Maddie threw a sofa pillow that hit him square in the face.

“Oof,” Mac said, laughing. “Good shot.”

“Don’t joke about that. You scared me.”

“Whoa! I think she might be starting to care about me.”

“Nah, I just don’t need the scandal of you kicking it in my house.”

“That hurts, Maddie.”

“You’ll survive.”

“Wanna make out?”

“No!”

Mac smiled, imagining the look on her face. “Yes, you do.”

“I’m going to sleep now.”

“Talk to me some more.”

“About what?”

“Anything.”

“My life is kind of boring.”

“Was it just you and Tiffany?”

“And my mom.”

“Where was your dad?”

She paused for a long time. “He went to the mainland one day and never came back.”

Mac winced. “You’ve never seen him again?”

“No. He sent my mother a letter a couple of weeks later saying he couldn’t live on an island anymore.”

Mac could understand that but kept the thought to himself.

“That was the last we ever heard from him.”

“How old were you?”

“Five. Tiff was three. She doesn’t remember him at all.”

“But you do.”

“Vividly. He used to toss me over his head, and I’d scream and laugh.”

“You must’ve missed him terribly.”

“We could see the ferry landing from our apartment over the Galley.” She referred to a restaurant in town. “For weeks, I watched every person come off every boat. I really thought he’d change his mind.”

Mac’s heart broke for her. Life could be so unfair. He also had a better idea now of what an uphill climb he faced in getting her to trust him. “I’m sorry.”

“It was a long time ago.”

Mac didn’t know if it was wise to pursue it, but he had so many questions. “It must’ve been hard on your mom all by herself.”

“We were always struggling. She never has been able to handle money, which is how she finally managed to land in jail.” Maddie released a nervous-sounding laugh. “Anyway, you don’t want to hear about my soap opera life.”

“I want to hear it all.”

“Even how the other kids tormented me from sixth grade on because I was the first one to develop?”

“If you want to tell me.”

Mac waited, hoping she would trust him with her deepest secrets. Then, finally, she began to talk.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

“I started getting chest pains when I was ten. I was too afraid to tell anyone because I thought I might be dying or something. I was a B cup by eleven, and the kids at school called me Chesty Chester. My mother bought me a bikini the summer between sixth and seventh grade. That was the first time I became aware of boys and grown men checking out my chest and figure. That was also when my big T-shirt phase started.” She paused and released another nervous-sounding laugh. “Jeez, what is it about you? I never talk about this stuff.”

“You don’t have to now if you don’t want to.”