stuff, like Hootie and the Blowfish, LL Cool J, Mariah Carey, and the Goo Goo Dolls, they danced nonstop.

  A slow song came on. After just the first few lines, it became clear to Evie that it was their story, their song, drifting down on them as they danced on the sand under the fairy lights. Clancy slipped both his arms around her waist and Evie wrapped hers around his neck. They gazed into each other’s eyes as the music said it all—in a moment in time, a boy and girl became one, and time or distance would never erase that.

  Clancy put his lips to her ear and sang along, telling Evie the words she was hoping and praying he would say to her. “Our love will never end.”

  At ten minutes after ten, Amanda showed up. Clancy offered to walk them to the Sand Dollar, to make sure they got back safely. Unfortunately, they lost track of time and had to break into an all-out run for the last block.

  Amanda straggled behind, which gave Clancy enough time to pull Evie into the motel courtyard to steal one last kiss.

  “Tomorrow?”

  “Of course. Thank you for tonight. I had a wonderful time.”

  “Meet you in front of Frankie’s at noon.”

  “Okay.”

  “Evie?”

  She turned back. He blew her a kiss before he slipped into the shadows and ran off.