“That would be nice.” She smiled wistfully as she imagined sleeping on the bay. “Did you always love the ocean?”

“Uh … I don’t know.” Daniel crinkled his brow as if he hadn’t thought of it before. “I guess I’ve always liked it.”

“How did you end up living on a boat, then?”

“It’s not very romantic,” he warned her. “My grandpa died and left me this boat. I got evicted from my apartment and needed a place to crash. And here we are.”

“Gemma!” Someone shouted from outside the boat, and Daniel and Gemma exchanged a confused look. “Gemma!”

“Is that your sister?” Daniel asked.

“I think so.” Gemma set down her can and headed out to the deck to see what Harper was carrying on about.

Harper stood on the dock next to Gemma’s bike holding the bike chain in her hand. Her dark hair was in a ponytail, which swung back and forth as she looked around frantically.

“Gemma!” Harper yelled again, the tremor in her voice betraying her fear.

Gemma went over to the railing and looked down at her sister. “Harper?”

“Gemma!” Harper turned to face her, relief washing over her until she saw Daniel standing on the boat behind her. “Gemma! What are you doing?”

“I was just drying off,” Gemma said. “Why are you freaking out so bad?”

“I came to see if you were coming home for lunch, and I found your bike chain unhooked on the dock, like something happened when you were locking it up, and I couldn’t find you, and now you’re on his boat!” Harper stomped toward Daniel’s boat, clenching the bike chain in her fist. “What were you doing?”

“Drying off,” Gemma repeated, growing annoyed with her sister for making a scene.

“Why?” Harper demanded and pointed at Daniel. “He is bad news!”

“Thanks,” Daniel said wryly, and Harper glared at him.

“Look, I’ll get on my bike, and we’ll go home, and you can be a total spaz there,” Gemma said.

“I am not being a spaz!” Harper shouted, then stopped and took a deep breath. “But you’re right. We will talk about this at home.”

“Yay.” Gemma sighed. She took the towel from around her shoulders and handed it back to Daniel. “Thanks.”

“No problem. And sorry if I got you in trouble.”

“Ditto,” Gemma said, offering him a small, apologetic smile.

Gemma threw her backpack onto the dock, then hopped over the railing after it. She took her chain from Harper, grabbed her bag, and went down to her bike to put her clothes on before she rode home.

“You are a disgusting pervert,” Harper snarled at Daniel and pointed her finger at him. “Gemma is only sixteen years old, and even though you have some sort of Peter Pan complex, you are still a twenty-year-old man. You are too old to be messing around with her.”

“Oh, please.” Daniel rolled his eyes. “She’s just a kid. I wasn’t hitting on her.”

“That is not what it looks like from here.” Harper crossed her arms. “I should report you for living on this stupid boat and for your abhorrent behavior hanging around with underage girls.”

“Do what you gotta do, but I’m not a creep.” He leaned against the railing and looked down at Harper. “Those girls were hassling your sister, and I stepped in to get her away from them.”

“What girls?” Harper asked.

“Those girls.” Daniel waved vaguely. “I think the head one is named Penn or something.”

“The really pretty girls?” Harper tensed up.

She hadn’t thought Daniel had done anything to Gemma, not really, but at the mention of Penn, her stomach tightened.

“I guess.” Daniel shrugged.

“They were messing with Gemma?” She glanced back at Gemma, who was pulling on her tank top and appeared unharmed. “How?”

“I don’t know exactly.” He shook his head. “But they had her surrounded, and she looked scared. I just don’t trust them, and I didn’t want them around her. I asked her on my boat to hide out until they left, and you showed up like ten minutes later. That’s all that happened.”

“Oh.” Harper felt bad for yelling at him now, but she didn’t want to let on. “Well. Thank you for looking out for my sister. But you shouldn’t have her on your boat.”

“I hadn’t planned on making a habit out of it.”

“Good.” Harper shifted her weight, still trying to look indignant. “I think she’s seeing someone anyway.”

“Harper, I already told you, I’m not into your sister.” Daniel smirked. “But if I didn’t know any better, I would say you were jealous.”

“Oh, please.” Harper wrinkled her nose. “Don’t be disgusting.”

Daniel laughed at her protests, and for some reason, Harper began to blush.

Gemma sped past her on her bike, shouting a good-bye to Daniel as she did. With her sister gone, Harper didn’t really have any reason to wait around on the dock, but she stayed behind for a moment, trying to think of something to snap at Daniel for. When she couldn’t come up with anything, she turned and left, acutely aware that he was watching her walk away.

SEVEN

Picnic

Capri had been founded by Thomas Thermopolis in southeastern Maryland on June 14, 1802, so every fourteenth of June the town held a celebration in his honor. Most of the stores in town closed for it, as they would for any other major holiday. It had become nothing more than a big picnic with a few rides and concessions, but everybody turned out, both the townies and the tourists alike.