Pacey led Lisette, blindfold covering her eyes, through the wooded area. As soon as she felt the pebbles underneath her feet, she wailed, “If I find out we’re camping, I’m screaming.”
“Not quite that,” Pacey assured her. He looked up as he saw the dock before him. There he’d set up a picnic table with several dishes covered up.
When they reached the table, he took off her blindfold. Lisette squinted, not sure what was going on. “I don’t get it.”
“Did you think I was incapable of romance?” Pacey removed the wraps to reveal the meal.
“I’m not quite sure what to make of this situation. I see a bowl of linguini and a bottle of sparkling apple cider. I don’t claim to be a connoisseur of fine dining. I’ve never even claimed to be materialistic. Am I just missing the point?”
“I see where the confusion lies. You see, everything’s not set yet.” He pointed out to a small boat on the dock. “That’s the Valentine’s surprise.”
“You’re going to sail that boat? Do you have any clue what you’d even do on a boat?”
Pacey placed his hands on his hips, insulted by her reaction. “I’ll have you know that I spent one whole summer on that boat. The owner used to sail all the time but now rarely does since he’s sick.”
“It’s February. There’s ice out there in the water.”
“I didn’t say we were sailing. Just that everything we need is on the boat.” He picked up the bowl and the cider and headed for the vessel. Lisette reluctantly followed.
Pacey climbed up on the box and stepped on the boat, setting down the food. He held out a hand for Lisette. She accepted his hand as she awkwardly boarded. Once there, she could see the arrangement; Pacey had gone through much trouble decorating the boat with flowers and heart-shaped candies.
Lisette immediately felt ashamed that she thought Pacey couldn’t be romantic. He led her to the table, which had two glasses and completed settings. She sat down on a bench as Pacey served.
She apologized, “I’m sorry I doubted you. This is just completely unexpected. We’ve dated for almost six months and not once have you shown this side of yourself.”
Pacey answered as he pressed play on the cassette player and an oldies song blared, “I used to be like this a lot more.” Such as when he dated Joey, when it didn’t require much thought to pull off a stunt like this. While convincing himself that Joey hadn’t sent the letter, he also realized he hadn’t been fair to Lisette. So he wracked his brain to think of a special way to celebrate Valentine’s Day with her.
He hoped she’d enjoy what he planned but he had to admit it was strange to be on this boat. The reason he’d been working on this boat in the first place was because of Joey. It had been almost one year since his relationship with her had ended and, rather than risk seeing her all the time, he took a job at the boatyard. That led to a friendship with one owner, an eccentric millionaire, who insisted that he come by his boat after hours. There he’d hear his many tales of love lost and all didn’t seem as dire.
Then he had to see her the day of the engagement dinner and he was back at square one. The difference was there was now someone else who had invested time in him. It wasn’t right for her to get only part of Pacey Witter’s heart. He hoped this dinner could change that.
They sat down and ate their meal in relative silence, intermitting with small talk. That is, until Lisette mentioned her column. “I have been receiving some strange letters from this one reader.”
Pacey had a forkful of linguini heading for his mouth but stopped upon hearing that. “How so?”
“She’s been giving me unsolicited advice. She claims she knows you and that you’re still hung up on your ex-girlfriend. Granted, I’m not a Joey fan but even I had to wonder what she was talking about.”
He settled the fork back in the plate. “Are you sure this person knows who you are? She could just be someone who’s reading too deep into your stories.”
Lisette nodded furiously. “She gave details about you there is no way she’d know from the column. Stuff that I didn’t even know about you and Joey but that I could totally believe. Anyway, so she’s saying you’re just waiting for the moment that Joey gives up.”
“This is sick,” Pacey muttered, trying to disguise any truth. What he felt had nothing to do with the letters Lisette received. None of his friends would stoop to this low a level.
He wondered if it was connected to the mysterious note in the laundry room. Pacey asked Jack about the note when he finished laundry. Jack confirmed that Joey hadn’t been in town; in fact, Joey and Jen had called him from a bar while Pacey was gone. For some reason, they were singing along to some cover band. Drunkenly, of course, since there was no way Joey would be singing under any other circumstance.
Lisette continued, “And then she mentioned how Joey used to travel across a creek in a boat and this made me think of that.”
“I honestly never thought of that.” Actually, Pacey never knew that. Yes, Joey would call herself the girl from the “wrong side of the creek” and that Dawson was considered on the “right” side. It hadn’t occurred to him that she actually traveled by a boat.
Lisette crossed her arms over her chest. “You never did this for her?” she asked doubtfully.
“No!” Pacey replied quickly, despising how even something as innocent as a Valentine’s dinner couldn’t get Joey out of the picture. “We were over long before I started work here. I have no idea where this is all coming from. Maybe she’s a vindictive former friend of Joey’s.”
“Uh uh,” she said apprehensively. “Next thing you’ll say is that this girl swiped a journal stating all this shit.”
Pacey’s mouth dropped open as the ghost of Abby Morgan cast down. “Journal? How did you know that?”
“Huh? Pacey, I was kidding around.” She rested her hand on Pacey’s, which was now unsteady. “What’s wrong?”
Pacey shook off the doubts. “It’s just... there was this girl freshman year who stole Joey’s journal and…what you said made me think of that. Even months after she left the dorm, I’d still hear these whispers regarding things Joey wrote. Some of it involved me…” He looked up at Lisette, realizing he was boring her with the details. “I’m being paranoid, right?”
Lisette offered him a peck on the cheek. “Maybe a little.” But even she understood there were some things that couldn’t be avoided.