Page 102 of Cuts like a Knife
We pass the restaurant which looks closed and bears a sign reading Chat ‘N’ Chill, then follow the curve of the beach around to a little sheltered cove.
“Watch out for urchins,” warns Maylee and I look down into the still water, which is indeed crowded with spiky purple creatures, but I don’t even care.
They’re married?
They’re married!?
This changes everything.
It was one thing when they were just dating, but if they’re married, that’s an honest-to-god scoop. In addition to being a serious act of fraud against the show, it’s just … news. It’s real news. I have a duty to report it. And no one knows. Clearly, no one else has any idea.
As we make our way around the curve, I try to make my voice casual and calm. Like I don’t really care at all about the answer. Like I’m just making conversation.
“So was the actual wedding here,” I say, “or just the honeymoon?”
“The actual wedding,” answers Danny. “It was the best. Totally low key. Just us, JP, and Maylee’s sister.”
“Danny,” Maylee’s voice has a note of warning in it and she gives me a slightly grim, awkward smile. “Lex is a reporter, you know.”
“Aw, she’s alright. You said it yourself. She’s one of the good ones. Don’t be paranoid, May. Nobody really cares if we’re married.”
“The show. The show would care,” she says.
“She already knows we’re together. What about you, mate?” Danny says to Drew. “You don’t care, do you?”
Drew holds up both hands. “Definitely none of my business,” he says.
“See?” Danny says. “And Lex, you’re cool right? You write for a little local paper right? Light stuff, I bet. Hot or not articles? Show recaps? That kind of thing? Let me guess, you have a How They Met column? All the little pubs have those. There are tonne of them in Montreal. After this week, give us a call and you can do an exclusive How They Met about us. We’ll just fudge the dates a little. We’ll say we met here, doing the show, and got married on a whim. Here. All the other details can be true. We’ll even send you photos.”
My mind is racing. How They Met. Please309.
“Please don’t tell anyone, Alexis,” Maylee says310.
“She’s not going to tell anyone!” Danny exclaims. “Relax, babe. She’s hardly going to ruin our lives for some stupid story. She’s cool. You’re cool, right?” He’s looking over his shoulder at me. I don’t know what to do with my face.
“I like to think of myself as cool, sure,” I finally say. Non-committal.
“Good. Okay, so here’s where we have to wade,” says Danny, stopping abruptly on the sand. There’s a little river of water in front of us, with more sand and a rising dune on the opposite bank.
“There must be a way around,” says Drew. “A bridge or something?”
“Nope. Or, technically yes, but it would take way too long. We wade. Don’t worry, the water is deeper than it looks, but the tide isn’t at it’s highest right now. It shouldn’t go over your head. But just in case — you can swim right?”
Drew and I both nod.
“This is why I said to bring a backpack,” Maylee explains. “Put anything you don’t want to get wet inside and hold it over your head,” she instructs.
Drew laughs and begins to prepare.
“Here, give me your phone,” he says. I hand it over and he tucks it into the canvas bag. “Sandals too.” I hand them over.
“You should actually take off your clothes. Go across in just your suits,” Maylee instructs.
My butt is already soaked from my surprise fall at the dock, but we all strip down, and Drew stuffs the backpack as tightly as possible, with our beach towels poking out a little from the top.
“I can’t fit in anything else,” he says. He’s still wearing his shirt, which is unbuttoned, revealing his tanned chest and abs.
I look quickly away. This is not the time to think about Drew and his annoyingly perfect body.
