Sparks Fly

he replied, “I guess so. I grew up spending every summer in the Adirondack Mountains of New York with my grandparents. There weren’t many fancy things in that small cottage, but we had sailboats.”
    “Did your parents come out to the lake, too?”
    “My mom did, when she could.” He paused. “My dad skipped out on us when I was five. I haven’t seen him since.”

    * * *
    Will knew he’d already said too much. But he felt so comfortable talking with Angelina that the words kept coming. “The thing is, it wasn’t so bad that he left me. But my mom was on her way to becoming a truly amazing painter. After he left, she had to work two jobs to keep us flush, and by the time she got home she was usually too tired to paint. I used to set out her easels for her, hoping she would paint for even a few minutes, but she never did. By the time I was about to graduate from college, and I saw just how tired she had become from all her years of hard work, I vowed that one day I would make so much money she could paint all day, every day. I wanted to give her everything.”
    “I’ll bet you did just that, didn’t you?”
    “I wanted to build her a mansion and fill it with clothes and jewelry, but the only thing she wanted was the summer house my grandparents rented all those years. I’ll never be able to make up for what she had to sacrifice for me.”
    “It sounds to me like she has everything she needs. It sounds like she’s happy.”
    Maybe. But he would never be able to do enough to make up for the way his deadbeat dad had treated her.
    Everyone clambered up on the flybridge to join them and Will hoped she would forget his foolish babbling. Rounding the corner into a calm bay off Angel Island, he announced, “Let’s drop anchor and head ashore.”
    A cheer went up from the crowd on the flybridge. Turning off the engine, Will grabbed the two other men on board to help him lift and dump the huge anchor off the bow, leaving Angelina and Krista alone up top.
    Krista wasted no time. “Can you believe this yacht?” Without waiting for an answer, she said,
    “And his gorgeous friend James? Oh my God, I could lounge around on this boat forever! Your boyfriend is the most delicious, wealthy catch in the entire world. In fact, he’s on this month’s—”
    Angelina glared at her friend. “Shh!”
    “What? It’s not like his big bucks are a huge secret or anything.”
    Angelina rolled her eyes and thought, not for the first time, how amazing it was that her best friend could be so incredibly intelligent about some things, but so clueless about others.
    “First of all, he’s not my boyfriend. And second, every time you bring up how rich he is, you really embarrass him.” When Krista opened her mouth to protest, Angelina smacked her on the arm.
    “What if every person who met you commented on your big breasts?”
    Krista grinned wickedly. “They usually do.”
    Angelina was more than a little exasperated by this point. “You know what I mean. And by the way, I think you should know you’ve got it all wrong. You’re making your moves on the wrong guy.”
    Krista looked confused. “What? You don’t think James and I are perfect for each other? Our kids would be absolutely adorable, you know.”
    “Try your look-how-shallow-I-am act on someone else. I’m not saying he wouldn’t be fine for a night—”
    “Or two. Or three.”
    “Fine, give the guy a whole week. That’s not the point. All I’m saying is that I think you should consider Derek.”
    “He’s not my type.”
    “He could be.”
    Before her friend could reply, Will called up to them from the deck below. “Anyone up for a ride to the beach in the dinghy, or some kayaks?”
    Krista hopped up with a defiant look stamped across her features. Leaning over the rail just enough to give everyone below a clear view of her ample cleavage, she said, “James, what were you planning on doing?”
    “The double kayak,” he replied in a bored tone.
    “That sounds perfect,” she said, pretending not to hear Angelina’s snort of disapproval as she climbed back down to the lower deck and disappeared to help untie the kayak.
    Angelina followed down the ladder after her and joined Will and Derek by the dinghy. Derek offered, “Why don’t the two of you take the dinghy to the island? I’ll just hang out on the boat and get some sun.”
    “I’ve got a better idea,” replied Angelina. “Let’s all three of us hike the Island loop