What Are The Chances?
Britannia Beach
D.R. GRAHAM

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First published in Great Britain by HarperImpulse 2016

Copyright © D.R. Graham 2016

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D.R. Graham asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

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Ebook Edition © August 2016 ISBN: 9780008145170

Version 2016-08-05

Dedication

For Charlotte

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Acknowledgements

Keep Reading …

About the Author

About HarperImpulse

About the Publisher

CHAPTER 1

The bells on the front door of the Inn jingled and my best friend Sophie Sakamoto walked through the archway into the dining room. The breakfast guests all glanced in her direction, probably because her black boots, black leggings, dark sunglasses, and black tank-top dress under a black-leather jacket were an unexpected style in my tiny historic village. She looked like she just rolled out of a crypt somewhere.

We hadn’t seen each other in almost three weeks, which was the longest time we’d ever been apart, so I screeched and rushed over to hug her. Despite the fact it was too early in the morning for her to show enthusiasm, she let me smother her with affection. “Welcome home.”

“You too,” she said, strangled by my embrace. “But don’t tell me anything about Europe. It will only make me depressed that I didn’t go with you. Not. One. Word.”

“It’s not like you were sitting at home doing nothing. A cross-country tour with the band is a big deal.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head to disagree. “Not compared to the UK, France, and Italy. I don’t want to know how much fun you had.”

I pretended to lock my lips with a key, then topped up a cup of coffee for a guest and filled one for Sophie with cream. “When you said you would drop by to say hi on your way to the gig, I didn’t expect to see you this early.”

“Doug forgot to tell me the show’s in Victoria not Vancouver. We have to catch the ferry at noon. I’m not happy about the early wake-up call, obviously. And apparently we’re staying tomorrow night, too, just to party. Sorry you and I can’t hang out until I get back. Is that okay?”

“Of course. A gig in Victoria is exciting. Congratulations. Do you want something to eat?”

“No thanks, but the guys do. Is your grandpa around?”

“No. I let him sleep in since he had to do everything all by himself while I was in Europe.”

“Not. One. Word.” Sophie pointed at me in a mock threat. “I seriously don’t want to know how awesome Paris and London and Rome were.”

“Sorry.” I smiled and squeezed her shoulders. “The buffet is almost gone. Tell the guys to come in through the kitchen. I’ll make them something else.”

Sophie raised the cup of coffee in silent thanks before she went out to the parking lot to let the band know they could come in for breakfast.

The last two tables of guests were finished eating, so I cleared their dishes and headed through the swing doors into the kitchen. My neighbour Kailyn was seated at the pastry table, helping herself to an entire can of whipped cream. Kailyn, her dad, and her brother Trevor had lived next door since I was five and they almost always ate breakfast at the Inn. Although Kailyn was twenty-one and one year older than Trevor was, she looked five years younger and acted ten years younger because of her special needs.

“You can’t eat that much whipped cream,” I said.

“Yes I can.”

“It’ll make you sick.”

After some contemplation, she used her hand and slid half the fluffy white mound off the waffle and onto the metal pastry table. “Trevor came home last night.”

“Yeah, I heard his motorbike,” I said as I cleaned up the mess.

Trevor and I had a complicated relationship. We had been best friends as kids, but when he went to high school two years before I did, we drifted apart. Then, in my grade-eleven year, I developed a giant crush on him. It was weird. I loved him. I thought he loved me. But nothing happened between us. In the fall, I started grade twelve and he moved down to Vancouver to live on campus at the University of British Columbia. For my whole senior year he came home to Britannia Beach on weekends, but he was always busy with Search and Rescue, his friends, or spending time with Kailyn. I eventually gave up on the hope of a romantic relationship developing between us and moved on.

“Kailyn, did Trevor say he was going to come over for breakfast?”

“He left. With Murphy.” She opened a teen magazine and turned the pages, then, without elaborating, changed the subject to talk about her most recent pop-star crush, “Riley Rivers has a sister. Her name is Amy.”

Unlike some of Kailyn’s favourite heartthrobs, I actually knew a little about Riley. He was talented, but what I thought was even more impressive was the charity work he did in third-world countries when he wasn’t on tour. I was interested in finding out more about him, but before we had a chance to continue the conversation the band piled into the kitchen and spread out on stools around the pastry table. Sophie’s boyfriend Doug hugged me. “Welcome home, Deri. How was your trip?”

Sophie shot me a cautionary glare.

“It sucked,” I said loudly for her benefit, then winked at Doug and whispered, “It was the most amazing experience of my life.”

Sophie groaned. Doug chuckled and hugged her. “Don’t worry, babe. When the band makes it big we’ll tour all over the world.”

“From Winnipeg to New York, then Tokyo,” she muttered.

“Exactly.” Doug pointed at her to cement the point. “Positive intentions.”

“Make it happen.” She shoved his shoulder. “I’m going to be pissed until it does.”

“On it,” he promised before he encouraged Kailyn to stand and dance with him while he sang her a Riley Rivers song.

“Doug’s in a good mood,” I said to Sophie as I made scrambled eggs.

“Yeah. Weird, right? He’s been perma-happy since we went on tour. And I don’t know why since life on the road kind of bites.” She flicked my arm and raised one eyebrow in a suggestive way. “We passed Murphy and Trevor going the other way on the highway. When did he get home from California?”

“Last night.” I served the eggs onto five plates and slid them across the table one at a time.

“That’s interesting timing. Did he come over for breakfast?” She braced her boot against the side of the cupboards and leaned until her stool teetered on only two feet, balancing by resting her back against the wall.

“Nope.” I leaned my elbows on the table.

“Too bad,” she made a purring sound in her throat. Doug gave her a pseudo-offended look, so she said, “Don’t worry, babe. The ruggedly handsome outdoorsy type doesn’t do it for me.”

He laughed.

She kicked my leg. “I have a good feeling. I think you and Trevor are going to finally get together this summer.”

“You should probably let go of that hope. It definitely wasn’t meant to be. He has a girlfriend now.”

“What? When did that happen?”

I shrugged, not really sure about the details. “Kailyn mentioned something about it a couple of months ago. I also overheard Murphy and his brother going on once about how hot she is.”

“Hey, Doug!” Sophie shouted across the kitchen and interrupted the guys talking. “Did you know Trevor’s been seeing someone?”

His smile disappeared and his eyes shifted between Sophie and me. “I. Uh.” He frowned, trying to figure out the best way to answer the question. “I.” He winced. “Maybe.”

She shook her head and threw a spoon that bounced off his chest. “You need to mention shit like that.”

“Sorry. I didn’t know about that rule.” He chuckled. “Next time I’ll tell you right away.”

“You, of all people, know ignorance of the law is not a defence. I’ll deal with you later.”

He smiled in a way that made it seem like he was looking forward to whatever her wrath for withholding information was going to be. He winked at her, then rejoined the conversation with the guys.

Sophie pulled a bottle of purple nail polish out of her pocket. “I don’t get why Trevor still hasn’t asked you out. You were single all year.”

I twirled a chunk of my hair around my finger repeatedly. “He obviously had better options. Her name is Lindy.”

“Lindy Jacobsen wants to make a baby with Trevor,” Kailyn said.

“See.” My face unintentionally grimaced at the visual of Trevor and Lindy doing it.

Sophie laughed as she applied a coat of dark-purple over her already black nails. “Don’t give up yet, Deri. You have the rest of the summer to get in his pants and make him forget he ever met her.”

“I don’t want to. I accepted the scholarship in Toronto. There’s no point to having a summer fling that can’t go anywhere after that.”

“Oh, there’s a point to a summer fling. Trust me.”

“Not with Trevor.” I shook my head. “I would want more if I ever got together with him. But.” I paused for dramatic effect. “I heard Mason is back in town. I wouldn’t mind a summer fling with him. He would definitely be a nice way to soak up every second of the last summer I will ever spend in Britannia Beach. Fun. Carefree.”

“Mason?” Her lips puckered into a fish face and she glanced up at the ceiling as she thought back. “Cartwright? I almost forgot about that guy.”

“I didn’t.” I lifted my eyebrows in an animated way and smiled.

She wrinkled her nose, not as enthusiastic about the option of Mason as I was.

Thunder cracked outside. When I glanced out the window a series of completely random images flicked through my mind: It was pouring rain. I fell and my body jolted from the painful impact. Rocks and water flooded towards me. Fast. Lots of rushing water. Then freezing-cold darkness engulfed me. I couldn’t breathe. I was drowning.

“Derian.” Sophie gently placed her hand on my wrist. She was one of the few people outside my family and Trevor’s family who knew I sometimes experienced intuitive visions. She also knew that it usually predicted something traumatic. She studied my expression as she waited for me to tell her what I’d seen.

My heart pounded. My breath was still ragged, as if I had actually fallen and almost drowned.

“What happens?” Sophie whispered so the guys wouldn’t hear.

“I don’t know. It felt like someone drowning. It was too vague, as usual. Just rain and water and, ugh, nothing useful about who, when, or where.” I glanced over at the guys in the band to see if any of them had noticed me have my brain glitch. Fortunately, they were busy washing their dishes and not paying attention. I lowered my voice and said, “I didn’t have any visions the entire time I was in Europe. Maybe they only happen when I’m near something I’m emotionally connected to, like Britannia Beach.”

“Or Trevor,” she said.

Hmm. That hadn’t occurred to me, but it was possible. Trevor and Britannia Beach went hand in hand, so it was hard to separate which one had more influence. My unusually heightened intuition was something I inherited from my grandmother’s grandmother and it started when I was about three. When I was young, I’d do things that could be explained as just coincidental, like get up to go meet my dad at the door before his truck even turned in off the highway. Or I would insist on wearing rain boots on a sunny morning in preparation for the unforecasted storm that inevitably showed up in the afternoon. I thought everyone could see things before they happened and I was shocked when Trevor told me he couldn’t. As I got older, I almost only ever saw traumatic things before they happened. And although my visions sometimes helped to prevent the bad thing from happening, they didn’t always. And that was hard to deal with. If I moved away and stopped having the visions, it would be both a relief and a weird loss.

Kailyn interrupted my thoughts when she randomly said to Sophie, “I like your red lips and black eyeliner. You look pretty.”

“Thank you, Kailyn. Could you please tell my mother that?” Sophie slid her sunglasses down from the top of her head and tipped the stool onto all four feet again.

“Are the sunglasses really necessary in the rain?” I asked.

“I have a rock-star image to uphold. Apparently we’re destined to go on a world tour.” She stood and pointed at me threateningly. “You better have some sort of juicy romance details by the time I get back. This is your last hoorah.” The band thanked me for breakfast and filed out the kitchen door. Sophie paused at the doorframe. “Hey, Kailyn, if we see Riley Rivers we’ll tell him you want to marry him. Okay?”

Ecstatic, Kailyn grinned and pressed her fists tightly against her chubby, freckled cheeks as she nodded.

“And Deri, if you don’t get busy with someone soon, I will put up a billboard on the highway to advertise that you’re open for business.” She winked. “Okay?”

“Break a leg. Literally,” I sneered.

“Psychics shouldn’t say shit like that.”

“Oh my God.” I stood abruptly and the stool scarped across the linoleum. “Sorry. You’re right. What if my vision has something to do with your trip? Maybe you guys shouldn’t go.”

“You saw rain and water. It’s kind of vague.”

“And someone falling and drowning.”

“We’ll drive carefully over bridges. And I’ll check the location for life vests on the ferry. I promise. Try to have a vision about the band getting discovered by a music exec.”

“Sophie, seriously. Maybe you shouldn’t go.”

“We’ll be fine, and if we’re not, at least you can take comfort in the fact that you tried to stop me.”

Knowing there was no way to convince her to not take risks, I shook my head and sighed. “Be careful.”

“I will, and if I meet a girl named Lindy, I’ll kick her ass for you.”

“Aw, you’re so sweet. But I don’t care that he has a girlfriend. I moved on, remember?”

“Yeah. Sure you did.”

“Seriously. I have. Any idea when you’re going to move on and let the pipe dream go, too?”

She flashed me a peace sign and disappeared out the door. I watched through the windows as she ran back through the rain to the van, covering her long, black hair with her arms. A thick, grey mist had rolled in over the mountain and gave the dark silhouettes of the giant cedars and Douglas firs a ghost-like appearance. The fog swallowed the van as it drove away, which I hoped wasn’t a bad omen. I gave Kailyn a plate of food to take next door to her dad and promised to play checkers with her in the afternoon. She exited out the kitchen door and walked across the parking lot to their house with big, wide strides that made her body sway exaggeratedly from side to side. The rain didn’t seem to bother her.

As I headed to the lobby, my phone buzzed with a text. It was from Trevor: Save me a muffin?

Considering that I had moved on, receiving a text from him really shouldn’t have had the effect on my body that it did. To force my old feelings for him back below the surface I reminded myself he had a girlfriend and I was leaving for Toronto at the end of the summer. Then I responded: They’re not as good when they’re not hot out of the oven.

Trevor’s reply dinged right away: Been thinking about your famous apple cinnamon muffins the whole time you were gone. Looking forward to it.

I smiled and shook my head as I typed back: Weird that you spend that much time thinking about muffins.

Did you miss me?

My breathing halted and I stared at the screen of my phone. Why? Why did he ask things like that? How is a person supposed to respond to a question like that? No, I didn’t miss you because you have a girlfriend and I’ve actually been trying to forget about my feelings for you all year. Or, yes, I missed you. I miss you every single day. I always have, and I can’t imagine ever not missing you.

Before I had a chance to come up with an appropriate response that couldn’t be misread, my phone rang. It was him, so I answered.

“Welcome home,” he said. His smile was audible.

“You too.” Not wanting to touch on the “did you miss me?” question I said, “I was hoping you’d come over for breakfast so I could hear how the road trip was.”

“Yeah, sorry. I want to hear about your trip, too. But we have a Search and Rescue training thing all day today. It starts in a minute.” I waited for him to ask me to hang out or meet up somewhere, but instead he asked, “Are you still planning to go to U of T?”

“Uh.” When I first received the acceptance letters from both schools, I had been leaning towards the University of British Columbia to stay close to everyone. But the University of Toronto offer also came with a scholarship, so the financial factors, combined with my reluctance to move in with my mom in Vancouver, pushed me to make an impulsive decision to move across the country. “I accepted the scholarship at U of T.” After a weird silence I added, “But since UBC accepted me, too, I can still transfer. I have until the end of July to withdraw from U of T if I decide not to take the scholarship.”

He was quiet for a few seconds before he said, “Well, you should probably take the money, but if you decide to stay in Vancouver and go to UBC, you can live at your mom’s during the week and I’ll drive you up here on weekends.”

Right. He hadn’t heard the news about the Inn yet. And saying it out loud made it real, which I had hoped to avoid for as long as possible. But he was going to find out eventually anyway, so I said, “The sale of the Inn went through last week. The new owners take over in September. Whichever school I choose I will have to move out of Britannia Beach.”

“Oh.”

I waited for him to say more because “oh” wasn’t enough of a reaction to tell how he felt about it.

After another long silence he said, “I’ve gotta go, Deri. The training is starting. Is it all right if we talk later?”

Talking about it probably wasn’t going to make it any easier, but I said, “Yeah. Okay.”

He said goodbye. I sighed and hung up as thunder cracked outside and the rain pounded down harder. Scenes from my vision flashed through my mind again and I panicked when I realized it might have had something to do with Trevor training in the storm. My hands fumbled to call him back, but he didn’t answer.

CHAPTER 2

“Excuse me, miss. What is there to do in Britannia Beach when it’s raining?” a guest asked me as his two kids climbed on the antique chairs and rolled around on the wood lobby floor.

I hesitated because the real answer for a family with two little kids was, not much, but obviously I wasn’t going to say that. My thumb tapped the send button on the text I wrote to Trevor. I told him about my vision and pleaded with him to be careful. He had witnessed my visions in the past and would definitely take the warning seriously, but I was worried he wouldn’t get the message in time. The man lifted his eyebrows, impatient for me to answer his question.

“The old copper mine runs tours from the village.” I pointed over my shoulder in the general direction of the mine.

“We did that yesterday.”

“Okay, uh.” The area was known for outdoor activities like skiing, rock climbing, river rafting, mountain biking, and kite sailing. Even if it had been sunny and warm, none of those would have worked for a young family anyway. “If the rain lets up, you can go to the beach on the other side of the highway and explore the tidal pools along the shore to search for starfish and crabs. We also have hundreds of hiking trails up the mountain behind us. You won’t notice the rain that much when you’re under the canopy of the forest. The waterfalls you’ll pass and the views of Howe Sound and the Tantalus mountain range are worth the trek. I’ll find a map for you.” I crouched behind the front desk to get him some brochures. But then it hit me that they might be the subjects of my vision and sending them out into the wilderness might be a bad idea. “As you can see, there is a restaurant and a few souvenir shops here in Britannia Beach.” I pointed to the horseshoe of old buildings that lined the perimeter of our parking lot next to Trevor’s house, hoping maybe they’d be interested in a safe, quiet day close to the Inn.

The guest peered out the window at the ocean on one side of the highway. Then he turned his head to look at the base of the mountain jammed right up behind our little old mining village. His forehead started to sweat as if he was getting claustrophobic or something.

He wasn’t impressed, so I grasped for ideas. “There’s shopping, a bowling alley, and a movie theatre in Squamish. It’s a short drive north on the highway.”

His face relaxed a little and he took in the information about Squamish. “Thanks,” he said, looking kind of like he wished they had chosen Mexico instead of the rugged Canadian wilderness as their summer vacation destination.

There wasn’t anything I could do to prevent whatever bad thing was going to happen if I didn’t know what that thing was. Or where it happened. Or when it happened. Or who it happened to. I tried not to worry about the vision, although it wasn’t working that well. Once the majority of guests had either gotten in their cars or gone back to their rooms, I carried a tray of the breakfast leftovers down the hall to my granddad’s room. He was still sleeping. I opened the blinds, which didn’t make the room that much brighter since the sky was so thick with black clouds.

“Good morning,” I said at a volume gentle enough not to startle him, but loud enough to hear without his hearing aids.

He rolled over and patted down the few wispy white hairs left on the top of his head. “Oh dear. What time is it? Is the coffee brewing?” He got out of bed and put on a robe over his pyjamas.

“Everything is taken care of,” I reassured him. “Everyone has already eaten and I’m finished the clean-up too.”

“Oh Derian. Why didn’t you wake me earlier?” He hooked his glasses behind his ears and squinted at the clock, wondering why the alarm hadn’t gone off.

“I turned your alarm off. You deserve a day to rest once in a while.” I laid out some clean clothes on his bed. “Taking it easy will prepare you for retirement.”

“I can’t take today off. Alan and Paula are coming by this morning.”

“The new owners?”

“Yes. I’m supposed to give them an orientation today. They also want to come in and do shifts while we’re here so they can get the hang of how to run things.”

“That’s a good idea.” It made me feel better to know they were eager to learn. Out of all the people who could have bought the Inn I was grateful it was a family who would retain its old charm and continue to run it the same way we always had.

“They’re going to be a good fit. I can feel it,” he said.

“I feel it too.” I rested my hand on his shoulder and kissed his cheek as I reached over to steal a piece of toast and peanut butter off the tray. “But since we’re technically still on the clock until the end of the summer, I should get back to the front desk. Enjoy your breakfast.” I left his room and headed back to the lobby.

Two more families who were desperate to entertain their kids during the storm took brochures on the attractions in Squamish. Growing up in an ancient rain forest, I was brought up with the attitude that there was no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. But even I had to admit it was a particularly dreary day. Curling up next to the fireplace with a good book appealed to me.

As I scanned the list of check-ins for the afternoon, three trucks, all black, pulled into the parking lot—one after the other in a convoy—a Hummer, a Mercedes G Class, and a Range Rover. I knew who they were and a jolt of excitement slammed through me when the driver of the Range Rover got out and crossed the parking lot towards the front door of the Inn.

I ripped the elastic out of my ponytail and shook my head to make my hair fall straight over my shoulders and down my back. My reflection in the black computer screen reminded me that I still looked like I just rolled out of bed. At best. Oh well. Too late. The driver of the Range Rover, Mason Cartwright, stepped through the door into the lobby. He ran his hands through his wet caramel-brown hair and pushed it back off his forehead. He smiled. “Hi Derian.”

“Hey.” Saying something more elaborate would have been helpful to at least pretend to be articulate. Unfortunately, my lips felt as if I had gone to the dentist and then got caught in a blizzard.

“How have you been?”

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. I tried again and was able to spit out, “Um. Good. You’re home.”

He chuckled at my blatant statement of the obvious. “Yeah.” He did his shy smile. It had been almost a year since I’d seen it and I had forgotten how adorable it was. He ran his finger over the nick in his eyebrow and said, “A bunch of us are going off-roading. Would you like to come with us?”

I stared at him for an awkwardly long time. After I blinked three times, I finally forced myself to breathe and answered, “Can’t. Have to work.” My Neanderthal sentences came across sounding rude, so I scrambled to find more words. “Thanks anyway.”

“What time do you get off?”

“Never. Um, I mean, it’s not like a real job. It kind of depends on how busy it is. And it is. Busy. This weekend. Lots of people.”

“Okay. Would you like to go to a party with me in Squamish tonight?” His hand rose in a hold-on-a-second gesture. “Before you answer, I want to remind you about the deal we made last summer. Remember?”

I remembered our deal—of course I remembered our deal. I had thought about it about a thousand times since then—I was just surprised he remembered. The deal had happened during a crazy time in my life. I had just found out my boyfriend Steve had cheated on me. Trevor had just gotten home after five months away but made it clear we shouldn’t be more than friends. And to top it all off Mason informed me that if we were both single when he got back from working abroad for a year, he would ask me out on a date. At the time, I didn’t know where I would be living in a year or if Trevor and I would be together in a year. Plus, I had always been curious about Mason, so I had agreed. But I thought the chances of him actually honoring the deal were slim. Apparently I was wrong.

He seemed half-amused and half-worried by my lack of response. “What do you say?”

Again, I was frozen in an excruciatingly awkward stare as I considered the prospect of a summer fling with him. Then I choked out, “Sure.”

“Great. I’ll pick you up at eight.” He handed me a business card. “Here’s my number. Text me yours.”

I nodded like a bobble head.

His mouth flashed a lopsided smile as if he wanted to laugh at my peculiar behaviour, but he hid it with the back of his hand, probably not wanting to be rude. I knew I was acting like an idiot, but tragically I couldn’t help it. Mason was literally the best-looking human being I had ever met. To save my dignity, I didn’t even attempt to say anything else. I just waved at him, then watched him run back through the rain and climb into the truck.

The guy in the passenger seat said something. Mason nodded, smiled, and then waved at me before he drove off with the convoy of trucks following him south on the highway. I jiggled around, trying to contain my excitement.

“Is that a friend?” Granddad asked, making me jump out of my seat.

Clutching my chest to attempt to still my heartbeat, I said, “No. Not exactly. I kind of know him from school. He’s one year older than I am. We never really hung out with the same crowds.”

“Does he go to university?”

“No, he works for his dad’s import business. He’s been travelling, so I haven’t seen him since last summer.”

“What’s his name?”

“Mason.”

“The Cartwright boy?”

I glanced at him, curious that he’d heard of him. “Yes. Why?”

“No reason. Just wondering.” Granddad didn’t say anything else, but his eyebrows lifted and he nodded, as if he was impressed or something. He smiled, then wandered into the dining room, whistling.

Still not completely recovered from the shock, I picked up the phone and called Sophie. I was talking so fast and high-pitched only Sophie would have been able to decipher the content.

“Oh my God!” she said. “Why do all the good things happen while I’m not there? Okay, hold on. Cut it out, you idiots, I can’t hear,” she yelled at the guys in the van. “I need to focus. So, Mason Cartwright showed up at the Inn after a year abroad to honour your deal from that day at the Britannia pools last summer. And you have nothing to wear that even comes close to being suitable for a date with Mason Cartwright. Do I have it right so far?”

“Mmm hmm.”

“Okay, calm down. Hold on. You guys, please shut up. This is an important call. Okay. This is huge. Does he still look good?”

“Unbelievably.”

“Nice. What about Trevor?”

“What about Trevor? Could you please get over that? He has a girlfriend. Oh, and more importantly, he doesn’t share the same feelings. It’s never going to happen. Mason is a real possibility.”

“What if he’s like all those pretentious snots he used to hang out with at school?”

“I don’t know, but I should give him one chance, right?”

“Hell yeah. No girl in her right mind wouldn’t go on at least one date with Mason Cartwright.” Sophie laughed, then shouted away from the phone, “Oh, simmer down, Doug, I’m not a girl in her right mind.” She switched back to me again, “I just don’t know Mason well enough to be sure if he’s a good guy.”

“How will I be able to tell?”

“You’ll feel it. Are you positive you don’t want to hold out for Trevor? It’s been a month since you saw him. Maybe you should at least wait to talk to him and see if he’s going to make a move.”

“I did talk to him. He called.”

“And?”

“And nothing. Nothing has changed. Nothing will ever change. He asked me to save him a damn muffin. I’ve been holding out all year and now he’s taken. I’m moving on.”

“Hey, Doug. How do you think Trevor will feel about Deri hooking up with Mason Cartwright?” He made a grumbling sound. I couldn’t make out his words, but he probably didn’t want to get involved, since he was friends with both of us. Sophie laughed. “Yeah. That’s what I thought. Tell him he blew it. Boys are so stupid. Damn. I wish I could be there to do your hair and makeup. This is so exciting. Okay, wear your new European jeans with the dark-purple halter-top and the black heels I lent you—yes, before you say anything, I did see every one of your posts from your trip, even though I said I didn’t want to know how much fun you were having. It was obviously an awesome experience. You looked amazing in that outfit. That is all I will say about that. We are never again talking about that opportunity of a lifetime I missed out on. Or just give me a week. I’ll probably want to talk about it by then—next, under no circumstances may you wear your ugly faded cardigan. I don’t care how rainy it is out. Straighten your hair and wear it parted in the middle. Mascara and lip gloss should be enough. You don’t want to look like you’re trying too hard. I want details first thing in the morning. Promise?”

“I promise. Thanks.” I scribbled down some notes so I wouldn’t forget her advice. “Good luck tonight.”

“Get lucky tonight,” she teased.

CHAPTER 3

The afternoon dragged compared to the crazy morning. I was worried about Trevor getting hurt while he was training for Search and Rescue and jittery about the date with Mason. Despite checking the clock constantly, time didn’t seem to be passing properly. Trevor hadn’t replied to my text, so of course I assumed the worst and visualized all sorts of horrifying accidents that could leave him dead at the bottom of a ravine or river or something. I couldn’t even concentrate enough to read the novel I was three-quarters through.

After finishing the orientation with Alan and Paula, Granddad took over the front-desk duties to give me a break. They hung out in the lobby with him to ask questions about things like the plumbing and furnace. Those weren’t things I knew much about, but I agreed to meet Paula in the morning and walk her through the steps for getting the breakfast buffet ready. Their enthusiasm was cute.

Kailyn came over at three o’clock for our checkers game in the dining room. She beat me without me even letting her. “You’re getting good, Kiki. Have you been practicing?”

“Trevor plays with me before I go to bed. He’s bad. He always loses like you.” As she set the board up for another game, I went into the kitchen to heat a homemade cinnamon bun for us to share. They were her favourite, along with my homemade hot chocolate. When I returned to the table with the tray, her mood shifted. She rocked back and forth in her chair and fidgeted with the checker pieces. “Derian, are you going to leave?”

I knew she wouldn’t like the truth because change was not something she was comfortable with, but I couldn’t lie to her, so I said, “A new family is moving in to run the Inn starting September. I’m probably going to move to Toronto to go to a school there. They are a really nice family. You’ll like them.”

“Toronto is far away. When will I see you?”

“During the holidays, I guess.” Her expression was heartbreaking, so I added, “But there is also a small chance I might move to my mom’s in Vancouver and go to Trevor’s school. I haven’t decided yet.”

“You don’t like your mom. You can live with us.”

“What? Why would you say that? I like my mom.” I frowned, wondering where she got that idea from. Obviously I’d given her that impression with all my complaining over the years. “Okay, I admit, my mom might be a little challenging for me to live with, but I love her. And thanks for the offer, but it’s too inconvenient to drive from Britannia Beach to school every day.”

“I don’t want you to move away.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t stay here forever.”

She looked incredibly disappointed and I couldn’t handle it. I dropped extra mini marshmallows into her hot chocolate, but she didn’t take the mug when I offered it to her. She stared down at the tile pattern on the floor, still rocking. She had flip flops on and it looked as if she’d been hiking through mud puddles.

“Did you go into the forest?”

“No.” She was a horrible liar. Her facial expression always gave her away.

“You’re not supposed to go into the forest by yourself.”

She tucked her feet under the table so I couldn’t see them. “I’m a grown-up, Derian. I can do whatever I want.”

“I know, but it’s not safe to go in the forest by yourself.”

She picked up the mug and sipped the hot chocolate in a delay tactic. “I didn’t.”

“Really? How did your feet get so dirty?”

She leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. “Don’t tell Trevor. He’ll be mad.”

“He won’t be mad. He just doesn’t want you to get lost. Your dad and Trevor were really scared that time you got lost in the forest.”

“I won’t get lost again. I promise.”

“Okay. Good.” A man I didn’t recognize entered the Inn, and Granddad was showing Paula and Alan something in the basement, so I got up and rushed over to scoot behind the front desk and help the man. He had reddish-blond hair that was thin on top. His small eyes flicked around, searching for something. His gaze never rested on me even when I asked, “May I help you?”

“I need a room until next Wednesday.”

“Okay. We only have one small one left and it’s on the highway side.”

“That’s fine.” He nodded. “I’ll take whatever you have. Everything in Squamish is full.”

“Oh yeah, there is a big baseball tournament going on. They’re usually booked a year in advance for that. I’m going to need a credit card and a piece of picture ID,” I said.

He frowned and sighed in a tense, irritated way. “I don’t have a credit card. I’ll pay cash up front.”

“There’s a damage deposit of two hundred dollars. You’ll get it back when you check out if the room is in the same condition you found it in.”

“Fine,” he said and opened his wallet. A credit card was perfectly visible in the first slot. When he realized I had noticed it, he tipped his wallet until I couldn’t see the card.

I told him how much he owed and he counted out the entire amount in one-hundred-dollar bills. While I was getting the key, I caught him staring at Kailyn through the archway to the dining room. He was already creeping me out, but when he focused on Kailyn like that I felt extremely uncomfortable. “I’m going to need a copy of your driver’s licence in case you leave anything behind in the room.” I totally lied, but I wanted to have a record of him just in case.

“It’s in my suitcase,” he said, even though he didn’t have a suitcase with him. “I’ll bring it down later this evening.”

He was a quick liar, which made me more wary. “Your room is up the stairs and on the right. A buffet breakfast is available in the dining room between six and nine,” I said as he walked away. He didn’t say thanks.

Kailyn had kept playing while I was gone, so I had almost no checkers left. “Did you see that man?” I whispered.

“Yes. Is he a bad man?”

“I don’t know for sure. It would be better if you didn’t talk to him or go anywhere with him just in case. Okay?”

“Okay.” She cleared the board and set it up to play again. “Do you think I’ll ever meet Riley Rivers?”

“Sure,” I said, but I was distracted because Murphy’s light-green GMC pulled into the parking lot with Trevor in the passenger seat. He looked as if he was still in one piece. It was a relief, but it meant something bad was still going to happen to someone at some point. Trevor transferred his climbing gear back into his own truck. Murphy waved one of his massive arms out the window, then drove away. Kailyn noticed me staring, so she followed my gaze.

“Trevor’s home.” She got up, grabbed her half of the cinnamon bun to take with her, and walked out without saying goodbye to me.

I cleaned up the game and returned it to the library, then loitered around the lobby, waiting to see if Trevor was going to come by and tell me about his trip. He didn’t call or come over, so I decided to focus on getting ready for my date with Mason instead.

Sophie’s instructions were extremely helpful, and although I didn’t come close to resembling the girls who used to hang out with Mason in high school, I looked pretty good for me. Sophie’s heels made my legs look even longer, which I liked, because my legs were my best feature. And thanks to the conditioner I had brought back from Italy, my hair turned out extra shiny and smooth. A cardigan would have been my first choice, since it was still raining torrentially, but Sophie was right, it made the whole outfit look dumpy. For the sake of fashion I committed to braving the weather with bare arms.

When I was finally as presentable as possible without professional help, I headed to the lobby. Trevor was leaning his elbows on the front desk and laughing with my granddad. He had on a white dress shirt, dark jeans, and motorcycle boots. He smelled really good. They both saw me at the same time. My granddad whistled, which made me feel suddenly very self-conscious. Trevor stood up straight and stared at me without saying anything. His expression was weird. I looked down at myself to see if I had screwed something up. The clothes seemed to look okay, so I smoothed my hair with my hands to check if it had gone awry. It seemed okay too. I stared back at Trevor and tried to figure out why he wasn’t smiling.

Granddad excused himself, smiling and mumbling something I couldn’t quite hear as he disappeared through the archway into the dining room.

“Welcome home.” Trevor finally said as he stepped closer to give me a quick, friendly hug. “You look really pretty, Deri.”

“Thanks.” I tucked my hair behind my ears and glanced down at the floor. “I did the best I could without Sophie’s help. You look nice, too. Are you going on a date?”

“Uh, no. I’m just meeting up with Murphy and the guys later. Do you want me to give you a ride somewhere?”

“Oh, no thanks. Mason is picking me up.”

“Mason,” Trevor said and frowned as he glanced out the window.

“Do you remember him?”

“Yeah.” He looked at me briefly and then focused somewhere off in the distance, thinking. “I thought he moved away.”

“Sort of. Not really. He was just travelling abroad for work.”

“Oh.”

An unusually sleek silver sports car pulled up in front of the Inn. Mason got out of the car and Granddad came back into the lobby as if he’d been waiting around the corner, listening. Mason opened the front door and said hello to me, then shook hands with Granddad as he introduced himself. He made eye contact with Trevor, who was standing beside me. He lifted his chin in a guy nod, and said, “Maverty.”

“Cartwright.” Trevor did the guy nod back.

There was a bit of an awkward silence before Granddad told us to have a good time and excused himself. It was pouring out, so I moved next to the door and waited for Mason.

“Keep that McLaren close to the speed limit,” Trevor told Mason. “She gets uncomfortable driving on the highway.”

Mason nodded, then ran out into the rain to open the passenger door for me. Trevor didn’t look impressed that Mason was my date, but he really had no right to have an opinion. “I don’t need you to tell him how to drive. You’re not my dad.”

“Be safe.” His voice was genuine, and it made me feel guilty for snapping at him.

I pushed my palm against the front door, then hesitated. “The muffin I saved for you is in the Tupperware container on the counter in the kitchen.” I swung the door open and ran out into the storm.

Mason’s car wasn’t like any car I’d ever seen before. The vertical air vents on the side looked like shark gills and the door opened upwards instead of to the side. I slid down into the leather seats. It felt like I was getting into the cockpit of a fighter jet or the Batmobile. Mason ran around the back, opened his door, and slid in behind the steering wheel. He turned the heat up and the music down. “You look beautiful,” he said.

“Thanks, you do, too. I mean not beautiful—handsome, or good. You look nice,” I finally spat out. He had on a long-sleeved, charcoal-coloured, V-neck shirt and dark dress pants. He did look nice, classy, like the guys in Europe. I glanced back at the window to the lobby. Trevor was gone. He must have left through the kitchen. “What’s a McLaren?” I asked.

Mason smiled and said, “It’s just a fast car. Trevor ruined all the fun, though. I’ll have to show you what it can do someday when the weather’s better, which is okay with me because it guarantees a second date.”

I did suddenly feel nervous, but it had nothing to do with driving too fast. We hadn’t even left the parking lot.

CHAPTER 4

Mason drove a little faster than the speed limit, but it didn’t bother me because his car handled smoothly and clung to the curves of the highway. He kept looking at me, probably to make sure I wasn’t going to have a meltdown on him.

Eventually, he cleared his throat and said, “Uh, I heard you weren’t dating anyone right now, but if that’s not the case I—”

“I’m single.”

“So, there’s nothing going on between you and Trevor?”

“No.”

He glanced at me briefly before focusing back on the road. “I don’t want to get in the middle of anything.”

“Don’t worry. You’re not.”

He nodded but didn’t seem entirely convinced. “He said you’re uncomfortable driving on the highway. Does that have something to do with how your dad died?”

I took in a deep breath and stared out the side window at the rock face passing by, trying to decide how much I wanted to share with him. I took another breath and said, “Yeah. The car accident happened about a kilometre away from the Inn.”

Mason’s eyebrows angled with concern. Although it had gotten a little easier over the years to tell people about my dad, it was still painful to go into details about the accident, so I mastered avoidance techniques.

“Anyway, I just get a little weird about driving fast on the highway. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. It’s understandable.” He eased the pressure off the accelerator and we slowed to the speed limit.

Neither of us spoke, and it made me hyper-aware of everything—the tremble in my hands, how loud I was breathing, how little I actually knew about him. To distract myself from the anxious thinking that was inevitably going to snowball, I racked my brain for something to talk about. Anything. “So, where have you been travelling for the last year?”

“Pretty much everywhere—Milan, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Tokyo, Berlin, London, Paris, and New York. My dad threw me into the deep end to see if I would sink or swim.”

“And?”

He laughed. “I’m doing more of a dog paddle, but he hasn’t fired me yet.”

“What do you do, exactly?”

“Basically, I find out what other people are willing to pay a lot of money for and get it for them.”

“Sounds interesting.”

“Not really. I’m either on an airplane, in meetings, or on the phone in a hotel room most of the time.”

I turned in the seat to face him. “You’ve been living out of hotels for a year?”

“You make it sound horrible.” He pointed at me to tease. “You technically live in a hotel.”

“Right.” I chuckled and shrugged to concede the point. “I guess it’s not so bad. Will you always have to travel that much?”

“For a while, but once I learn about every part of the business, I’ll probably just go on a couple of big trips a year. That’s what my dad does now.” He down-shifted through the curves in the road and the engine rumbled. I really wasn’t into fancy things, but it was undeniably an impressive car.

“Did your dad travel a lot when you were growing up?”

“Yeah. He was gone most of the time. One time, when I was about four, he tried to hug me after he’d been away for two months and I cried because I thought he was a stranger.” He chuckled, but there was something else in the tone of his voice that made it seem like it was a painful memory. “My mom likes to tell everyone that story. It’s her way of complaining that he wasn’t around.”

“Are you closer to your dad now that you work together?”

“It’s getting better.” He nodded pensively. “I think I’ve figured out how to impress him.”

“Has he figured out how to impress you?”

Mason licked his bottom lip and seemed uncomfortable with the question. He finally said, “I don’t know,” and accelerated to pass a row of slow-moving cars. The engine revved as we sped effortlessly along the twists of the highway. Once we had left the other traffic behind, the engine quieted and we slowed down. “Sorry,” he said.

At first I wondered why he apologized but then I realized I’d had my eyes clenched shut and my fingers clamping my knees. “Oh. No. I’m fine.” I relaxed and exhaled. “Actually, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked such personal questions about your dad. We hardly know each other.”

“Personal is good. You can ask me whatever you want. Seriously, I’m so tired of shallow conversations and superficial people. Tell me more about your dad. You must miss him.”

I nodded and sighed. “I do. Desperately. We were very close and I would do anything to have just one more day with him. You’re lucky you and your dad still have the opportunity to grow even closer.”

He concentrated on the winding road, gripping the steering wheel tightly. Even though he said he was okay with the deeper, personal conversation, he really didn’t seem to be. Eventually he asked, “What was it like to grow up in Britannia Beach?”

“Life in a tiny roadside village is not fascinating enough to be considered a conversation topic I don’t think.”

“Try me. Tell me something you used to do as a kid.”

“Um, let’s see.” I skipped over most of my good memories because they all included Trevor. I definitely didn’t want to go on about him to Mason. It took a while, but I eventually came up with one. “On hot summer days I used to set up a lemonade stand in the parking lot in front of the Inn. I made so much money from tourists going by on the highway that my dad opened up a bank account for me. I still have all the money. It’s part of my university fund.”

“How entrepreneurial of you.”

I gestured to showcase the features of his car. “Well, I didn’t make quite enough to afford a luxury McLaren.”

He laughed. “Neither did I. My dad gave me the car.” His eyes shifted sideways and met my gaze. “I think I would like to spend more time in Britannia Beach.”

“I’m pretty sure you’ll be begging for an airplane and a hotel room in a foreign country after a couple of hours.”

“Not if you’re here.”

I shoved his shoulder playfully. “Well, although that is obviously your attempt to be funny, I’m only going to be here for the rest of the summer.”

He shook his head. “I wasn’t trying to be funny.”

I rolled my eyes, but when his expression remained serious I realized he wasn’t joking. Not sure what to think of that, I tucked my hair behind my ears and focused on the scenery. We had already arrived in Squamish. A few minutes later, we pulled up in front of a two-storey house made of glass and cedar posts arranged in sharp, clean angles. It was an homage to a Fred Hollingsworth design that I had driven past to admire before. Mason pulled into the roundabout driveway and stopped in front of the house. He got out of the car and rushed around to flip my door up for me. Then he offered his hand to help me step out. “You can wait in the house out of the rain while I park the car. I’ll only be a minute.”

I ran to stand under the overhang by the front door and wrapped my bare arms around my body. I didn’t want to go inside because I didn’t even know whose house it was. Three girls who went to my school in Mason’s graduating class filed out of a cab and stumbled up the stone pathway towards the house. I smiled uncomfortably, hoping they would just walk by and ignore me. One of the girls, named Paige, smiled back, but the other two glared at me. The one named Corrine Andrews curled her lip up as if I was dirty or disgusting in some way. They went into the house without knocking and slammed the door shut behind them. They must have been drunk because they were way too loud and I could hear them through the door. “Who is that?”

“Isn’t she Trevor Maverty’s sister?”

“I thought his sister has Down syndrome?”

“Not that one. The sister who works at the Britannia Beach Inn.”

“Trevor only has one sister. The girl who works at the Inn is Derian Lafleur. Remember her? She hangs out with that vampire chick in your cousin’s band.”

“Oh yeah, I remember. That girl outside wasn’t Derian. Derian isn’t that pretty.”

Mason jogged towards me. He was soaking wet, but smiling. Obviously, my face was still locked in the same expression it had been while I was eavesdropping on the girls through the door because his smile faded. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I forced myself to be animated and sound convincing. “I think I’m just a little nervous to meet your friends.”

“They’re not so bad. I’ll protect you,” he joked as he squeezed his arm across my shoulders and led me into the house.

My palms got sweaty.

CHAPTER 5

The three girls were still in the foyer, fixing their hair and makeup in the mirror. They turned to see Mason with me and all of their mouths dropped open. Any sliver of confidence I did have, drained out of me when I took a closer look at how they were dressed. Pedicures, strappy high heels, shiny tanned skin, silky dresses that most people would have considered more of a blouse, and diamonds decorating their fingers, wrists, necks, and ears. They almost reeked of money. I reeked of a one-hundred-year-old Inn off the highway. A pair of jeans from London weren’t quite enough to catapult me into their league.

Mason didn’t seem to notice all the reeking as he introduced me. Paige smiled again. The second girl didn’t smile, but she offered a limp handshake. Corrine literally squished her nose up and turned back towards the mirror without even saying hello. “Corrine,” Mason said, obviously irritated by her rudeness.

She turned back to face Mason and produced the fakest smile. “Welcome home, Chancey. I’ve missed you.” She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips.

He pulled his head back and frowned at her.

“Who’s your new friend?”

“Derian. She went to school with us.”

She glanced at me and added, “Oh, Derian. I remember. She’s the maid at that little old Inn off the highway. I just didn’t recognize her without her scruffy clothes on.”

Mason glared at Corrine and took my hand. He escorted me away from them and into a living room that overlooked the ocean. “Sorry about that. It’s not about you. She’s just jealous because back in high school she wanted to date and I didn’t.”

I tucked my hair behind my ears and bit at my lower lip.

“You’re uncomfortable. I’m sorry. Come on, I’ll introduce you to some of my guy friends.” He winked. “They shouldn’t be quite as bitchy.”

I smiled because he was cute, and I appreciated that he was trying, but I didn’t feel good about being there. It wasn’t like the parties I usually attended. I was used to Sophie and the band acting wild and playing way too loud until the party got broken up by the cops. I could barely even hear the music on the sound system in the background as Mason and I reached a crowd of guys who were ordering mixed drinks from an actual bartender in a white shirt and black vest.

A guy I recognized from school shouted, “Chancey!” and raised his glass to toast the air.

The four other guys who were standing with their backs to us turned around. They didn’t look at Mason, they all ogled me instead. They nodded and made various comments like, “Way to go, Chance”, “Nice work, Chancey”, and “The infamous Chance Cartwright is back from his world tour and already on to his next conquest,” as if I wasn’t standing right there.

I tore my hand out of Mason’s grasp and stormed back towards the door. I didn’t know how I was going to get back to Britannia Beach, but I didn’t really care. I was angry at myself for being stupid enough to fall for his lines. He had dated a lot of girls in high school and I had been warned back then that he had a reputation for one-night stands. At the time I never put much stock in the exaggerated rumours because my instincts had always given me the sense that there was more depth to him than the rumours gave him credit for. Apparently I was wrong. It was blatantly obvious I was just another piece of ass to him.

Mason caught up with me and pulled my elbow to make me turn and look at him. “Derian, I’m sorry. I didn’t know they were going to be assholes. I overestimated them.”

Once my awe-struck impression of him was shattered, my more assertive side surfaced. I didn’t care what he thought about me anymore. Frustrated, I poked my index finger into his chest. “I’m not some dumb slut who is dying to say I was with Mason Cartwright. You’re not that impressive to me.”

He reeled back. I couldn’t tell if he was hurt or mad. “Please don’t let my ex friends taint your opinion of me.”

“Why? It’s hard not to assume you’re at least a little like them. You must have something in common with them. And presumably they know you well enough to have a pretty good idea about what your intentions with me were. Are there really women out there who let your friends talk about them like that?”

He didn’t have a response. He turned his head to the side, clenched his jaw, and closed his eyes in a long blink. His expressions were really hard to read and I had no idea what he was feeling. I didn’t plan to stick around to find out.

“This was a mistake,” I said as I fumbled through my purse, looking for my phone.

“No, Derian, don’t say that.” He reached forward and held both my wrists so I wouldn’t dial my phone. “Please, let me prove to you I’m not like them.” He stared into my eyes and waited for me to say something.

Disappointed that he wasn’t the sophisticated and interesting person I had hoped he was, I asked, “Why do they call you Chance? Is that some sort of womanizer thing?”

“It’s stupid and immature.” He dropped his hands. “And it’s not true. Let me finish our date so you can form your own opinions. Please.”

My instincts were still telling me there was more to him than rumours and reputation, but the glaring evidence to the contrary was making it difficult to know for sure. I studied him without saying anything, trying to detect a sign in his expression that would confirm he was bullshitting. “Why would I bother wasting my time on a date with a guy who only wants one thing? One thing he’s not going to get, by the way.”

“It’s not like that. I just want you to get to know me better. Nothing more.” His tone actually sounded genuine. In fact, he appeared to be upset about what was happening.

I leaned back against the wall and crossed my arms. “You invited me here to meet your friends as a way to get to know you better, but you are allegedly nothing like your friends, so how does that help me gain an accurate impression?”

He tilted his head back and exhaled tension. “It doesn’t. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Did you ask me out only because you want to sleep with me?”

“No. I mean, maybe one day, but no. I just wanted you to get to know me better.”

“Why?”

He chuckled like it was a stupid question. “Because I like you.”

“Why?” I challenged.

“What do you mean why? I like you because you’re smart and gorgeous and nice to everyone. And even though I’ve been gone for a year, I never stopped wondering about you.”

It didn’t make sense. Guys like him who could date and sleep with whomever they wanted didn’t wait around a year for small-town girls like me. Something didn’t fit. “Why? It’s not like you knew me that well before you left.”

“I know we didn’t spend any time together in high school, but I always noticed you. You sketch buildings when you’re bored; you smile at the people most other people ignore; you laugh out loud when something is only a little funny, and you laugh silently when something is really funny; your cheeks go red if someone compliments you and you believe them, but not if you think they’re being fake; and you don’t lie about who you are because you don’t need to. Everyone else was phony and had an agenda for being my friend. But not you. Your genuineness stuck out right from the first time I saw you. And, honestly, I liked the fact that you were one of the few girls who didn’t throw yourself at me because of my dad’s money.”

My eyes darted back and forth between his face and the party in the background as my mind attempted to process everything. It was nice to know that he had noticed me back then. I had definitely noticed him, too. But I was still worried I was nothing more than a hard-to-get conquest in a game that had gotten too easy for him.

Sensing that I was undecided, he smiled tentatively and wrapped his arm around my waist. “Come on. Let’s go upstairs where we can be alone. I want to show you something.”

“You’re joking, right?” I shoved his arm off me.

“No. I didn’t mean—it’s not like that. Shit, this is getting worse by the minute,” he said under his breath.

With one hand propped on my hip and a snarky tone, I said, “Sorry to ruin your night.”

“It’s not you. I’m messing everything up. It’s my fault and I just want to make it better. Tell me how to make it better.”

“Take me home.”

“I don’t want to take you home.” He stared at me, struggling to think of something to say that would change my mind. “The party was a bad idea. I should have taken you on a proper date. We can go somewhere else, just the two of us. Tell me where you want to go.”

I shook my head without saying anything. Going somewhere else wasn’t going to change the fact that we were from completely different worlds and had nothing in common. And it wouldn’t change the fact that he had only one goal, which despite Sophie’s encouragement to be more adventurous, was not a goal I shared.

After a long silence, he sighed and his perfect posture sunk slightly. “If you want to go home, I’ll take you home, but I’ve really been looking forward to tonight. I don’t want it to end before it even starts.”

I had never met anyone who was so hard to read. His face only showed his feelings part of the time, in flashes. It was like putting the pieces of a puzzle together, only most of the pieces were missing.

“Why does this mean so much to you?” I asked.

His eyebrows angled together and he checked over his shoulder to make sure nobody was close enough to hear our conversation. “When I moved to Squamish and saw you around school, it was obvious there was something different and special about you—not just because you’re pretty, nice, and smart. It’s hard to explain, but it felt like you could see me. Not like everyone else saw me, but for who I really am. Being the new kid at school for senior year, it was easier to let people like me for my image and reputation. It felt nice to know that at least one person knew there was more to me than that. I was intrigued that you noticed that side of me even without ever having a conversation with me. I’m not only telling you this to flatter you, but nobody has ever made me feel the way you do when you look at me. I know it sounds weird because we haven’t spent any time together. But that’s why I’m interested in getting to know you better. And that’s why I’ve been looking forward to finally spending time with you. I’m sorry I got too excited and didn’t put enough thought into planning the actual date. I haven’t even talked to most of these people in a year.”

It took a while for everything he said to filter through my brain. It was quite the speech and I knew the connection he was referring to. I had always felt like I saw a different Mason than everyone else saw. I glanced around at the people at the party—people who thought they knew him because of the type of clothes he wore and the type of cars he drove. It was sad to imagine what it was like to be friends with people who didn’t really know you. “Maybe you need to make some new friends who take the time to appreciate the real you,” I said.

He lifted his gaze to make direct eye contact with me. “I’m working on it.”

I nodded and then sighed as I thought. He waited patiently as I considered all the options. Anyone watching us would have probably assumed he was being really smooth and I was being naïve, but for some reason that I couldn’t exactly explain, I knew without a doubt there was more to him and that he was willing to share it with me if I let him. And I wanted to let him. “What did you want to show me upstairs?”

He flashed an appreciative grin and took my hand again. “It’s a surprise. You’ll like it.” He led me up a staircase that floated on suspension wires. At the top, a glass door opened out onto a rooftop deck. It would have had a 360-degree view of the ocean and the mountains if it weren’t for the low, heavy clouds. We ran through the rain towards the front ledge of the deck and ducked into a cedar gazebo to stay dry. He sat on the bench and I slid down beside him to look at the spectacular view.

He was right when he assumed I would like it. And, although it was cold out, being isolated from the rest of the party made me way more comfortable. “The city lights are beautiful,” I said.

He pointed further down the coastline to a tiny cluster of lights off by themselves. “Can you see the Inn?”

“Oh yeah. It looks so tiny.” I shivered from the cold and folded my hands in my lap. “My granddad sold it.”

“I heard. How do feel about that?”

“Not great, but he’s ready to retire.”

“Why doesn’t your mom live at the Inn?”

“She works at a law firm in Vancouver. We have an apartment down there. She used to visit on weekends when I was a kid, but she doesn’t come up much since my dad died. She’s phobic about driving on the highway.” I inhaled and changed the subject, “What is your favourite city?”

“New York.”

“I’m jealous you’ve been there. I can only imagine what it must be like. I would love to see the architecture in real life someday.”

He nodded. “Every self-respecting architect needs to visit the Guggenheim. We should definitely do something about that.”

I glanced at him, hoping he didn’t mean he wanted to take me there. I wasn’t sure how he even knew I was planning to study architecture. If I had told him, it meant he remembered it for more than a year. “Maybe offering trips to New York was what you had to do to impress your old friends, but people like me don’t need grand gestures to decide if we like a person or not.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a jewellery box. “Would you be opposed to a small gesture?”

“Mason. You didn’t need to buy me anything.”

“Sorry. I’m used to showing appreciation with gifts.” He lifted the lid. Inside was a necklace with a very small, blue, enamelled, flower pendant. “It’s hand made,” he added as he searched my face to see if I liked it.

“Wow. It’s beautiful and so unique.”

“Like you,” he said.

My face flared up in what probably looked like scarlet blotches. Fortunately, it was too dark for him to notice. It was very strange and overwhelming to hear a guy talk like he was totally into me when we had barely even started our first date. It was probably his game. But it didn’t feel like he was playing me. However, that’s likely what all girls who’ve been played believe. I didn’t know what to think. “It must have been very expensive. I can’t accept it.”

“You have to. I bought it in Paris when I was there last month, so I can’t return it.”

“You were in Paris last month? Really? I was there three weeks ago. That would have been so surreal to run into each other there.”

He slid the chain over my collarbone and I gathered my hair over one shoulder so he could clasp it at the back. Money was obviously not a big deal to him, but it made me feel weird to accept such a lavish gift on a first date. His intentions were sweet, though, so I reluctantly accepted it.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He ran the back of his hand down my arm, which sent goose bumps shooting across the surface. “You’re cold. We should go back inside.”

“No, it’s only goose bumps. I’m okay. This is nice, just the two of us. Let’s stay here and talk a little longer.”

He agreed and pulled me close to wrap his arm around my shoulder. “Where are you going to school in the fall?” he asked.

“University of Toronto. I think. Do you regret not going to school?”

“Yes and no. I was going to end up working for my dad anyway, so in some ways there was no point in delaying a guaranteed career. In other ways, I sometimes wish I could have decided my career path on my own.”

“What subject interests you?”

He chuckled a little and glanced at me. “Marine biology.”

“Why is that funny?”

“It’s not. It’s just that nobody’s ever asked me before. Everyone always assumes I would want to make a fortune working for my dad.”

“Does working for your dad make you happy?”

His eyebrows angled together in a deep crease again. “I guess. It depends on your definition of happy.”

“Free to be yourself, feeling safe, important and loved, being passionate about what you do, and making the people you care about smile.”

“Wow. You’ve obviously thought about that one before.”

“Not really. I just know what makes me happy. Don’t you know?”

He appeared to get lost in his thoughts as he looked out over the stormy water. His face was essentially perfect except for the small scar that cut through his right eyebrow. It honestly felt a little bizarre to sit so close to him since all the other times I’d ever admired him were only ever from a distance. He turned to me and said, “I’m happy right now. I know that much.”

I smiled. “You say very provocative things, Mr. Cartwright.”

“Provocative is good, right?”

I laughed. “I haven’t quite figured that out yet, but I’m curious to find out.”

“Curious is good.” He raised his eyebrows, pleased with the glimmer of hope. “You must be getting cold. Do you want to get out of here and go somewhere for dessert or something?”

I wasn’t looking forward to making our way through his so-called friends again, but it was unpleasantly cold and we couldn’t hide out on the roof all night, so I agreed. We dashed back through the rain across the rooftop and got soaked. As we walked hand in hand down the suspended staircase, I scanned the room, making note of the unfriendly faces so we could avoid them. Corrine was across the room, flirting with a guy who was seated on the arm of a couch with his back to me. The muscles of his shoulders pulled his shirt tight and I knew who he was without even seeing his face. Corrine laughed and flipped her head to the side to make her long platinum hair cascade over her shoulder. She spotted Mason and me and her expression transitioned into a snotty sneer.

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