Chapter 96

　　We have lunch on the main deck with the rest of the party, eating chicken Caesar salad and drinking wine, relaxing on the padded double loungers in the mid-day sun. Jake’s beside me, leaning toward Daniel’s lounger, his strong back covered in a pale gray T-shirt; they’re talking about a New York Giant’s game they recently went to at the MetLife Stadium. I’m facing the lounger with Richard and Leila; she and I are engrossed in girl talk and making plans. She agrees to take me to the mainland for some girly shopping and to a salon to get my hair cut.

　　I catch Jake staring back at me as she picks up strands of my hair, talking about cutting it short; he frowns when she mentions a really short pixie style, but I shrug it off. I wonder what he’s thinking. He seems only half tuned in to what Daniel is saying and more interested in how much of my tawny locks are to be shorn off.