“Well, let’s get the food into the fridge,” I said. “Thanks for stopping, Frank. I was pretty rattled.”
“No problem,” he replied. “Call me if you need anything.”
I needed a clone — a look-alike who would go to the party, swim in the dark river, and act cool around Nick. It was nearly six o’clock and I still hadn’t put on my bathing suit.
Holly stopped by my room to warn me that the entire class was invited, so Jason would be coming.
“I figured that.”
“Do you need a suit?” she asked, noticing my shorts and shirt. Then she grinned. “Do we dare to see what Mom has in her closet? Maybe a crochet bikini with matching beach mules?”
I laughed out loud. “Think I’ll pass on that.”
“You know, I’m glad to have your help tonight, Lauren.
Really, I’m desperate for it! But you’re going to party, too, right?”
“Right,” I replied, planning to keep a low profile.
It wasn’t hard at a gathering attended by eighty kids.
Jason, his buddies, and several girls passed by without noticing me while I was setting out trays of food. Rocky found me, but Nick was nowhere in sight. Frank came over about eight-thirty to munch and admire the work we’d done.
He had lent Holly two dozen torches, which made a fiery trail down to the river. His strings of outdoor lights and electric generator had the dock glowing like Christmas.
“Doesn’t it look terrific?” I asked.
“Yup! It’s a perfect site for a party,” he said, surveying the landscape. “Where’s Jule?”
“Last time I saw her, on the upper porch.”
“Great chaperon,” he observed.
“Don’t worry,” I teased, “if there’s any trouble I’ll come get you.”
“Will you?” he replied, grinning. “I’m locking the door and pulling the shades. I guess Nora doesn’t show up for these things.”
“She’s probably hiding in her room.”
Frank asked about the estimate Pete had given me on my car. “Not too bad,” he said. “Not nearly as bad as I thought it’d be, but if your insurance company gives you any grief, let me know. I’ll tell them what they need to hear.” He moved on, then stopped twenty feet away to survey the partyscape again and smile at someone. I followed his gaze to Nick.
I thought I had caught Nick’s eye, but he turned away and I didn’t see him for another hour. Holly and I were kneeling on the ground, bent over bags of ice, trying to break apart the cubes.
“Muscles, just in time!” Holly said, smiling up at him.
He didn’t smile back — barely acknowledged her — fixing his gaze on me. In the flickering torchlight he looked different, his jaw set, his eyes intense.
“I want to talk to you, Lauren.”
I saw Holly raise an eyebrow. “Shall I leave?” she asked, a note of irritation in her voice.
“No,” he replied quickly. “This isn’t private. I want to thank you, Lauren, for getting my cartoon pulled from the newspaper.”
“What?”
“The cartoon you saw hanging above my drafting table, the one I sold to the Easton paper.”
I looked at Nick confused. “What about it?”
“Aren’t they running it?” Holly asked.
“No.”
She frowned. “Did they give you a reason why?”
“Oh, yeah, they gave me a reason. Editorial decision.
Funny thing, the editors loved it last week.”
“I don’t understand,” I said. “Why did they change their minds?”
He stared at me coldly.
I stood up. “You can’t be blaming me.”
“Who else on the Shore would want to protect your father?” he asked.
“I resent that.”
“I resent your getting my cartoon pulled.”
“But I didn’t!”
Holly rose and stood next to me. “Perhaps, Nick, you should have asked for a more specific reason than editorial decision.”
“I did, several times, but they were evasive. Obviously, someone has put pressure on the paper. Maybe not you, Lauren, maybe it was your father or his supporters. But then, how would they know about the cartoon? Who would have seen it and told them?”
I shook my head at him, amazed that he would accuse me.
“Things like small publications may not seem important to you,” Nick went on. “You’ve got connections — people will bend over backward for Senator Brandt’s kid. But I have to earn my way. One publication leads to the next. Every acceptance is important to me.”
“How can you think I’d do that to you?” I demanded. “I wouldn’t do it to anyone! I thought you knew me better.”
He glanced past me, then met my eyes with steely intensity. “So did I.”
Nick strode away. I stood there dumbfounded. When I finally realized Holly’s hand was resting on my shoulder, I turned to her.