Part 15 (1/2)

”I've been thinking about it, too,” Carrie ad- mitted. ”Listen, we could all do worse than another summer on Sunset Island. Graham and Claudia told me at Christmas they were hoping to hire me again, but they didn't know yet where they'd be. If there's a European tour or some- thing, I'll be out of a job.”

Emma turned around to face Sam in the back seat. ”How about you? Sunset Island would never be the same without you.”

”What makes you think Dan Jacobs won't need my help again?” asked Sam a little indignantly.

”With those twin monsters of his, he'd be lucky if anyone else would want the job!”

”I'm sure he'll want you back, Sam,” said Carrie, ”but would you really quit your job at Disney World just to be an au pair for the summer?”

The car swerved slightly as Danny whipped around to give Sam a funny look.

”What?” Emma asked, noting the look.

”Nothing,” Danny mumbled, but the expres- sion on his face belied his words.

A day of following highways up the coast of Maine brought them to the ferry dock with plenty of daylight left.

Emma was glad to see that hers was one of the only cars in line for the auto ramp-the ferry couldn't hold more than a few. After a brief walk to stretch her legs, she returned to the car, letting the others wander on their own. The sun was still warm, and now that the car was stopped, she decided to put the top down.

Seating herself on top of the back seat, Emma gazed at the water and let her thoughts flow ahead to the island and Kurt. Kurt. She warned herself not to get her hopes up, even though just the thought of him made her heart pound in her chest. / mean, he didn't even care enough to call me in Boston. And yet she couldn't seem to shake this feeling of hopefulness. Wasn't it possible that they really had a chance? That this summer they both would have matured enough to have the kind of relations.h.i.+p that Emma longed for?

Carrie, too, was wandering around the dock, lost in thought. As soon as they had arrived at the ferry station she'd headed for the ladies'

room. Her weight-loss plan was way off schedule.

Somehow she wasn't purging often enough-it seemed as if Sam or Emma was always around, ready to catch her. It had been bad enough trying to talk Sam out of her firm conviction that Carrie had had a stomach virus the other night.

Carrie shut her eyes and leaned against the wall of the ferry station. G.o.d, it was so horrible, lying to her friends and hiding shamefully in a toilet, throwing her guts up. And maybe the most horrible part of the whole thing was that her friends would never, ever in a million years believe that she, Carrie Alden, supergirl, was capable of such sick, disgusting behavior.

While Carrie and Emma were lost in their private thoughts, Sam and Danny were having a difficult conversation at the end of the dock.

”I feel like a fifth wheel, if you really want to know!” said Danny.

”How can you be a fifth wheel? There are only four of us here,” Sam said innocently.

”That's not what I'm talking about, and you know it,” Danny said angrily. ”We come all this way and you just casually mention to me that you've got a guy waiting for you on the island.

What did you expect me to say?”

”Well, see, the thing is that he may be waiting for me, but that doesn't mean I'm waiting for him,” Sam explained.

Danny looked disgusted. ”What are you talking about?”

Sam bit her lower lip. This was not going at all the way she had planned. She had thought that making Danny jealous would do wonderful things for her love life. Visions of Pres and Danny fighting over her had filled her head. Only now it seemed that Danny was really, truly angry. She hadn't counted on that.

”What I mean,” Sam said slowly, ”is that he's just a guy I went out with. It's not like he's my boyfriend.”

”Went out with?” Danny repeated. ”And just what is that supposed to mean?”

”You know,” Sam floundered. ”Like you and I go out. Not heavy.”

”So you and this Pres guy don't have a romantic relations.h.i.+p, is that it?”

”Uh, well ...” This was getting tougher and tougher. In truth, her relations.h.i.+p with Pres was strictly romantic-all excitement and not much substance. She had a feeling Danny wouldn't take much comfort in that.

”If you mean am I sleeping with him, the answer's no,” she finally managed, trying her best to look confident and cool.

Danny gave her a level gaze and folded his arms. ”I think my question is more like, do you want to sleep with him?”

Ooh, tough question. One part of her desper- ately wanted to sleep with Pres. Another part of her wanted to run in the other direction as fast as she could.

”Sam, I asked you a question,” Danny re- peated. ”Do you want to sleep with him?”

”I don't know,” Sam answered truthfully.

Because it was the most honest answer she'd given anyone in a long time, she was totally unprepared for Danny's reaction.

”And why should I believe that?” he exploded.

”You'll lie to anyone about anything if it suits your purposes!”

”Danny, I-”

”It's true!” Danny shot back at her. ”You're still lying to your best friends about losing your job!”

With a final gesture of disgust, Danny turned on his heel and walked briskly away from Sam.

In the back seat of the car, Emma jumped to her feet. The ferry was coming! Craning to get a better look, she could just make out the silhou- ettes of those pa.s.sengers riding on the deck. The boat drew closer and her heart leapt. Was she seeing what she thought she was seeing? She blinked rapidly, but the sight on the deck of the ferry still riveted her. Kurt. Kurt was on the ferry. As her heart soared he lifted his arm and waved in her direction.

”Oh Emma, how romantic!” Carrie cried, coming up next to Emma. ”He came over to meet you!”

”I can't believe it!” was all Emma could think to say.

”Well, what are you waiting for?” Carrie said with a laugh. ”This is just like a movie-go throw yourself into his arms!”

Emma didn't know exactly how she traveled the short distance from the car to the dock, but suddenly she was there, and there was Kurt, and the next thing she knew she was in his arms.

”You came to meet me,” she whispered, her eyes s.h.i.+ning up into his.

As for Kurt, he seemed at a loss for words. He just kept repeating her name softly, over and over.

Somehow Emma managed to introduce Danny and get her car squared away for the ride, but all these details went by in a haze. She was with Kurt again, and that was the only thing that mattered right now.

Carrie pa.s.sed the ferry ride thinking only of Billy. Her troubles with Josh seemed far away now, and she was glad she hadn't had the chance to tell Emma and Sam about their quarrels.

On board, Sam was relieved to find Danny beside her.

”You still speaking to me?” she asked him with a sidelong look.

”So it appears,” he answered, but he didn't quite make eye contact with her as he said it.