Free Evercrossed by Elizabeth Chandler Page B

asked Ivy, holding out the bowl. "Thanks." Setting the bowl on a small table between them, Dhanya rocked back and forth for a moment, then put her feet up on the railing, studying them.
    "Lavender polish looks good on you," Ivy said.
    Dhanya wrinkled her nose. "I'll never have pretty feet. Dancers don't—we abuse our toes."
    "Do you do ballet?"
    "And modern, and jazz, even tap. I used to do Indian, but my teacher was old and strict—she had this thing about attitude. Discipline, Dhanya, discipline."
    Dhanya imitated a British sounding accent, and grimaced. "Want to come with Kelsey and me to Chatham today? Max is having a group of friends over from college."
    "Thanks, but I'm headed out to Provincetown with Beth and Will this afternoon."
    Dhanya sighed. "You're so lucky—Will's great"
    "Mmm," Ivy replied, and changed the subject. "Tell me about Max." Dhanya rolled her eyes. "Kelsey said you liked him," Ivy added. "Kelsey would like me to like him. Somehow she thinks he's perfect for me, which is kind of insulting. She keeps telling me I'm a snob. Do you think so?"
    Ivy was surprised by the blunt question. "I think most of us are snobs in one way or another. We just don't see our own prejudices."
    "Yes, but some people really are nose in the air types," Dhanya asserted. "I hate that. Especially when they do it to me."
    "So, what's Max like?" Ivy asked.
    "Rich." Dhanya pointed her toes, then relaxed her ankles. "I need to stop digging my feet in the sand. They're paler than my legs. . . . Max is rich and tacky, into stuff like cigarette boats and gaudy sports cars. He may have lots of money, but he acts so ... blue collar."
    Ivy bit her lip to keep from laughing. Before her mother married Andrew, they had lived in blue collar Norwalk.
    "His father owns a chain of discount clothing stores," Dhanya added.
    Ivy cocked her head. "So?"
    "Max looks like he buys his clothes from his father. I want someone as rich as Max and as classy as Will."
    "Maybe that guy will show up at Max's beach party," Ivy replied, trying to hide her irritation— she didn't need anyone to remind her that Will was a great guy.
    "Did you date someone you really liked in high school?"
    "No, but I have a Facebook boyfriend," Dhanya said. "Of course, it's hard to take a guy from Australia to the senior prom."
    After a long silence, Dhanya added, "Thanks for not saying, 'Get real, Dhanya'! Kelsey says I live in la la land. She says I'm afraid of real guys."
    For a moment, Ivy felt bad for Dhanya. "Kelsey has a lot to say about you. Maybe she should focus on herself, and leave you alone for a while."
    Dhanya smiled a little, "Yeah. Maybe she should. More berries?"
    "No thanks."
    Dhanya scooped up the last handful, then picked up the bowl and headed back to the cottage.
    Opening her mystery. Ivy read the first chapter —read it twice before she had absorbed enough to go on. But eventually the sea, salty air, and sunny porch faded, and Ivy was creeping with the hero down a dark backstreet of London.
    About a half hour later, she felt a hand resting on her shoulder.
    "Hey, Will," she said. "Get everything you wanted?"
    "Who's Will?" At the sound of Guy's voice, Ivy spun around, not sure if she felt annoyed or glad about his reappearance. "How did you know where to find me?"
    "Your hospital papers. How did you know I'd come back to the parking lot?"
    He was wearing the sweatshirt and cargos she had bought him—and his old shoes; the new ones were tied to the backpack.
    "I didn't. I was just too mad to go back in the store and return the stuff."
    One side of Guy's mouth lifted in a smile. He dropped his backpack on the porch. Seeing a new bedroll attached to it. Ivy hoped he had used her cash rather than shoplifting it.
    "Have a seat," she invited.
    He shook his head and leaned against the railing facing her. "I'm kind of muddy."
    "Where have you been staying?"
    He shrugged. "Around."
    Ivy closed her book. "Around here?"
    "Here and there," he replied