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23
Ismay hadn’t wanted to join Bastian and his friends for lunch. But she’d had no other plans. And it’d seemed too self-indulgent and maudlin to continue to sit around crying. In that moment, she’d decided she should make more of an effort with Remy’s brother.
So far, she was glad she’d come. Bastian’s friends seemed to genuinely like him. He’d gone to college with Jace and Terrell, the two guys. Holly, who was a few years younger, maybe twenty-five, was Jace’s girlfriend. Like Ismay, Bastian was meeting her for the first time.
Ismay learned a lot by listening to the conversation. While Remy had gone to UCLA for even his undergrad years, Bastian had attended San Diego State, where he’d stayed long enough to get a degree but didn’t actually accumulate many credits. He freely admitted he’d spent most of his time on Mission Beach playing sand volleyball with Jace and Terrell, among all the other enthusiasts who hung out there looking for a pickup game. Ismay got the impression Bastian wasn’t close enough to these people to invite them to stay at the cottage or show them around during their visit, but he knew them well enough to have a meal with them while they were on Mariners—and maybe see them once or twice more before they left.
Ismay liked Terrell the best. He’d played football for the Aztecs, had a close-cropped Afro, an engaging smile, and warm brown eyes. Jace wasn’t quite as tall as Terrell, but he was almost as muscular. He looked like so many of the other people who came to the island—affluent—with his blond hair pushed up off his forehead using a bit too much gel and a pair of designer sunglasses on his chiseled face. He’d played on the football team, too. That was how he and Terrell met, and they’d started rooming together their sophomore year. Despite the lure of Mission Beach, they’d both managed to graduate.
They still lived together in San Diego, despite being from other places, and worked in marketing, Terrell for a local investment firm and Jace for a beer company. Holly, a petite brunette, was an Instagrammer, an aspiring actress, and an exotic dancer. Ismay got the impression she’d attained some success on Instagram, maybe had a lot of followers, but it was mostly the dancing that paid her bills.
“What made you decide to visit Mariners?” Ismay asked Terrell, Jace, and Holly while Bastian placed his order last.
Jace lifted his water glass. “Hearing Bastian talk about it, I guess. To be honest, I wanted to go to Mexico, where our money would stretch a bit further. It was Terrell who was stuck on crossing the entire country to visit this place.”
“You hear about Long Island, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and Mariners all the time,” Terrell said. “I wanted to see what it’s like.”
They were sitting out on the sidewalk under a bright yellow-and-blue-striped umbrella with flowers pouring out of pots hanging on poles that also supported a string of lights. Ismay gestured around them. “Well? What do you think?”
“I think it’s nice here—Old-world—but as expensive as we were told,” Terrell said with a laugh.
“Good thing you make the big bucks,” Jace said.
Terrell grimaced. “I don’t make that much more than you, bro.”
“Well, this meal won’t cost you anything,” Bastian said, joining the conversation again as the waitress, who now had all their orders, left. “It’s on me.”
“Damn. Then call her back so I can order some more,” Terrell joked.
“You can order whatever you want,” Bastian said magnanimously.
Ismay knew he honestly didn’t care. He wasn’t paying for it. He had his parents’ credit card. Remy had one, too, and used it just as freely. “Where are you staying?” she asked the three of them.
“At the Hotel Mariners,” Holly replied, and that was when Ismay recognized her error. There were so many other hotels in town. She hadn’t expected them to be staying at the one where her brother was supposed to be.
“Ismay’s brother Jack is at that hotel, too,” Bastian piped up, right on cue.
“For a short time,” Ismay added. “There’s a neighbor who’s leaving for the mainland to see her kids and grandkids for most of the summer. He’ll soon be house-sitting for her.”
“What neighbor?” Bastian asked.
“Honey Wellington.”
“You know Honey?”
“Not really, but when I learned Jack was coming, I asked Bo if he knew of any places Jack could stay, and he told me Honey might need someone to house-sit.”
“Wow,” he said. “Bo does look after you, doesn’t he?”
Terrell and Jace glanced at each other over Holly’s head. Hearing the sour note in Bastian’s voice seemed to make everyone uncomfortable.
“It was nice of him,” she mumbled.
“Why didn’t your brother join us for lunch?” Terrell asked.
Ismay was grateful to him for jumping in. “He’s helping to rebuild a fence that was blown down in the recent storm.”
Holly moved back as the waitress arrived with their mimosas. “I’m glad we missed that.”
