Chapter Four

Eloise's POV

Chase called me three times from the car. All he got was a flat automated message.

That was when he realized I'd already blocked him.

"Chase, is Eloise still mad at me?" Skylar asked quietly, fiddling with her seatbelt. "Maybe I shouldn't tag along..."

"She's just being dramatic, like always." Chase tossed his phone onto the center console. "It's been days. She's gotta be over it by now. When we see her, just say something nice to her and it'll all blow over."

That day at the water park, he'd said he was canceling the beach house. When he got home, he actually went through with it and lost every cent of the deposit.

But he was dead sure that as long as he showed up at my door, I'd still grab my bags and go with him.

He got out of the car and rang the doorbell.

My mom answered.

She looked Chase up and down, then glanced at Skylar in the car. Her expression hardened.

"You can stop ringing. Eloise left for Nantucket with Sebastian two days ago." She kept her hand on the doorknob. "Chase, don't come around here anymore. She doesn't want to see you."

She shut the door in his face.

Chase stood on the front steps for a long time without moving. The July sun was brutal, but a chill kept running down his back.

Skylar got out of the car. Something bitter flashed in her eyes for a split second, but by the time she reached him, she looked nothing but worried.

She gently slipped her arm through his.

"Come on, you know Eloise. She cares way too much about what people think. After how ugly things got at the water park, she's too proud to come crawling back, so she's using Sebastian to make you jealous."

She paused, then added, "And Sebastian? He has crazy high standards. There's no way he's actually into her. He's probably just playing along with her little act because you two are friends."

Chase's eyes lit up. "So you're saying she's just trying to get back at me? And she's actually waiting for me to come find her?"

"Obviously." Skylar leaned into him. "She's liked you for so long. There's no way she'd just break up with you like that. I bet she's hiding somewhere right now, crying her eyes out. We were gonna go to Nantucket anyway, so why not just go now? Once we're there, apologize for real and buy her a new bag. She'll come running back."

The more Chase thought about it, the more it made sense.

As far as he was concerned, I couldn't last more than a few days without him. She'd said exactly what he wanted to hear.

"You're right. Let's go to Nantucket. I'll book the ferry tickets right now."

He looked down at his phone and didn't see the little smile tugging at the corner of Skylar's mouth.

She couldn't care less whether Chase won me back.

All she knew was that if the two of them went to the beach alone, she'd have plenty of chances to make him hers for good.

The next afternoon, the ferry pulled into the dock.

Nantucket was packed during peak season, and finding a room was nearly impossible. Since Chase had canceled the beach house, the only place he could get was a cheap motel on the other side of the island.

To get from the motel to the beach, they had to rent bikes, ride for twenty minutes, then walk the rest of the way on a sandy path.

The public beach was jammed with people. There were umbrellas everywhere, and it was hard to find a spot big enough for a towel.

Chase stood there in the blazing sun, scanning one face after another, trying to spot me in the crowd.

What he didn't know was that Sebastian and I weren't even on that beach.

"Chase, I'm dying out here." Skylar was carrying her sandals, and two blisters had rubbed open on her heels. "Can we just go back?"

She'd thought this trip would be like the pictures, lounging in a beach chair, soaking up the sun with a cold drink in her hand. She never expected it to be this miserable.

Chase was so irritated he didn't even turn around. "Keep looking. She had a ton of Nantucket pictures on her phone. She's gotta be around here somewhere."

Just then, the crowd started buzzing.

"Look over there! That yacht is huge!"

"I heard some old-money heir rented out that whole stretch of water. Nobody else can even get close."

Chase followed everyone's gaze.

Out on the water sat a white private yacht. A few speedboats kept circling it, turning away anyone who tried to get near.

On the top deck stood a man and a woman.

Even from that far away, Chase recognized me instantly.

I was wearing a long white dress, the hem fluttering in the ocean breeze, my head tipped back as I laughed. I looked nothing like the girl he'd pictured hiding somewhere and crying.

The man next to me had his head bent, carefully fastening a bracelet around my wrist.

It was Sebastian.

Chase's mind went completely blank.

"No way..." he muttered, his fingers clenched so tight his knuckles turned white.

Skylar saw it too. A second ago she'd been whining, and now her jaw dropped. She stared at the yacht, green with envy.

Then Chase shoved his way through the crowd and ran toward the water like a madman.

"Eloise!"