“Can we see the rooms?” Marty asked.

Annie hadn’t expected that. She smiled again, hoping to kill a few seconds while she dreamed up a believable reply. “I’m so sorry, but I can’t let you in yet. Until we have an occupancy permit, the town doesn’t want people walking through the construction site.” Hopefully, none of them knew more than she did about the inner workings of town regulations. Still, there was no way she wanted them to see the extensive amount of work that was still needed upstairs. “Nothing’s stopping you from peeking in the downstairs windows, though!” she added with forced exuberance. “You can see the kitchen through the wall of glass along the back. It’s really spectacular. And if you walk around front, you can see into the great room—it isn’t quite finished, but the reading room and media room are. Feel free to explore from the outside. But, please, don’t go in. We could get into trouble, and that might hold things up even longer.” She wondered if in her next life she could become a hawker of miracle potions or swampland in Florida. What had happened to innocent Annie Sutton who’d never been able to tell a lie?

By some unexplained mystery of nature, the group seemed appeased. Greg thanked her, the others nodded, and they began to walk up toward the house.

“Stop back any time!” Annie called after them, though she hoped to God that they would not. Not until the mess had been sorted out.

Too rattled to accomplish any more work, she knew that she needed to regain her emotional balance. So she retrieved her phone and texted John: ANY BIG PLANS FOR TONIGHT? A ROCK CONCERT? A SOX GAME? WANT TO SPEND TIME WITH ME?

He replied quickly: I WAS GOING TO ASK YOU THE SAME.

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

By the time Annie walked off the On Time ferry and onto Dock Street, the clouds had turned the sky a dull shade of gray. She wondered if later there would be fog, that pea-soup kind of stuff known to blanket both the land and the sea and deliver a bout of claustrophobia to the heartiest of islanders.

She went up Main Street and crossed over South Water, eager to see John. She knew she had to tell him about Jonas and the video. She knew she had to tell him and yet . . .

When he opened the door, he was wearing his at-home scrubs and an enticing grin. As soon as she stepped inside, he wrapped her in his strong, comforting arms. Then he kissed her. Long and sweet. When he was done, she pulled away and laughed.

“Wow. If I’d known I’d get such a welcome on a school night, I’d come by more often.” Surely her latest news could wait a little while. At least until they’d had time for pleasure.