He faced her. “Then I guess you’ll miss out.” He was starting to learn when to call her bluff. Obviously a good choice because seconds later she was jogging to catch up to him again. He opened the passenger door and motioned for her to get in.

“I can open my own door, you know.” She hopped up onto the seat.

“Right, but you know that’s not how I was brought up.”

Her eyes softened. “I know.”

He started the engine. “Ready?”

“I’d be more ready if you told me where we were going.”

He pulled out onto the road. “Where’s the fun in that?”

She looked out the window. “I didn’t realize we were having fun.”

He glanced down and noticed her hand on her lap, and he pushed away the desire to reach over and pick it up. She wore rings on three of her four fingers. Only her ring finger was naked.

He’d given her a ring once, a plain silver band. He didn’t have money for anything else, but he told her it was a promise ring. He promised he’d love her forever. And he would have too.

He’d dated other women, but his lifestyle didn’t lend itself to a long-term relationship. He liked to keep things simple and uncomplicated. That way nobody got hurt.

That’s what he should be thinking about right now, not the way the sun highlighted her skin or the way she was beautiful without trying.

Louisa had this quiet confidence he didn’t see in most of the women he met. Maybe that’s why he wanted to help her overcome this new fear of the water—because she seemed unafraid of everything, and he wanted her to stay that way.

He envied her that.

He drove down Polpis Road, drinking in the serene scene in front of them. He couldn’t be sure, but as they passed underneath the trees that led into Quidnet, he might’ve heard her exhale for the first time since he arrived at her house.

Her body had gone from rigid to relaxed, and it occurred to him he was still waiting for that to happen to him. He’d been a ball of nerves from the second he arrived back on the island.

“I know where we’re going,” she said.

“Sesachacha Pond.” He kept his eyes on the road.

Was she thinking about the time they rode their bikes out here and spent the day? They’d gone kayaking and swimming and eaten a picnic lunch and pretty much had the kind of day that made people fall in love with each other.

Gosh, things were simple then. He missed it.

“Thought we’d start off slow.” He parked the Jeep and turned off the engine.