“Paige, I have to leave now. Brad’s here.” Daniel’s voice was so far away and I realized that I had fallen asleep!
“I’m so sorry. I can’t believe this,” I moaned.
“Don’t worry. Your body is recovering. It was nice just being here with you.”
I walked him to the door, but I had such a pathetic face that he must have felt pity for me, because he asked, “Can I see you tomorrow?”
“YES! Yes! Yes! Does that answer your question?”
“Yes, your dimples tell all.”
I blushed. Of course they do. I adore you, I thought.
“Time for you to go to bed, you look exhausted.”
“I will, right after I take Amber out,” I promised.
“I’m sorry! I forgot all about Amber. Come on, let’s walk her together.” Amber ran outside and we held hands as we followed her. Daniel texted Brad to tell him he’d be a bit longer.
I looked up to admire the stars. “I just saw a shooting star!” I shrieked like a little kid.
“It’s either the South Delta Aquarids or the Perseid meteor showers,” Daniel said. “Both of them are visible this time of year, but I think it’s the Perseid because it peaks in August.”
“How do you know everything?”
“I’ve been around a long time,” he sighed, and then laughed. “I took an astronomy class.”
We sat on the sand and watched the sky. Being here with Daniel was just unbelievable.
“We’re like two comets that were pulled together and now we’re in the same orbit,” he said. Even though it was scientific, it still sounded romantic. “Is that even possible?” I asked.
“I’m not sure, but new comets are discovered each year, so anything’s possible. A while back, two asteroids collided head-on so maybe instead of being in the same orbit, we’ve just crashed into each other,” he joked.
Amber began digging next to us and sand was flying everywhere. “Amber, stop,” I yelled.
“Okay that’s our clue to head home. I don’t want to see Gabby’s wrath, because if it’s anything like yours, I’ll be in big trouble.”
I walked him to the front door and he kissed my cheek. “Good night. Call me when you wake up,” he said as he exited. When was he going to kiss me on my lips?
I set the house alarm and ran up the stairs. I had so much to tell Lily but it was too late to call her.
13. HARROW
“Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love.” Einstein
The next thing I knew the sun was shining in my face again. I forgot to lower the shade, maybe because I knew Daniel was out there. It was eight o’clock and Amber was barking so I ran downstairs and let her out. And there, sitting on a chaise, reading the paper was Daniel. Amber ran right over to him and almost jumped into his lap.
“It’s so nice to wake up to you again!” I exclaimed excitedly.
“I went for a jog and pilfered Gabby’s paper. Hoped you’d wake up soon,” he added with a twinkle in his eyes. He was in an amazing mood and he glistened from his run. At that moment, Grammy came out in her bathrobe, appraised the situation and looked quite concerned.
“Daniel, have you been here all night?” she asked sternly, looking from Daniel to me.
Shaking my head, I answered, “Oh, no, Grammy, I came out to let Amber out and found Daniel here reading your paper. He was jogging and stopped by.”
She was relieved by that answer and asked, “Would you like some coffee or tea, Daniel?”
“Coffee but then I have to run. Brad and I are playing tennis this morning.” He winked at me.
“Have dinner with us tonight?” I asked as he was leaving.
“I think you should have dinner with Gabby alone tonight. How about we go out to dinner tomorrow night? Your mom will be here. Will she let you out with me?” he asked, jokingly.
“Yes, she will.” Thinking of not seeing him till the next day was making me sad, so I suggested, “Come over after dinner. We can go to the movies.”
“Sounds like a great idea. What time?”
“Around eight? Why don’t you and Brad come over for a swim after tennis?”
“Sounds perfect,” said Daniel. Grammy came out at this point and Daniel turned to her and said, “Gabby, thanks for the coffee.”
“Would you like to join us for dinner tonight? Of course your friend Brad is welcome also.”
“Thank you, but I can’t tonight. Paige and I plan to catch a movie after dinner. Would you like to join us?” He constantly amazed me. What boy would invite their date’s grandmother to join them at the movies? As I stood there in utter surprise, staring at Daniel in awe, Grammy appeared completely flummoxed.
Grammy said she wasn’t intruding on our date. We gave up trying to change her mind. Daniel left, jogging down the beach.
After breakfast, Grammy and I went berry picking at Harbes Farm on the North Road. This was one of Grammy’s favorite things to do in the summer. There were so many choices during different times of the year at all the different farms.
One armed berry picking wasn’t easy, but I sat in one spot and picked one box. Unstoppable, Grammy picked five boxes of blueberries. Then, she picked a box of raspberries and a box of blackberries.
Back home, we had lunch on the patio and Grammy left me by the pool to go bake a blueberry pie. I read magazines and listened to my iPod.
Around two o’clock, the boat pulled up and I watched Daniel and Brad jump out. When he reached the patio, he dove in the pool and swam over to me.
“It’s been difficult staying away,” he said quietly as he exited the pool.
I threw my arm around his neck and gave him a hug. My sundress got damp from his wet body. Looking behind Daniel, I saw Brad observing us with a cold expression. He seemed angry and I wondered if Daniel forced him to come.
Grammy came out and asked if they had eaten and they had. I watched Daniel and Brad swim while I floated on a raft. When they started roughhousing, I got out of the pool.
They left around five saying they had dinner plans. Grammy seemed pleased that it was just the two of us. Our conversation was nothing as intellectual as her talks with Daniel, but we still enjoyed each other’s company and it was nice hearing stories about Mom when she was my age.
Daniel called and said he was on his way, so I sat on the white wooden bench near the driveway to wait for him. Amber was with me and when she spotted a rabbit, she took off into the brush. I had to call her repeatedly until she came out and I dragged her inside the house.
Daniel pulled up and I jumped in.
“Hi there. The movie you want to see starts at nine so we have some time.”
As we passed the Causeway Beach, I said, “Let’s stop here. Want to go for a walk?”
Daniel said sure and we pulled into the parking lot. We ended up sitting in the car talking the whole time.
Almost twenty minutes later, my cell rang and it was Grammy. She sounded really upset, but my phone was breaking up and I couldn’t really hear her.
“I can’t hear you very well. What’s wrong?” Before even knowing what was up, Daniel put the car in gear and headed back. “Grammy, I’ll be right there, don’t worry. I’m at the Causeway Beach. I’m sure Amber’s fine,” I said and hung up.
“What happened?”
“Grammy let Amber out on the beach right after we left because she was barking and now she can’t find her.”
“Should I put out an Amber Alert with the agency?” asked Daniel jovially.
“Very funny, but I don’t think that’s necessary.”
When we arrived, Grammy rushed out, “I’m so sorry, but she hasn’t come back.”
“Don’t worry. She was chasing a rabbit before. She’s around here somewhere.”
I ran inside to get Amber’s favorite treats and her leash. Daniel and I walked down the beach, while Grammy went to look on the road.
“Amber! Amber!” Daniel and I called as we went up and down in both directions. In
the distance, I saw someone walking towards us and recognized Brad. Brad told us that he didn’t see Amber on the far side of the beach, but I also knew she wouldn’t go to Brad if he called her.
Thirty minutes had passed and I started to panic. Where was she? “Daniel, I don’t know what else to do? It’s getting dark.”
“Amber didn’t get off the Point. The guys at the Causeway Beach are on alert. They’ll call if she shows up there. There’s only one road out of here. We’ll find her.” We went on the road and as we rounded a curve, we bumped into Grammy and insisted she return home.
We returned to the beach and while yelling Amber’s name repeatedly, I heard a lady’s voice yelling to us, “Excuse me! Have you lost a dog?” I saw a lady standing on the porch waving to us.
I almost screamed with joy. “Yes, have you seen her?”
“She’s here at my house.” Daniel and I raced up to the door and there was Amber, playing with a yellow lab. I remembered that she had played with this dog on the beach once. I wanted to cry, scream, strangle her, but all I could do was hug her. Thank you, thank you, I thought.
“We’ve been worried sick. It’s been over an hour. How did she get here?”
“I was walking Cheddar on the beach and she followed us home. I let her in because she was so sweet, but she didn’t have a dog tag. Then, I got an overseas call from my husband and got sidetracked. I planned on going for a walk in hopes of finding where she belonged.”
“Thank you. I’m Paige Devon, Gabby Tilly’s granddaughter and this is Daniel Haydin.”
“Nice to meet you both. I know your grandmother; she’s a lovely lady. I’m Laura Burke.”
I put on Amber’s leash and dragged her away. Grammy was so relieved that she almost cried. Since we missed the movie, we stayed home, made tea and got some blueberry pie. We were all emotionally drained, but Amber passed right out on the couch with not a care in the world.
Grammy said, “I’m a little frazzled from all the excitement. I’m going to lie down and relax.”
After she left, I looked at Daniel. “Thanks for staying so calm, while I was a crazed idiot.”
“No problem, I like crazed idiots,” he teased as he stroked my hair, running his hand down my back. It was unbelievable, but whenever he touched me, it was like my body woke up.
We started watching a movie, but I really wasn’t paying attention. I was so distracted by his presence. I burrowed myself in his arms and refused to ever leave. We sat like that for a long time in absolute silence enjoying each other and our connection. He kissed my head and I just listened to the beat of his heart. The house phone rang bringing me back to reality.
It was Mom. “Hi. I tried calling your cell, but you didn’t answer.” I remembered that I put my cell on the outside table when I took off Amber’s leash.
“We had a crazy night. Daniel and I were on the way to the movies and Grammy called really upset. She let Amber out and she didn’t come back. We came back to find her. It took over an hour, but she was at a neighbor’s house playing with her dog.”
“Thank goodness. Is Grammy okay? Let me talk to her.”
“She was really upset and went in her room. She might be sleeping. Do you want me to knock and see?”
“No don’t, she must be exhausted. I’ll see her tomorrow. What are you doing?”
“Daniel and I are watching TV. Is it okay if we go to the movies tomorrow night?
“Sure, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
I went outside and got my cell. Shortly after that, Lily called to tell me that Noelle was coming out for the weekend because her parents were going away. It was fine with me since now Lily would have company while I was with Daniel.
I went right back to Daniel who was looking at a book on the coffee table. When I reached him, he exclaimed, “Paige, look at this book!” Sitting down, I noticed that the title was Between Sea and Sky: Landscapes of Long Island’s North Fork.
“And?” I asked perplexed.
“This is the same photographer! Remember the book we were looking at in my library?” he asked.
“Yes, the American Landmarks book. You’re kidding!” I said and reached for it. After reading the jacket, I learned that the author lived in Southold. We leafed through the photographs and Daniel got a fast course on the beauty of the North Fork or NoFo as Aunt Cecile and the bumper stickers called it.
When Amber barked to go out, I put on her leash just in case she wanted to visit Cheddar again. I thought about all that had happened since the start of the summer. My life had been a whirlwind of excitement, good and bad. Gladly, I’d take the bad if I had Daniel in the end.
Glancing at me, Daniel asked, “Why so quiet?”
“I’m just thinking of everything that has happened in a month. If someone had told me this, I wouldn’t have believed it.”
“Any regrets?” Daniel asked.
“No. Well, maybe the girlfriend part,” I smirked. “And the goons, and the surveillance, and the hit-and-run, and…”
Daniel fell to the ground, pretending to faint. “What a list,” he said.
We sat on the beach and I wanted to know more about his ex-girlfriend or girlfriends. “So James told me that Juliet was your ex-girlfriend?”
“Yes, she was.”
“Did she call you Romeo like in Romeo and Juliet? I joked.
Daniel didn’t look amused and said, “No, she didn’t.”
When he didn’t say more, I asked, “Is she English?”
“No, she’s French and her name is Juliette with a te at the end.”
“So tell me about her?”
“There’s not much to tell. We dated, we broke up and we’re friends.”
“You went to France with her?”
“I didn’t go with her. She lives in Paris. I called her when I was there.”
“She’s actually French?”
“Her father is, but her mom is American. Juliette was born in the US.”
“What about Australia? You both were vacationing there at the same time?”
“I was working in Canberra and she called me when she came to Australia.”
“Where did you two meet?”
“We met in London.” Paris, Australia and London? They sure got around.
“At school?”
“No, she didn’t go to my school. Can we stop talking about her please? She’s not important.”
He was right. Why torture myself? He liked me now, but it was so hard not to think about her. “Okay then, tell me about your school?”
“Okay, what do you want to know?” Daniel got visibly animated.
“Everything. My dad said that it’s a really old school and has a lot of weird traditions.”
“You have no idea! It was really intimidating at first. Even with my dad’s help, it was hard to acclimate especially coming from an American school.”
“Why?”
“First of all the dress code is nothing like at a normal school. We had two uniforms. During the week we wore a white shirt, black silk tie, grey trousers, black shoes, blue jumper…”
“A jumper?” I asked, rummaging my brain, temporarily forgetting what it was. I knew my grandparents used that word.
“A pullover sweater.”
“I knew that. Did…” I was about to ask another question when Daniel jumped in.
“I’m not done yet,” Daniel said in a reproachful tone. “We also wore a dark blue woolen uniform jacket, the school blue and white scarf on cold days and, most importantly, a boater style straw hat with a dark blue band.”
“You’re kidding? Like the gondolier hats in Venice?” I asked incredulously.
“Yes, exactly,” he answered proudly.
“That’s such a bizarre outfit.” I scowled my forehead thinking about it.
“It’s tradition and it dates back to Edwardian times. No proper gentleman was seen hatless and Harrow still adheres to all those traditions. We were required to “cap” all teachers when we passed them. It’s don
e by raising the forefinger to the brim, like this.” He demonstrated.
“That’s crazy and there was a second uniform? That get-up wasn’t enough?” I mocked.
Ignoring my ribbing, he answered, “On Sundays, we wore a black tailcoat.”
I was incredulous. “You wore a tuxedo?”
Daniel laughed, “Yes, I wore a tuxedo jacket with pinstriped trousers, a black waistcoat, black tie, braces and a white shirt.”
“A waistcoat and braces? What is that?”
“A vest and suspenders.”
“Everybody wore the exact same thing?” I asked, not understanding this school at all.
“There were some variations if you were a member of certain societies or sports teams.”
“What kind?”
“During the week, different sweaters, scarves, neck and bow ties. On Sundays, it would mean grey or red vests, hat with black speckles, or a top hat and cane. It all depended the group.”
“It sounds like another planet. I have to see photos.”
“It was definitely weird at first, but I got used to it and everyone became family. After my parents died, I was only able to function because of that school. It pulled me through the darkest period in my life,” Daniel answered glumly.
To get Daniel’s mind off his parents, I asked him what I had been dying to know. “Did you have any girlfriends at school?” I knew he had one girlfriend and he must have had others. He was gorgeous after all. What girl wouldn’t like him?
“It was a boys school, so no, I didn’t have a girlfriend there.”
“You never saw girls?” I asked disbelievingly. Then how did he meet Juliette?
“Yes, I saw girls. The school had functions with different girls' boarding schools on Saturdays.” Juliette must have gone to one of those schools.
“Oh. Why an all boys school?” I asked.
“My parents felt strongly about same sex education.”
“Why?”
“Virtually all the top schools are single-sex schools. My dad, being a scientist, explained that research into patterns of brain activity confirmed that boys and girls learn in different ways.”
EMIT (THE EMIT SAGA) Page 22