Twelve years later, he looked inward at that pebble of a feeling he’d cov ered up for so long, and saw that his curse was a blessing, a way out, a compass. And he’d followed it here.
Bastien waded out until the sudsy waves lapped against his shins. He spread his arms wide and tipped his chin to the sky as the steady push and pull of the ocean drove him deeper and deeper into the sand. Yes, this could be his home.
“You shouldn’t be out here!”
Bastien’s arms snapped down to his sides as he swiveled his head to follow the voice.
“Hello! Hi!”
Bastien squinted at the willowy young woman standing even farther from the shoreline than he was. It was her. Had he really been so lost in his thoughts that he’d missed her?
She waved her long, graceful arms to get his attention before cupping her hands around her mouth. “Sorry, but the ocean, it’s really angry. You shouldn’t be here.”
Bastien splashed toward her, his legs reacting to the sight of her, the ange, fluttering those delicate wings of hers as she warned him to be wary of the only thing in life he didn’t fear.
He slowed before reaching her, careful to not splash her pretty blue top that fit her slim body like a second skin.
“Oh,” a warm smile curled her pink lips. “It’s you.”
Bastien’s mouth hung open, his thoughts heavily clanking together like marbles. Speak!
“Neither should you.”
Wind whipped strands of her fair, blond hair from her ponytail and she tucked them behind her ear. “Neither should I what?” Quizzically, she looked up at him, but not too far up.
Bastien’s cheeks warmed as a quick look took in the length of her silky, ballerinaesqe legs. Refusing to repeat his past behavior, he snapped his gaze back to hers. “Be out here. With the ocean like this, furieux, sauvage.”
“Savage,” her lips parted gently as she took in the gray waves reaching like mountains across the shore break. “Yes, that’s a good way to describe it.” She paused, closing her eyes and bending down until the end of her ponytail fell into the water and splayed under the surface like threads of gold.
The way she listened to the water was the most beautiful thing Bastien had ever seen. Every nerve in his body, every tendril of his soul yearned to reach out to her.
Her eyelids fluttered open and she abruptly righted herself, her cheeks deepening to a bright coral reef pink. “Sorry, I’m not sure what came over me.” She held on to the dripping end of her ponytail as she braced herself against a sudden gust of wind. “But you definitely shouldn’t be here. I um, I have to be. I can’t explain it exactly, but I do.”
The water cooled and thickened to jam around his feet. They were coming. “I’m staying here, me.”
The wind intensified, hurling sprays of salty water against them.
“It’s getting worse.” Her eyes seemed to darken, reflecting the same oyster gray as the roiling waves.
“Ouragan,” hurricane. Bastien whispered as the first droplets of rain splattered against his shoulders.
Violent splashing pulled Bastien’s attention from the darkening sky and ominous, curling waves to the shore behind him. A lean, scraggly beast sprinted toward them, its tongue flopped listlessly to the side as it splashed closer.
Bastien tensed, readying himself as the long-legged beauty skipped a few paces toward the animal and crouched down, her arms spread wide.
“No!” Bastien leaped forward as the two of them collided, the young woman falling back onto her butt in a splash of water and giggles.
“It’s fine,” she laughed, coming to her knees and wrapping her slender arms around the dog’s lean neck. “She just wanted to say hello.” She buried her face into the wet fur with a smacking kiss noise.
Bastien unclenched his fist and tentatively extended his hand. Growing up, he hadn’t had a dog or any animal, so he wasn’t certain if the scruffy dog would take to him. She pressed her cold nose against his fingers and, with a wag of her tail, licked the rain pooling in his palm.
A sharp whistle split the air, followed by a shout.
“Bugs-a-Million!” A gravelly voice called over the increasing wind and pelting rain. “Bugsy, ol’ girl, get back here!”
The young woman waved to the man in the same graceful, fluttering way she had to Bastien as she hooked the fingers of her free hand under the big dog’s collar. “She’s no bother!” she shouted, leading the bouncing dog to its owner.
Bastien bit his lower lip, nodding at the shadows circling his feet before following her to shore.
“Really, it was nice having another visitor,” the young woman was saying as she twirled one of the dog’s floppy ears between her fingers.
“I appreciate you returning my girl to me, Miss…”
“Charlotte,” her curtsey echoed the old Southern politeness and charm he hadn’t realized he’d been missing. “And this is Bastien.”
She remembers! Bastien silently cursed himself for not having enough sense to ask for her name.
The gentle creases around the old man’s eyes deepened with a squint. “Well, I’ll be goddamned. No wonder you two are out here acting like this is some regular ol’ day when there’s a big storm coming.” He scratched the top of the dog’s scruffy head. “And it’s raining again. Damn.” He peered down at his companion who looked up at him expectantly. “Not a good sign, ol’ girl. Not a good sign at all. But goddammit, we found ’em. We still got it, Bugsy.” Then he lifted his gaze to the two of them again. “My name is Linus Bowen. I live down the beach a couple miles. Do either of you have a phone? I need to make a call. Fast. It’s an emergency. Then I need to talk to you kids. It’s going to sound crazy, but—”
“Mr. Bowen!”
The old guy whipped around with the agility of a much younger man. A switch flipped inside the huge dog’s head, sending it from a tongue-lolling sweetheart to a dangerous beast. She hugged Bowen’s side, lips curled back in a growl as a petite black woman, flanked by three men, seemed to materialize from the rain and wind.
“Like I said before, you’re a hard man to find.”
29
CHARLOTTE