Persuaded (33 page)

“You
could have Benny’s room,” Sophie offered shrewdly. “He already told me he’s
staying at  the hospital tonight.”

Whether
Hanna was anxious for a slumber party or was simply not overly eager to go back
through the mob outside, she agreed, easing Derick’s worry somewhat. Back in
his own room, he did his best to calm down by looking through Hanna’s sketches
again. His mind was full, teeming with the day’s scenes: holding Hanna again
and realizing that no one would ever fill his arms the way she did; the vacancy
in Ella’s eyes as she looked at him; Benny’s satisfied expression when Ella
begged him to stay . . . Less pleasant were the more recent developments: the
heated discussion with Hanna in the car and the ominous echo of Paul’s last
words on the phone—
you know what that means: it’s time for you to pull up
roots again.

He
knew exactly what it meant. It was time to relocate. If he had his way, this
time he wouldn’t be going alone. Flipping to the first empty page of Hanna’s
sketchbook, he began bleeding his heart onto the paper.

FORTY-TWO

CAPTIONS

“But when the
pain is over, the remembrance of it often becomes a pleasure. One does not love
a place the less for having suffered in it.”

—Anne Elliot,
Persuasion

The
following morning Hanna slept in. She bolted out of bed when she realized that the
clock read eleven. So this was what sleeping in felt like, was it? No wonder
childless people did it so often.

After
using the bathroom and checking her reflection in the mirror, Hanna wandered
out into the family room to find Sophie cleaning out the fridge.

“Morning,”
Hanna said.

“Hey,”
Sophie replied. “How’d you sleep?”

“Good
enough that half the day is gone already.”

“You
haven’t missed anything,” Sophie assured her. “Hungry?”

“I’ll
get something at home. Where’s Derick?” It just occurred to her that there was
a touch of haste in the way Sophie was throwing out perfectly good food.

“At
the marina.” She closed the fridge and moved on to the cupboards.

“Is
everything okay?”

Sophie
sighed and straightened. “We’re leaving. Now that the press knows where Derick
is, they’re not going to let up.”

It was
as if a bowling ball had just been launched through Hanna’s stomach. “When?”

“As
soon as possible.” Sophie looked around, and Hanna could see the disappointment
on her face. “I would have liked to stay the whole summer, but it’s only a
couple of weeks.”

Hanna
didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry,” was all she could come up with.

“Occupational
hazard of having a celebrity for a brother.” Sophie shrugged. “Derick said to
make sure you get this.”

It
took Hanna a moment to realize that Sophie was pointing at something on the
bar—her sketchbook. “My drawings,” she said. “I’ve been looking everywhere . .
.”

“I
guess you left it on the
Asp
.”

A
weighty sadness settled on Hanna as she took the book and turned to go. She
didn’t know when she would see Sophie again. Were they leaving, just like that?
It made sense, given the situation, but she couldn’t help feeling a little hurt
that Derick hadn’t even mentioned it—not that she’d seen him in the last twelve
hours.

“I’ll
walk you home,” Sophie offered when Hanna opened the front door and a barrage
of flashing cameras answered her. Apparently security had fought a good fight
and then given up. The guards were nowhere in sight.

“Should
we go out the back?” asked Hanna.

“It
doesn’t matter, both doors are swarming with these parasites,” Sophie answered.

Hanna
followed her outside, her cheeks flaming at the impertinent questions that
peppered them all the way to Uppercross.

“If
you value that camera you better get it out of my face,” Sophie said to one of
the reporters.

It was
a horrible business that seemed to take forever, being jostled and mauled for
the hundred or so yards between the two houses. As both Kelynch and Uppercross
were crawling with paparazzi, Charles took it upon himself to escort Sophie
home. The street was dotted with more cars than it usually saw in a week.

On her
way to the family room, Hanna passed by Ella’s bedroom and did a double take.
Ella was propped up on several pillows on one side of the bed, and Benny sat
atop the covers on the other side. He wasn’t reading, and she wasn’t talking;
Ella’s eyes were closed and Benny was watching her with a look of saturated
admiration. When he looked up to find Hanna watching, Benny’s eyes were
brimming with contentment. She doubted very much that Benny would be leaving
Ella’s side anytime soon. A look of understanding passed between them, and
Hanna knew in that moment that Benny’s brooding days were over, that Ella would
undoubtedly develop a taste for poetry, that neither of them would be lonely
anymore.

Feeling
a profound joy on Benny’s behalf and an inexplicable loneliness on her own,
Hanna moved into the family room. Sinking down on the couch, she began flipping
absently through her drawings—and froze.

The first
one was of the Lymelight. Along the bottom of the sketch was a line of familiar
handwriting that read,
I see you drawing and can’t seem to move
.
The next page was Eli with his dimples and curls.
I want to break his
face, but I’ll settle for his nose
.
The
hei
matau
.
When I knew without a doubt that I never got over you.
The boys with their feet in the air, watching
101 Dalmatians
.
I
want to hold your hand so bad I can taste it
.
The
Asp
on Block Island.
Where we had our second first kiss and you fell asleep
in my arms
.
The tiny sea star in her palm,
with Derick’s hand cradling hers.
It might look like a starfish, but it’s
actually my heart.

Hanna
knew that was the last sketch she’d done, but something told her to flip to the
next page.

Hanna,

I’m
sorry you’re just now getting your drawings back. I couldn’t let them go
because even though you may not realize it, they tell our story. I know, now,
that the only reason I came to Old Lyme was to find you again. I think I knew
it that first day that we ran into each other on the beach. I have always loved
you. I’m not perfect, and I can’t promise that I won’t be a blockhead from time
to time. But if you’ll do me the honor, I’d like to spend my life trying to be
good enough for you.

I
can’t stay here any longer. I’m leaving Old Lyme as soon as I can stock the
Laconia with supplies for another long sea voyage. Come with me. I’ll take you
everywhere I’ve been, anywhere you want to go. I’m sure we could find a priest
somewhere along the way to make us respectable.

Derick

By the
way, I love you
.

By the
end of the note, Hanna’s eyes were full of tears. She hadn’t even noticed Mary
coming down the stairs or the stampede the boys created as they barreled down
after her. Mary was asking her something about when she’d gotten back or where
she’d been, Hanna couldn’t say for sure. Without responding, Hanna went up to
her room and sank down on the bed. She read Derick’s letter again, twice,
before looking back through the sketches and his captions. She didn’t think
she’d ever held anything so precious in her hands.

As she
sat there on her bed, she wasn’t deliberating her answer. Her heart and mind
weren’t wasting any time battling out the question of whether she should go or
not. She was thinking of whether it would be unprofessional to leave a message
on the school district’s voicemail with her two-week notice. What she would say
to Mary when she complained about her help disappearing. How she would ignore
any warning about acting rashly from Maude. She was repeating Derick’s words
over and over in her mind:
By the way, I love you.
She was
thinking that she would see Sophie again, and that soon they would be sisters.

☼

Derick
checked the rigging on the
Laconia
for the umpteenth time. Still secure,
just as it had been five minutes ago. The mainsail and jib were both rolled up
and ready to be unfurled when they got out of the harbor.
They
. Derick
usually wasn’t one for counting his chickens before they hatched, but he simply
couldn’t entertain the possibility that he would be leaving Old Lyme without
her.

Once
again, he resisted the urge to text Hanna. Instead, he went below and tested
his radio, unnecessarily. When he came back up, Derick knew that he’d never
seen a more welcome sight than the one before him now. Not the first glimpse of
land after a solid three months on open water. Not the finish line gliding
under the Team USA catamaran as he won his first America’s Cup. Not Sophie
flying toward him the day he arrived in Old Lyme after they hadn’t seen each
other in too long. Each of these moments were special to him, but none of them
compared to the woman he loved climbing onto his boat to run away with him.

The
press was there, of course, and Charles too, helping Hanna with her bags. He
wished the pair of them a safe voyage, then faded into the background like
everything else. The only thing Derick had eyes for was Hanna and the joy on
her face as he drew her into his arms. They ignored the media, firing insults
and questions that bounced off them like bullets from titanium.

“I
love you too,” she said in his ear.

“Enough
to sail around the world with me?”

In
answer, Hanna clasped her hands around Derick’s neck. “Enough to go anywhere
with you.”

“We
might as well get married while we’re at it,” he suggested.

Hanna’s
face split into his favorite heart-stopping smile. “Seems like the only logical
thing to do,” she agreed with a shrug.

For
the first time, it occurred to Derick that there could be worse things than allowing
oneself to be persuaded.

EPILOGUE

FULL
CIRCLE

She gloried in
being a sailor’s wife . . . that profession which is, if possible, more
distinguished in its domestic virtues than in its national importance.

—Jane Austen,
Persuasion

The
sky is bleached white in some places, bruised a foreboding gray in others. All
around us the gray ocean surges and draws back, giving its consent while mist
hovers over the emerald mountains as uninvited but welcome guests.

There
is only a handful of us on the beach: Derick and me, Maude, the Crofts, and the
Maori elder who will be performing our ceremony. When we made up our minds to
be married on the shores of New Zealand, we knew it would be a small affair.
Mary is still sour at not being the maid of honor, at not seeing her two angels
as ring bearers, but she’ll get over it eventually. We’ll have a big ceremony
when we get back to the states.

For
now, there is no fussing over bridesmaids’ gowns or groomsmen’s boutonnieres.
There will be no gift registry, no after party with hors d’oeuvres, no toasts
from drunken wedding guests. There’s just Derick in a button-down shirt and me
in an ivory lace dress that brushes the sand, both of us barefoot. Earlier
Sophie twisted my dusty hair up in intricate braids that make me feel like a
sea goddess. From the way Derick takes me in with those sea-green eyes, I think
I must look like one too.

After
we exchange the vows we have written for one another, the Kaumatua blesses the
union by serenading us with the traditional Maori wedding song. And I know that
I’ve never really experienced true joy until this moment.

Our
guests embrace us with tearful congratulations, and the distant thunder rumbles
its own best wishes. And then the sky splits open, sending our guests back to
the boat and leaving us alone—the best wedding gift we could hope for.

The
rain is beating down around us, but we don’t feel it. The harder the drops try
to wash away our joy, the more we smile. A flame sparks in his eyes as he sweeps
my legs out from under me and cradles me in his arms. I just laugh, offering my
face to the sky, taunting it to do its worst.

He
watches me for a moment, and we are motionless while the rain lashes the
ground. When he brings his lips to mine I taste his smile. This moment in time,
this point of light in the universe that is us—I stamp it on the flesh of my
heart where the erosion of time has no reach.

With
me in his arms, he wends his way through the lush vegetation, until he reaches
the intended destination. I gasp in wonder as he sets me down at the edge of
the water.