“I thought you said your name was Eric Newman, or am I confused?” She said it without thinking, but he stammered a little in his reply and Abigail felt a brief moment of triumph that she’d put him off balance.
“Uh, well, it’s Eric Scott Newman. I like to be called Scott.”
“Uh-huh,” Abigail said.
“Bruce just told me that you’re on your honeymoon,” he said, and there was a click in his voice as if his mouth was dry.
“Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” Abigail said. “Are you married?”
She caught Bruce turning his head toward her out of the corner of her eye, maybe hearing something in the tone of her voice.
Maybe she was going too far, taunting her stalker, but it felt good.
Her own words were filling her, and despite the presence of two tall men, she felt tall herself.
“I was,” Eric said. “But it didn’t work out.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. So, you’re here alone, or are you with a group?”
“No, just here by myself. Heard some good things about this place.
Wanted to get out into nature. It’s beautiful, don’t you think?”
“It’s goddamn life-changing.” That was Bruce, jumping back into the conversation. “Not just here.” He gestured with his hand toward the view. “But at Quoddy. Getting away from screens, from your phone, from everything.”
“Yeah, I love it. Makes me a little sad to be here alone, to tell you the truth.” He flicked his eyes toward Abigail.
“Look, man,” Bruce said. “I get you. If you want to join us for dinner, tonight or any—”
“No, no way.” Eric held up his hands, Abigail noticing all the chunky rings again. Had he been wearing all of those in California? “You guys are on your honeymoon. I wouldn’t dare.”
“Well, if you change your mind.”
“Yeah,” Abigail said. “If you change your mind, join us.”
“I won’t, but thanks. And I should let you both be alone here now as well. I was just passing through, really, and now I’m starting to think about brunch.”
Hearing the word “brunch” made Abigail check the time on her Fitbit. It was ten-thirty already—how long had she been sleeping?
—and she realized that she had to hurry if she didn’t want to be late to her swimming pool date with Jill.
“Take it easy, you two,” Eric said, and spun and left, heading toward the steep path that led back up to the bluff.
“You were asking him a lot of personal questions,” Bruce said when Eric was out of earshot.
“He gives me the creeps, that guy. He came up to me the first night we were here, while you were getting drinks at the bar. He said he was sure he knew me from somewhere, and he asked me if I’d been to Piety Hills Vineyard.”
“So he must have seen you there, on your bachelorette weekend.”
“Yeah, but I don’t remember him. It’s creepy, don’t you think?”
“Doesn’t sound that creepy to me, but we can avoid him. It definitely didn’t sound like he was interested in having dinner with us.”
“Thank God for that,” Abigail said, then reminded Bruce that she was supposed to go swimming with Jill this morning, and they began the walk back to the resort. They didn’t talk again about Eric Newman on the walk, but Abigail was acutely aware that she had just actively lied to Bruce for the first time, that she’d laid the foundation for further lies, if it came to that.
She didn’t get to the grotto pool until eleven thirty-five. There was no one there, and Abigail was relieved that she hadn’t kept Jill waiting.
She slid into the warm water of the pool, pushed herself from the side, and skimmed along the surface. After she had swum back and forth a few times a staff member mysteriously appeared, the same man who’d been there the day before, and Abigail asked him if there’d been a woman here earlier. He told her no, and Abigail ordered a Greyhound.
At noon Abigail gave up on Jill. She drank the dregs of her drink and stepped out of the pool, leaving a trail of water as she walked to the dressing room.
CHAPTER 17
At dinner that night Abigail kept looking toward the door to the dining room, hoping to see Jill and Alec.
“Who are you watching for?” Bruce said, slicing into his rabbit.
“Oh, sorry,” Abigail said. “Jill. I haven’t seen her all day.”
“You going to let her have it for standing you up?” Bruce smiled.