It was too hot to remain so close to the fire. After she’d eaten, Marlow pulled her chair back, away from the others, to the much cooler perimeter, where the bright flames gave way to the softer light of the fading sunset. Her friends Claire and Aida were joking and talking to Reese, her mother’s housekeeper’s son, as he roasted yet another hot dog. He could eat like nobody else yet still have a perfect body—another testament to his young age—but Marlow couldn’t seem to get into the revelry. She was too bugged. She hated the way his brother had acted when they’d run into him on their way back from the beach earlier. She hated the way he’d acted when he’d had a cup of tea with them shortly after they arrived, too. Talk about holding a grudge! She’d been a teenager when they’d had the encounters that’d formed his opinion of her, but he seemed to be holding fast to that opinion, even though she’d grown up a lot since then and they hadn’t interacted much in the past ten years.

Surely, he had to wonder if she’d changed.

Or maybe he didn’t care. She hadn’t handled his interest as kindly as she could have. Maybe she’d even go so far as to say she’d acted a little stuck-up. But it hadn’t been all her. He’d once called her a rich bitch under his breath when she passed him, and she didn’t hold that against him.

She wished he’d give her the chance to wipe the slate clean, so that it wouldn’t have to be so stilted and awkward every time they bumped into each other. The island was only seven square miles. As the chief of police, he’d be roving around Teach all summer. And with his mother working at the house, his brother living on the property and her own mother so keen to include him whenever possible, Marlow was bound to encounter him again and again, even if he did his best to stay away.

Claire brought the new bottle of wine they’d just opened to where Marlow was sitting. “This is so nice, Marlow. Thanks for inviting us.”

“I’m glad you could come.”

It was difficult to tell in the gathering dusk, but Marlow thought she read a sheepish expression on Claire’s face. “Even after what I told you earlier—about Dutton?”

“Especially after what you told me earlier about Dutton.” She took a sip of the extra dry merlot they’d brought from the house with all their other supplies. “Being away for three months might give you the space you need to decide what you really want for your future.”