Alice changed into her favorite bikini upstairs, and brought down a few extras for Gina to try. She was shocked when Gina stripped down right in the living room. Gina must have read Alice’s face because she said, “Sorry. Model life. I have zero modesty.”

“That’s okay.”

Gina picked a black bikini that had white lace trim. The bottom fit fine, but the top was too big for her flat chest. Alice got her a T-shirt to wear over the suit, and together they walked across the softened asphalt of the parking lot and the scalding sand to where the waves were breaking against the shore.

“It’s cold,” Gina squealed as they waded in.

“You’ll get used to it,” Alice said, jumping as a wave rolled up against her. She dove under the water, and came up just as Gina tentatively lowered herself into the froth. They swam out together past the breaking waves, then both lay back, spreading out their arms, riding the swells. Gina’s white T-shirt billowed around her.

“Okay, this is nice now,” Gina said. “Maine’s not so bad.”

“Better than New York?”

“God, no. I’ll come back and visit here, in the summer, but other than that . . . no thanks.”

Alice didn’t immediately say anything, and Gina said, “Sorry, that was a little harsh. I’m just talking about for me, of course.”

They rode together up a high swell, then slid down its backside. Alice’s mouth tasted salty. “So you’re done trying to get me to move to the city?”

“How will you know you don’t like it if you don’t try? We’d have so much fun, Al. I mean it. I’d introduce you to my manager, and I bet you could get some modeling work yourself, probably not runway stuff because of your size, but I bet there’d be something. I mean, look at how gorgeous you are.”

Alice laughed. “I’ll think about it,” she said, just to shut Gina up. What she really wanted to say was, Why would I go somewhere where everyone is looking for a better life, when I’ve already found it? I have the fairy tale ending already.

“Is that your stepdad?” Gina suddenly said. She was shielding her eyes with her hand and looking toward shore. Alice did the same thing. Jake was there, just beyond the waterline, looking out toward the swimmers. He still wore his suit—the light blue linen one.

Alice almost denied it, but it was obviously him. Instead, she waved to catch his attention, and said, “Yeah. There’s Jake.”

“God, you are sleeping with him, aren’t you?” Gina said, as they both bobbed in the water, watching him wave back at them.

Chapter 12

Now

“You think he had any enemies? Disgruntled customers?” Harry asked John. They were taking a coffee break after a morning spent packaging orders that had come in through the Internet.