Page 11 of Summer on Lilac Island

Gigi followed the doctor outside.

The word debonaire popped into her mind, varnished in sarcasm. It was clear why Eloise endorsed him. Like Mackinac itself, Dr. Kentwood was

a relic of a prior generation.

He was dressed in breeches and a double-breasted blazer with big silver buttons. His tall, lean frame gave him the look of

someone too finnicky about his protein intake. Cropped dark hair was matted from his riding helmet, and he was very clean-shaven,

as if he’d just come from the barber. Wide-set gray eyes cooled his otherwise warm features.

If his hair were grown out and his body draped over a surfboard, Gigi might say he had potential. As it stood now, he certainly

did not. His formality felt like a personal affront.

Gigi never would have swiped on him on a dating app, and not just because she tried to avoid people with self-important jobs

like “doctor.” He was objectively very handsome but had no edge to him, no glint in his eyes, no strut to his step. It was

apparent from the first introduction that Gigi’s personality would have to dazzle for the both of them.

She was mostly glad for this. It would have been highly unfortunate if she actually liked the doctor. She could never live

that down with Eloise. Besides, the last thing she wanted was for anything or anyone to tether her to the island. Come Labor

Day, she was gone. Where she was going was yet to be determined, but the departure date was set.

The goal for tonight was just to uphold her end of the deal so the real fun could begin with Eloise and Clyde.

She still couldn’t believe her notoriously single mother was going on an actual date.

Rebecca was thrilled too, and jealous, which made Gigi feel good.

It had been a long time since Rebecca had been jealous of her, and it felt like a sign that their relationship might be returning to homeostasis.

Gigi was already tired of holding the grudge about the wedding.

The truth was she missed her little sister.

Mackinac wasn’t the same without her, and it felt good to have something to bond over with Rebecca, even something as unlikely as their mother’s dating life.

Tonight Gigi would enjoy a free meal and perform as if she were the leading lady in a film from the forties. Pretending she

was on a movie set was a trick she used to dispel any awkward intimacy. She’d only dated a few people long enough for her

to drop the act, and none long enough to call it love, though one had tried three years back and Gigi had been forced to correct

him.

Gigi knew her big love was out there, but it seemed increasingly unlikely that she was going to stumble upon it in the continental

United States. She’d started browsing through job openings at Swiss ski resorts, as she adored the idea of the Alps and how

exotic people would find her over there, but small hurdles like visas and finances stood in her way.

For now, she was stuck with Mackinac.

“Would you prefer to ride double since it’s just a short distance to the restaurant?” the doctor asked. “Or you could ride

alongside.”

“I don’t have a horse,” Gigi answered.

Too much mess and stench, Eloise always said, though Gigi had begged for one as a child.

Her dad had promised a pony for her tenth birthday.

Perhaps he’d known all along he wouldn’t be there to follow through.

Gigi preferred to think that he’d meant it at the time.

Either way, she’d grieved not getting a pony even more than she’d grieved when her dad moved out.

She clumped the messy ten-year-old emotions together, throwing tantrums for weeks, for months, wailing to Eloise about how unfair it all was.

Her mother should follow through on the promise her dad had made.

Eloise didn’t see it that way. As she grew older, Gigi could see Eloise’s side more.

That after Gus breached their marriage vows, keeping his pledge about the pony probably wasn’t important to her.

But it was important to Gigi. She’d tried not to believe in promises or make them after that.

“Double is fine,” Gigi said to the doctor. She could ride her bike but figured she might as well commit to the bit. Besides,

traveling by horseback would be a nice change from gridlocked LA traffic, and she did love riding. Her first job had been

mucking stalls at the Grand Hotel stables.

“Will you be okay with bare legs?” The doctor’s eyes rested on Gigi’s frayed shorts. He seemed to be trying not to stare,

and Gigi felt a stab of triumph.

“I’ll be fine,” Gigi said. “Contrary to popular belief, horseback riding doesn’t actually require you to dress like an eighteenth-century

British nobleman.”

He flinched but didn’t miss a beat. “I was going more for a nineteenth-century polo player.”

Gigi laughed in spite of herself. “Mission accomplished.”

It was a nice night, warm by Mackinac standards, but Gigi was grateful for Eloise’s cardigan, which she put on now. Her time

in Southern California had weakened her tolerance for anything below seventy-five degrees.

“I overdid it a little, didn’t I?” he went on, gesturing to his breeches and boots. “I’m new to riding. Didn’t grow up with

it downstate.”

Gigi found his self-effacing posture more endearing than she wanted to. “You’re from modern civilization then,” she said.

“Consider yourself lucky.”

His jawline squared off even more as his lips pulled together. “Depends on perspective, I guess. I was ready to get out of

the city, somewhere quieter.”

“Well, you certainly got your wish.”

His eyes met hers and twisted in like a key or a knife, Gigi wasn’t sure which. “Guess I did.”

The gray of his gaze felt very cold but in a way that made Gigi sweat through her deodorant. Breaking eye contact, she turned

to his horse, a gorgeous Friesian with a chocolate coat and thick black mane and bristly eyelashes. Gigi gave the horse’s

withers a friendly pat.

“This is Willow,” Dr. Kentwood said. “Dr. and Mrs. Moore adopted her last year. I’m staying at their guesthouse for the summer,

so they’re letting me ride her.” He scratched behind Willow’s ears in the spot horses enjoy only if they really trust you.

Willow neighed happily. “Willow, meet Miss Georgiana.”

“Gigi,” she corrected. Declining the doctor’s outstretched hand, she hoisted herself up onto the saddle. “What’s your first

name? Or would you prefer we wait until our betrothment before revealing such personal intimacies?”

He nearly smiled. “I’m James.”

Gigi already knew this from Eloise, and she’d learned other things, too, from her internet sleuthing, like which fancy schools

James had attended and that he’d gone to a medical volunteer camp in Haiti two summers back. He had the sort of “good guy”

internet search results that made Gigi think he was either plain vanilla or hiding something. She hoped it was the latter

but sensed it was the former.

Somewhat clumsily, James joined Gigi on the saddle, sitting in front. Gigi scooched back so they wouldn’t touch, though she

felt a strange pull to move closer. She put it down to her hormones rebelling against her dating drought. She hadn’t gone

out with anyone in a couple months. She’d been trying to raise her standards, not that it had gotten her anywhere except curled

up in bed alone watching the trashiest reality TV she could find, her own brand of comfort food.

James gently tugged the reins. Gigi turned back to the house and gave a hearty wave for Eloise, who was sure to be spying.

“So, good doctor,” Gigi said as Willow carried them toward town, “where are you taking us to dine on this glorious summer

eve?”

Though it was approaching seven o’clock, the sun was still high and blithe. Being so far north and on the western edge of the eastern time zone meant June nights stretched extra-long on the island.

“The Carriage House,” James said. “If that’s okay?”

The waterfront restaurant had the most heavenly tin roof sundae with homemade hot fudge and salted skin-on peanuts. Growing

up, Gigi and Rebecca often chose the Carriage House for their birthday dinners. It was always a splurge. Eloise was a stay-at-home

mom and part-time crafter until Gigi’s dad left, at which point she’d become the church bookkeeper, a not-quite-full-time

job she was still doing now.

“A suitable establishment indeed,” Gigi said. Bored of her own antics, she abandoned the Regency-era act. “So how much is

Eloise paying you to take me out tonight?”

James’s already rigid body tensed. “Your mother didn’t pay me.”

“Well, I’m sure she will. She finds me impossible,” Gigi said. “You’ve probably heard the stories about me...”

James didn’t answer right away, all the confirmation Gigi needed. Shame flashed. Sometimes it took a moment to remember she

didn’t care what other people thought.

“Rumors don’t interest me,” he said.

“Rumors interest everyone.” She was trying to solve the puzzle of why he’d agreed to the date. Gigi’s reputation was as tattered

as they came. A family doctor didn’t seem the type to crave association with someone like her. “I suppose this is a savvy

PR move for you,” she said. “Take me out for dinner and show everyone how charitable you are. Or perhaps you just didn’t know

how to say no to Eloise. You wouldn’t be the first victim of her persuasion.”

“What flattering theories,” James quipped. “Any others to add to the mix?”

Gigi loved the feeling of excavating his sarcasm.

“Taking me out could also be a self-esteem booster,” Gigi said.

“You can flaunt your college and med school credentials, knowing I dropped out of high school the week before graduation. Finding yourself stuck on a rural island for the summer, not exactly a prestigious appointment, you can feel better about yourself by comparing your career to mine.”

James didn’t say anything.

“Well?” Gigi rapped him on the shoulder, accidentally taking note of how muscular it felt. “Am I right?”