“Didn’t there used to be four of them?” Marcy asked, her attention back on the three girls.

“I think so.”

Privately, Harper felt a small sense of relief at knowing there was one fewer. She’d never thought of herself as prejudiced against anyone, even pretty girls, yet she couldn’t help feeling that this town and everyone in it would be better if Penn and her friends left.

“I wonder what they’re doing here,” Marcy said as the girls walked into Pearl’s Diner across from the library.

“Same thing everyone else is doing here.” Harper tried to sound unfazed by their presence. “It’s summer vacation.”

“But they’re like movie stars or something.” Marcy turned back to face Harper now that Penn, Lexi, and Thea had disappeared inside the diner.

“Even movie stars need a vacation.” Harper grabbed her purse from underneath the desk. “I’m running out to the docks to see my dad. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

Harper hurried out to her old Mercury Sable, hoping to get to and from the docks without getting rained on. She’d just hopped in the car and started it when she glanced up. Penn, Lexi, and Thea were sitting in a booth by the window at Pearl’s.

The other two girls were sipping their drinks, behaving like normal customers, but Penn stared out the glass, her dark eyes locked on Harper. Her full lips turned up in a smile. A guy might have found that seductive, but Harper found it strangely menacing.

She put the car in drive and sped off so quickly she nearly clipped another driver, and that was very unlike her. As she drove down to the dock, slowing her racing heart, Harper once again thought about how much better it would be if Penn would just leave.

THREE

Pursued

Harper had been hoping to miss him, but lately it seemed that none of her trips to the dock would be complete without running into Daniel. He lived on a boat that he kept docked there, even though it was a small cabin cruiser, not really meant for habitation of longer than a day or two.

Brian worked at the north end of the bay, unloading barges that came in. Because that side of Anthemusa Bay was used for working ships, it was less appealing to tourists, and most of the privately owned boats were moored down closer to the beach. Of course, there were a few locals who still kept boats at the working end of the dock, and Daniel happened to be one of them.

The first time Harper had met him, she’d been on her way to see Brian at the dock. Apparently, Daniel had woken up and decided to pee over the edge of the boat. She just happened to look up at precisely the wrong time and got a full view of his manly parts.

Harper had screamed, and Daniel immediately pulled up his pants. That was when he had jumped down from the boat to introduce himself and apologize profusely. If he hadn’t been laughing the entire time, she might have actually accepted his apology.