“Yes! Give me five minutes,” Elise said.
With that, Elise rushed back to her room, stowed her computer, and tore through her makeup bag. She tended to her under-eye shadows, added blush and mascara and a dash of lipstick, and then tousled her hair with her fingers. The mirror reflected back the very woman Rhonda had described.
She looked happy.
Wayne. I’m ready to do this.
I’m becoming the kind of woman I’ve always wanted to be.
I think it’s partially because of you. This island, these secrets coming to a head and the way you look at me.
Elise heaved a sigh, grabbed her purse, and headed toward the door. Just as she gripped the doorknob, she had second thoughts about her outfit. She danced around, removed her jeans and sweater, and then added tights and a dress.
I feel like a silly teenage girl falling for the popular boy in high school.
By the time Elise arrived downstairs, it had definitely been more than ten minutes—maybe even more than fifteen. As she passed Rhonda at the front desk, Rhonda whistled and said, “There she is. Our California supermodel,” under her breath.
“Don’t be silly, Rhonda,” Elise said, grinning broadly.
“He’s outside, Pumpkin. Enjoy your night,” Rhonda said, fluttering her fingers.
Elise opened the door to the front porch, turned left, and immediately froze.
There, seated on the porch swing, was Matt Gauthier.
Handsome, with dark blonde hair and brown eyes, wearing designer blue jeans, a newly-purchased jacket, and a grey v-neck t-shirt. His skin was tanned with that California sun, and his face was clean-shaven—so unlike many of the men on Mackinac Island.
He looked so foreign to her.
He was the first person from Elise’s normal life she had seen since she’d left.
“Matt, wow,” Elise said. She couldn’t help but hear the disappointment in her own voice.
I thought you were Wayne.
Why aren’t you, Wayne?
Matt stood from the porch swing, extended his arms out on either side of him, and said, “You refused to come back to California, so I decided to come to you.”
Elise had always been more of a people-pleaser than her mother. Allison Darby had never allowed anyone to say or do anything to her that she hadn’t wanted. Elise, on the other hand? She’d been married to a guy who hadn’t cared for her for a whole lot longer than any sane woman might have stayed in it.
“That’s so nice of you,” Elise said.
That was the kind of thing people said when they received fruitcake.
“You have got to be kidding me about this weather,” Matt said. He rubbed his left bicep with his right arm. “I had to buy a jacket at the airport in Traverse City. Everyone looked at me like I was nuts when I told them I was here from California.”
Elise forced her grin to widen.
“You get used to the chill, I guess,” she said. “I certainly have.”
Matt paused, dropped both hands to his sides again, and gave Elise this strange, dewy-eyed look.
“You look great, Elise. Absolutely stunning. I guess I haven’t seen you since before everything happened with your mom. My deepest condolences, by the way.”
“Thank you.” Elise bit her lower lip. Was it rude if she told him to get the heck off the porch, run down the street and swim across the Straits of Mackinac if he had to, if only to get him away?
“And despite all I said about the weather, I really can’t believe this island,” Matt said. He gestured out toward Main Street. “I’m dumbfounded. The place feels like it’s been frozen in time. Although I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised that it captivated you. You were always the most romantic woman. The way you write stories and scenes is so emotional. I can feel your heart behind your writing. And... well. I’m excited to see what you’ve been cooking up here.”
He looked so eager. Elise shifted her weight.
After a strange pause, Elise said, “How did you figure out where I was staying?”
At this, Matt just shrugged and said in a way that almost infuriated Elise, “I have my ways.”