Page 17 of The Summer Club

Hugh sniffed. “Not for Sydney.”

“What do you mean?” Andi asked her twin.

“Syd can always go home. Riptide is all hers now.”

Andi replayed it all in her head as she trotted along the beach path. She was halfway down the trail moving at full tilt, when she saw someone walking up the path toward her. It was growing dark, but she could tell from his athletic build that it was Hugh. His hoodie was pulled up over his head. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to Hugh—or anyone she was related to, or not—anymore that night. So as they pulled up near each other, she kept her head down and picked up her pace.

“Oh, hey…” He stopped in the middle of the path, but she was not about to.

As she tried to maneuver around him, her foot slid in a pocket of deep sand and, instead, she crashed right into him and then backward on her butt next to a spray of rugosa bushes. “Dammit!” Andi ignored his extended hand and popped back up, furiously brushing sand from her backside. “Can I just get a minute to myself?”

But it was not Hugh standing across from her on the beach path. It was the guy from next door she’d seen earlier.

“Wow. Okay, I was going to ask if you were all right, but it looks like you are—and like you want to be left alone.” He took a step back.

Andi gasped. “Oh God. I’m sorry! I thought you were my brother.”

“Nope.” He slid his hood down and held up his hands like he was at gunpoint. “Lucky for me. Not sure what he did to you, but I think it’s safer if I let you go on your way.” He was smiling and Andi couldn’t help but notice the cleft in his chin; the unshaven jaw. Up close, he was even more handsome.

“Wait,” she said. “I owe you an apology. It’s been a tough night and I was rushing down to the beach before dark to try to swim some of it off.”

“Oh. Well, you might want to be careful, there are riptides.”

“Now you sound like my mother.”

He shook his head. “Wow. First your brother, now I’m your mother.”

“Look, I’m the one who plowed into you. I was in a hurry. And, well… I’m in a pretty foul mood.”

“Never would have guessed.”

“Very funny.” She studied him. His sandy-brown hair was tinted with sun, his eyes crinkling with laughter. “You look very familiar. Do we know each other?”

“Hang on, are you staying in the cottage at the end of this path?” He gestured toward Riptide, his eyes twinkling with recognition.

“That’s my family’s place.”

“No way. You’re Andi.” His smile was huge now. And so lovely. But she still had no idea who he was.

“And you’re…?”

“Nate? Nate Becker.”

Andi clapped her hand over her mouth. “Nate? Oh, my God. I thought you guys sold the place. Years ago.”

“We did, when my folks retired down in Florida. The next owner had it for about ten years and then last year they relisted it.”

“Yes!” Andi said. “The Olsons. They were nice summer neighbors.”

Nate cocked his head. “As nice as me? You do remember me, right? I’ve been told I’m somewhat unforgettable.”

She laughed. “Of course I do. But I never expected to see you back! God, wait until Hugh hears. You guys used to be so tight.”

“Is he here?”

“Yes. The whole family is, in fact. But…” How to explain? No, she decided, there was no reason to sully the reunion with her family’s current crisis. “My little sister is getting married, so we’re all here for a few weeks until the wedding.”

“Sydney’s getting married? Wow, that’s great. I’ll have to come say hi to everyone.” He was looking at her differently now. “God, it’s been years since I’ve thought of you.”