Diana pressed her lips together. “I’m not sure,” she muttered.
Michael tightened the second screw, then made his way back to the front of the house, where Diana had set out her shells to dry in the sun. He crouched down to examine them. “Hey,” he said. “Did you make these? They’re pretty.” He picked up a shell that she’d lined with a lobster print. “Are you selling them?”
“What? No, no, I just… I needed a project.”
“Come summer, these babies would fly out of the farmers’ market. The summer people always want souvenirs to take home. You could make some money.”
She shook her head, thinking no one would pay for a shell with a bit of paper glued inside. “I won’t be here this summer.”
He tilted his head, a very Willa-like gesture. “Oh, no?”
“No.” Dr. Levy had offered, which was more than generous of her. If you’re happy there, please stay, she’d said, but Diana knew that she couldn’t.
“Where are you headed?” Michael asked.
“Back to Boston. I’ll stay with my parents for the summer.” She’d already made plans to resume her old job, deep-cleaning the classrooms and the dorms over the summer, readying them for the students’ return.
“That’s too bad.” He sounded honestly regretful as he looked at her, not in a predatory, leering way, but with great concentration. Like he was trying to memorize her, and there’d be a test later.
“Why?”
“Well, you’re going to miss the best part of the year.” He looked out toward P-town. “I’ve lived here all my life, and I never get tired of summer.” He still wore that wistful smile as he turned toward her. “Business will really pick up at the Abbey. They open up the deck, and it’s the best seat in town to watch the sunset, and Carl makes this incredible tuna Bolognese. It sounds weird, but it’s out of this world.”
“So what did you have when you came in?” Diana hadn’t meant to interrupt; she hadn’t even intended to let him know that she’d noticed him at the Abbey. She certainly hadn’t meant for her voice to sound as sharp as it had.
“Huh?” He looked puzzled.
“In December,” she said. “You were on a date.”
For a minute, Michael just stared at her. Then he started to laugh.
“What?” Diana asked.
He shook his head.
“What?” she said again.
Shaking his head, he said, “Kate’s my sister.” He grinned. “But if I’d known that showing up with another woman was what it took to get you to notice me, I would have done it sooner.”
Diana could feel her face getting hot. “I wasn’t… I didn’t…”
He held up his hands. “It’s okay. Really. Like I told you at the farmers’ market, if you’re not interested, then you’re not interested.” He rubbed his hands along his thighs. When he spoke again, his voice was low. “I just wish you weren’t leaving.”
“Why?” she asked.
He looked at her for a long moment before spreading his arms wide. “Because I like you, dummy!” he hollered, his voice echoing out over the water. Willa gave a short, exclamatory bark. Diana tried her hardest not to smile.
“You don’t even know me,” she said.
“I know some things,” said Michael Carmody as he sat down, uninvited, on the edge of her deck, and patted the space beside him. Immediately, traitorous Willa hopped up beside him, tongue lolling. Michael scratched her ears and said, “I know that you like to read Agatha Christie and Ruth Rendell. I know you like nutmeg on your lattes, but you only get lattes on Sundays, after yoga, and that you just get plain coffee the rest of the time. I know you like to swim and shuck oysters. Oh, and I know you’re a dog person.” He gave Willa another scratch. Willa laid her muzzle on his thigh and stared at him adoringly. Damn dog, thought Diana.
“You’re a stalker,” Diana muttered.
He shook his head. “I just pay attention.” He took off his baseball cap, smoothed his hair, and put his hat on again. “Also, I know the guy who owns the coffee place,” he said modestly. “And the woman who teaches the yoga class.”
“And all the librarians,” Diana muttered.
“Well, yes, seeing as how one of them’s my mom,” Michael said.
Diana made a strangled sound, realizing that there was a reason that the friendlier of the two librarians, the one with the curly red hair, seemed so familiar. “What else do you know?”