The Sweetest Summer(84)
He went into the front office, where he found a solo Jake. “What’s up?”
“Hey, Chief.”
The dogs burst from their sleeping spot under the desk, nearly knocking Jake onto his ass.
“Whoa. Settle down,” Clancy said, petting them. “Where is everyone today. Anything going on?”
“Just sent Deon out to check on a couple cyclists who crashed into each other on the southern side of the bike trail.”
“Injuries?”
“Scraped knees. EMTs responding.”
“Ordinance violations?”
“Deon says they were wearing helmets and didn’t appear to be intoxicated, so unless we’re citing people for being dumbshits, then no.”
“Ha. All right. Look, I’d like to be off the grid for a couple hours. Call if it’s an emergency. I’ll be back for the dogs later.”
“Got it, Chief.”
“Any news on the kidnapping suspect?”
“Not a peep.”
On the drive home, Clancy realized he should be feeling relieved that there were no Evie sightings. Instead, the closer he got to his house, the more wound-up he felt. His emotions and thoughts were whipping around like an invisible cyclone. This was it. If Evie was still there, then he was about to cross a line. Clancy had already pledged to help her—and now he was going to discover just what he’d signed up for. He was a man of his word, but what would she tell him? How would he find a way to help her without compromising everything he believed in?
He had butterflies, too. Jesus, he actually had butterflies in his stomach at the idea that Evie could be there when he opened the door.
He’d felt like this only one other time, the summer he was fourteen. He would jump out of bed each morning and race to see the pretty tourist girl. They would meet at the boat dock, or at Haven Beach, or in front of Frankie’s, and then spend every possible second with each other. Every day it was the same—butterflies in his belly, his brain charged with the thrill of sexual chemistry, and his heart exploding with something powerful and strange.
Over the years, Clancy told himself the experience had been nothing but the chemical mirage of puberty, a cocktail of hormones, summertime freedom, and the ego boost of being crazy about a girl who was crazy about him, too. Turned out he was wrong.
It wasn’t hormones or ego—it was Evie.
Clancy pulled the Jeep into the drive and took a deep steadying breath. The situation was far more complicated this go-round. It was time for them to sort it all out.
Eighteen years ago . . .
As much fun as he was having with Evie, and as crazy as he was about her, Clancy wouldn’t be able to see her that evening. Technically, he could see her, but that would mean he’d have to invite her to his family’s annual festival-week cookout—something he wouldn’t do even to his worst enemy.
It just wouldn’t work. There would be relatives there from the mainland and all kinds of nosy questions and comments—ooh, do you have a girlfriend? She’s a tourist girl? Well aren’t you Mr. Hot Stuff! He didn’t want to embarrass her like that. Also, he didn’t want Evie to meet Duncan. She’d probably be offended by the shit he would say to Clancy, right in front of her, and he might even try to hit on Evie just to see if he could steal her away. Sometimes, he wished his big brother was still sick and stuck in bed. He’d been a lot easier to deal with back then. Duncan had gotten a fat head on him lately. He thought he was the shit.
Clancy walked toward the boatyard, where they’d planned to meet to go for a run on the beach together. When they discovered that they both competed in distance events for their track teams, it opened a whole world in common. It gave him yet another reason to want to spend time with her.