Family Reunion, Nancy Thayer [the kiss of deception read online .txt] 📗

Ari was stunned to feel a streak of jealousy move through her. All those girls and women he had been with…

Beck asked, “But you’ve been engaged, right?”

“Yes,” Ari admitted. “To Peter Anderson. We’ve known each other all our lives. We met at a camp in New Hampshire when we were kids. We both went to Bucknell. Our parents approved. Peter is a good guy. He’s at Harvard Law now.” She told Beck about their wedding plans, the lodge they’d rented on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee, his parents, her parents, everyone so thrilled.

“But during the last semester of school, I knew I didn’t want to marry him. I couldn’t. I did love him, but I never felt the way I feel…” Ari turned her head away. Suddenly she had tears in her eyes. “I loved him like a brother, or a friend,” she said.

“You did the right thing,” Beck told her, speaking quietly. After a moment’s silence, he said, “I’m glad you broke your engagement. I’m glad for the chance to be with you.”

Ari looked at Beck, allowing tears to fall. “I’m glad to be with you. But, Beck, I’m not sure what that means.”

“Let’s find out.” He drew her to him and kissed her.

His hand was on the back of her head, cradling it gently. His other hand was on her waist. Ari placed both hands on his chest, feeling his heart beating through the fabric of the jacket and his shirt. They kissed for a long time, and it was sexual but also it was serious, a searching and a finding.

Beck pulled back. “Wow,” he said quietly.

“I know.” She kept her hands on his chest.

He smiled. “Ari, I’ve never made love to anyone on a beach, and I’m sorry to tell you I’m not going to now. It’s the sand. It can sneak into places a person really doesn’t want it.”

Ari smiled back. “I know. But you can kiss me again, can’t you?”

“I can,” Beck said. And he did.

After a while, they rose, brushing sand off their clothes, and walked to his car.

Beck opened her door and kissed her thoroughly again, leaving Ari limp with desire. She sank into her seat and leaned her head against the back. The top was down on the convertible, and as Beck drove, Ari looked up and watched the stars watching them from the sky. They didn’t talk. They didn’t need to.

When they reached her house, Beck said, “I promised to go sailing with my family again tomorrow. Will you come, too?”

“Yes, please,” Ari said.

They kissed again, lightly this time. Beck escorted her to the door. They kissed again. Ari wanted to melt right into Beck.

“Tomorrow,” he said.

“Tomorrow,” she agreed.

Ari turned off the light her grandmother had left on for her and went silently through the dark house. She dropped her dress right on the floor, kicked off her shoes, undid the gorgeous necklace, placing it carefully back in its case, and dropped on her bed, smiling as she fell asleep.

—

Something delicious woke her.

“Oh, Gram, thank you!” Ari scooted up against her headboard as her grandmother entered the room, carrying a tray with hot coffee and buttered toast.

“Last night was fun, wasn’t it?” Eleanor asked, sitting on the end of Ari’s bed, pulling her kimono up around her legs.

“You have no idea,” Ari said. She looked at the clock. “Lord, it’s almost noon. I’m going sailing with Beck and his family at one today.”

“You have time to drink coffee,” Eleanor said sensibly. “And to shower.”

Ari was starving. “You had a good time last night, right?”

“Imagine, being my age, and dancing away until the band shut down.”

“Silas is a good dancer,” Ari mumbled, biting into the toast.

“He is. He’s great fun to be with.”

“Wow, Gram, do you have a boyfriend?”

Eleanor had a twinkle in her eye. “You know, I think I do.”

“Oh! That’s so exciting!” Ari almost tipped over her tray.

“No so exciting at my age, but terribly nice. I’d even say wonderful.”

“That sounds like you kissed him.”

“I did. And that’s all you need to know. You need to get ready to meet Beck.” Eleanor rose from the bed, leaned over to kiss Ari’s head, and left the room.

—

The sun warmed Ari’s shoulders as she sat on the Hathaways’s schooner with Hen leaning against her. The boat skipped over the bouncing waves, the strong, capricious wind tangling her hair. Beck’s father constantly shouted out orders to Beck and Michelle to trim the sheet or steady the rudder. Beck’s mother had gone into the cabin to lie down.

Hen shouted to Ari, “Don’t be afraid.”

“I’m not afraid, sweetheart,” Ari answered, and that was the truth. She was delighted to discover she was only slightly nauseous, and the sail was so exciting, she almost forgot about that.

They anchored near Great Point, on the Nantucket Sound side. Beck let down the rope ladder and all of the Hathaways dove off the boat to swim. Ari joined them, only slightly worried about the possibility of great whites in the water. The waves were cold and playful. After a moment of swimming against the tide, she turned on her back and floated, letting the water lift her up and pull her down.

Something from underneath her grabbed at her waist. She screamed, struggling, until she discovered it was Beck.

“Sorry,” he said as they treaded water, facing each other. “Forgive me?”

“Of course,” Ari told him. She hadn’t been truly frightened.

“Let’s kiss and make up,” Beck said, and right there with his family all around and the ocean bobbing them up and down, he pulled Ari to him and kissed her. His lips were warm and salty and his torso touched hers. It was only with great willpower that Ari stopped herself from wrapping her legs around his body. They kissed so long that a wave rose over them, forcing them from the surface. For a few more moments, surrounded by briny, sun-scattered waves, they continued kissing, as if nothing could stop them.

They