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“Janice said you had a rough one last night,” he said, shaking for her a light pink cocktail that Rose didn’t know the name of. She knew she should ask, but she didn’t have the will.

“It was all right,” she said.

“Those nights can be punishing,” the bartender said, wincing. “They’re not for the faint of heart.” After pouring her cocktail, he asked, “Do you imagine yourself working in the service industry for long?”

Rose hadn’t fully considered what she wanted to do with her life. But what she knew fully was that she didn’t want to serve people like that woman from last night. “I don’t know,” she said. “Sometimes I dream of having my own place.”

“A brick and mortar?” he asked.

“I think it would be nice to welcome people into my own space, with my own rules and my own products,” Rose said. “I can cook, and I have an okay artistic eye, and I’m a great baker.”

“Why don’t you ever bring anything in for us to taste-test?” the bartender asked, winking.

“I’ll have to do that,” Rose said. Warmth swelled in her chest. “I broke up with someone today.”

The bartender’s eyes bugged out. “That’s tough. You okay?”

“I don’t know,” Rose offered. “I’m trying to outrun my feelings.”

“How’s that going?” the bartender asked.

“So far so good,” Rose said, laughing.

Just then, another person joined them at the bar, sliding into a stool two away from hers. The bartender fixed his expression and tended to him, asking, “Hey, man. How are you?”

Nate’s voice was like smoked honey. “Not so bad. I see you know my friend here.”

It took Rose a second to realize that the man was talking about her. Her eyes flickered over to find the curly-haired guy from last night, the handsome one who’d made her a drink. “Oh!” she said. “It’s you.”

“It’s me.” The man grinned and slid over to join her. “Can I get a negroni?” he asked the bartender, his eyes still on Rose. And then he said, “I couldn’t help but overhear that you broke up with someone today.”

Rose’s stomach roiled. She wasn’t sure she wanted to talk about Rhett in any concrete way, certainly not with this strange and wealthy man. “It was time.” She shrugged.

“Life is all about timing,” the man said. His eyes were electric. “I don’t think I caught your name, by the way.”

“I’m Rose.” Her heart hammered.

“I’m Nate,” he said.

“Pleasure,” Rose said.

“It’s mine,” Nate said. “Those people last night were boring. You saved me.”

Rose’s eyes flickered over to the bartender, who, she knew, was listening hard to what they were saying. She wondered what he thought. Did he assume that she’d broken up with her boyfriend to get together with this wealthy man? She hoped not. She couldn’t imagine a greater shame. Then again, what if this guy had some kind of power, something he could pass along? What if he could help her get off Nantucket and on to the next phase of her life? Oh, she was only seventeen, but she buzzed with potential. She wanted a big life. She wanted the world.

For hours that evening, Rose sat with Nate at the bar. Their conversation was bouncy and filled with charm, pulling her far away from her thoughts of Rhett. After that first free drink from the bartender, Nate paid for everything else, until she was dizzy with expensive booze.

“I feel like I’m floating,” she said to Nate as he walked her to the resort’s front door.

“Can you float all the way home?” Nate asked.

Rose giggled, then stopped near the doorway and flattened her hand on a pole for support. “You’re cute,” she said, surprised by how forward she was.

“You’re extremely cute,” Nate said. “But you don’t need to hear that from me.”

Rose laughed. This was the sort of man who could have anyone, who could take anyone out. She didn’t want him to think that he could have her, too.

“I think we should be friends,” Rose said, slurring her words.