Chapter 9
“Are you going to stand in front of that aquarium all day?” Max teased.
“Maybe,” I said. I glanced at him. The room we were in was dim, the tanks were lit up inside. I liked the feel of the place.
By the time we had finished eating, the sky was a questionable, rugged gray. We walked back to the house. Instead of spending some time on the beach, like we’d planned, Max decided to show me around the town.
Not long after we were tucked inside of his car, the rain started coming down. He pointed out places along the way. Among the places he showed me were the school he’d gone to, the nearest grocery store, the city park and the university he would be attending in the fall. The campus looked beautiful. Its flowerbeds were overflowing with vibrant colored blossoms that broke up the monotony of the red brick buildings. Max had told me that their business program was good. But their journalism program was better.
When we’d passed the Sapphire Bay Aquarium, we’d stopped on a whim. We really had nothing better to do. I felt like Max was simply humoring me but since he really didn’t seem to mind, I let him.
We’d already made our way through the complex once. It had been a decent enough way to pass a rainy afternoon. The place was huge, most of it was indoors. I saw more forms of sea life than I’d ever seen before. It was a quiet workday afternoon so we didn’t have to fight a crowd. Max and I’d spent a ridiculous amount of time petting stingrays.
On the way out, I’d stopped at the sea horse tank again.
“I could watch them all day,” I said.
They were the coolest little creatures. They looked so peaceful and content just bobbing along. I found them sort of fascinating, really.
“Not as scary as the sharks?” he teased.
I poked a finger into his chest. “Hey, those shark tanks can break. It happens!”
We had walked through a long tunnel, a tube really, that went through an enormous shark tank. It was an eerie feeling, walking through as too many sharks to count glided all around. They were above us and below us, essentially surrounding us on all sides. I had clutched on to Max’s arm. He was kind enough to not peel me off.
“You and your phobias,” he said. He shook his head, mocking me.
“I don’t have phobias. I just don’t like spiders. Or sharks. Or snakes.”
“Or heights, or mice, or small places,” he added on.
“Hey, that doesn’t count. You know I was just taken by surprise.” I knew he was referring to the time I’d been locked inside of the darkroom. I’d gone in to check on some photos he’d taken for the photography class we were both in. The door had closed behind me. I may have panicked just a little until Max had shown up. I’d tumbled out of the room, nearly knocking him down. He’d calmly rubbed my back until my heart stopped trying to jump out of my chest.
“What’s your excuse for the fire tower?” he wondered.
I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes at him. He had me and he knew it. Our science class had taken a trip to the forestry center our senior year. Everyone had taken their turn, in groups of ten, trudging to the top of the tower to check out the view. All one hundred feet to the top. Everyone except for me.
“Fine,” I relented. “I have some silly fears. Sometimes, I tend to be overly cautious. What can I say? I’m flawed.”
“Nah,” he said as he reached over to mess up my hair. “You’re not flawed. You’re just quirky. Besides, you’re kind of funny when you’re scared.” A smirk was trying to force its way out. “When that big shark came toward us, I thought you were going to tear my arm right off. In fact,” he said as he rubbed his bicep, “I think you may have drawn blood.”
“I wasn’t scared. They just kind of make me nervous. These,” I said as I pointed to the delicate looking seahorses, “are much more fun to look at.”
He apparently tired of teasing me because he changed the subject.
“Well, the sun is out, now. So you can either watch those all day or we could get some beach time in,” he told me.
I decided going back to the beach house sounded like a good idea. I’d started to unpack a few things that morning. But I hadn’t really had a chance to settle in or explore. As we were leaving the aquarium I stopped in the gift shop.
I followed the maze through the displays, not really sure what I was looking for. Max good-naturedly followed along behind me. We wove our way through the store, sidestepping a few other people and swerving around racks.
I stopped in front of a display of sand dollars.
“I love these things,” I told him.
“You can find those,” Max said. “On the beach I mean. I used to collect them when I was a kid.”
“Really?”
He nodded. “Yeah, usually after a storm is best. They wash up on shore. No sense buying them when you can collect them. Finding them yourself is way more fun.”
“That makes sense,” I said.
I put the sand dollar I was holding back in the enormous ceramic bowl it had been resting in. I was determined to buy some sort of souvenir. I took off again, bypassing the racks of stuffed sharks, turtles and puffer fish. I found myself at the back of the shop. The back wall was covered in t-shirts. I found a completely cheesy, entirely touristy pink t-shirt adorned with shimmery silver seahorses.
I held it up to my chest. “Do you like it?”
Max made a face at me but kept his comments to himself.
Twenty minutes later, we were home.
The rain had stopped and the sun had managed to force its way through the clouds. The air was warm again, even if there was a breeze. We went in and changed into our swimsuits. I spent a few minutes picking up some things I’d left lying around my room. I had to dig around in my bag to find a rubber band so I could hoist my hair up.
I checked my phone and answered texts from both Dani and Felicia. Both asked if I was doing okay. To my surprise, I was. For the most part, anyway. If I let thoughts of Collin creep into my head, my chest was filled with a dull ache. Somehow, I’d managed to keep my thoughts of him to a minimum.
My mom had left a few voicemails. I decided I’d call her back later. I was surprised to see that my dad and Gwen had called as well.
Of course, there were no calls from Collin.
I sent off another quick text to Lanna to let her know I was doing fine. Then I shut my phone off again.
I wandered out to the kitchen and poured myself a glass of water. Max had already gone out. I could see him through the glass doors. He was pacing the shoreline. The waves looked calmer than they had been earlier in the day. He seemed to be inspecting the ground, intent on finding the perfect place for us to sit. I wasn’t sure what difference fifteen or twenty feet made but he looked a bit preoccupied. After a little more wandering, he seemed to find an acceptable spot. He spread out the blanket as I finished up my glass of water.
The fresh air hit me the moment I stepped through the door. I hadn’t really had a chance to look around much. It had gotten dark so quickly the night before. I’d been busy with other things earlier that morning. Now that I had the time, I stood on the deck and took in my surroundings.
The beach in front of us was sandy. Off to the right, the shoreline changed and became rockier. Then it evened out again and I noticed there was a large resort on the other side. To the left were more houses dotting the shoreline.
Max glanced over his shoulder as I approached.
“Now I understand why you were in such a hurry to move back here,” I said. He was seated at the edge of the blanket. I settled down next to him.
He nodded. “When I lived here, I took it for granted. I didn’t realize how much I would miss it.”
“It still feels like home to you?”
“I don’t think I really ever want to live anywhere else.”
I closed my eyes for a second, letting my other senses take over. I’d copied Max and seated myself at the edge of the blanket. I leaned back, propping myself up with my hands as they rested behind me. My fingers dug into the sand as I listened to the waves rolling in. The combination of sunshine and gentle breeze were perfect together.
I felt Max’s fingers brush mine. His pinky settled on my pinky. I reflexively started to move my hand away, feeling as though I’d gotten into his space. He surprised me by gently latching his fingers around mine. Startled, I glanced over at him. He was looking up at the sky. He was wearing a comically innocent expression.
I stared at him for a moment, perplexed by his odd action. I was waiting for him to say something. This was just not the kind of thing Max did. Not with me, anyway. He had to have known I was watching even though he didn’t look my way. Before I could ask what he thought he was doing, I felt him drag my hand gently through the sand. I was only vaguely aware that it bumped into something with a rough edge. I became more aware as he squeezed my hand, causing me to squeeze the unfamiliar object lightly.
I glanced over my shoulder and his hand abruptly left mine.
“What are you doing?” I finally asked. I couldn’t help but laugh at his odd behavior.
“Nothin’,” he said with a shrug.
My gaze returned to the object in the sand that was half buried, half in my hand. “Is that…?” I plucked it out. “Max! It’s a sand dollar!”
He feigned surprise. “Would you look at that? I guess it’s your lucky day. You found one all on your own.”
“Did you plant that there?”
He shook his head and looked offended. “No, of course not.”
I gave his shoulder a shove and laughed. Now I understood why he’d been so intently scouring the beach. He may not have put it there, but he’d been very picky about where to spread out the blanket.
I held it up and brushed it off. It was unbroken and nearly perfect. “Oh, thank you,” I said as I continued my inspection of it. It was much smaller than the ones in the gift shop. Yet like Max said, it was way better to find it on the beach than to purchase it out of a bowl.
“We can look for more later,” he said. “Although usually they’re a lot harder to find. I think it helped that the water was rough earlier. It helps to pull them in.”
I set it off to the side, next to the beach bag I’d brought with me.
“Do you know where I’d really like to go?” I asked him.
“Where?”
“I’d like to see Villette Vineyards. When I go back, I want to be able to picture where you are.”
“Sure,” he said. “We can do that.”
“I’d also like to meet your grandparents,” I told him.
He flicked a glance at me and then gazed off. He gave me a noncommittal shrug.
I was flustered for a second. “You don’t want me to meet them?”
“No, that’s not it. It’s just...” he faded off. I waited and he gave me a smile that looked a little forced. “Sure, yeah. We’ll line something up before you go.” He moved away from me, readjusting himself on the blanket so he was sprawled out on his stomach.
“You should put sun block on,” I told him.
“Don’t have any,” he muttered.
I reached for my bag. “Lucky for you, I travel prepared.”
He lifted his head slightly and grinned at me. “Are you going to put it on me?”
“Sure,” I said as I plucked the can out of my bag. He laid his head back down and I sprayed it on, starting with his shoulders.
“What the hell is that?” he demanded. He propped himself up on his elbows to look at me.
I held up the can. “Sun block.”
“That’s sun block?”
I nodded. “You just spray it on.”
He wrinkled up his face. “What happened to rubbing it on?”
“You don’t need to,” I said with a little laugh.
“Huh,” he said as he put his head back down. His next words were mumbled into the blanket. Yet, I was fairly sure he said, “I kind of feel cheated.”
I stifled a laugh because that almost sounded like flirting. Flirting was something Max and I just didn’t do. Not even the silly friendly kind because, well, for obvious reasons. I had a boyfriend, or fiancé, depending on the point in our friendship. Or maybe that wasn’t what he’d said at all. Maybe I was hearing things.
I sprayed myself down with sun block, causing him to scoff. Then I got comfortable lying down next to him.
“What did you think of the university?” he asked.
“The campus is pretty small,” I said. The university back home, where we’d spent our freshman year, had to be at least twice as big. Of course, this made sense considering that Sapphire Bay was about half the size of Chamberlain.
“I think in this case, small is good. The class sizes are smaller, more personal attention, that kind of thing,” he said.
“That does sound nice.” A few of my classes had to have had close to a hundred students in them. “Did all of your classes transfer?”
He nodded. “Everything.”
“You’ve registered for business classes in the fall?”
He gave me a crooked smile. “I actually already have a course in winemaking. You know, you can’t find those kinds of classes back in Chamberlain.” I did know that. It was why he’d moved back here. “Then next year hopefully I’ll be ready for courses in vineyard and winery management. I’ve also still got a few general ed classes to finish.”
“Me too,” I said with a sigh. I didn’t want to think about school. It was summer. This was vacation. So I changed the subject again. “So…Tori—”
He groaned. “You are such a girl. You never let things drop.”
“That’s not true!”
“Prove it,” he taunted.
“Fine.” I thought for a few seconds, struggling to come up with a subject change. “Do you still have a lot of friends around here?” He’d mentioned his friends to me over the years. I didn’t know if they were still around.
“Not really. I mean, I moved away three, no wait, four years ago. I kind of lost touch with everyone. Grant was my closest friend but he’s in Colorado now, for school. Blaine moved away a year after I did. Last I heard Jake was around but I didn’t run into him last summer. Darren’s here, obviously.”
“I thought you didn’t like Darren?” It came out sounding like a question.
“I like Darren just fine. I just don’t like how he treats girls.”
“Oh. So even though you’re moving back to your hometown, it’s almost like you’re starting over. I mean, you’re going to have to make all new friends.”
He lifted his sunglasses to look over at me across the blanket. We were so close that I noticed his eyes weren’t entirely green. There was an amber ring that radiated outward from his iris. The result was shockingly pretty. I wasn’t sure how I’d missed that all of these years. I guess I just hadn’t been paying attention.
“It’s not as bad as it sounds. I’m sure once classes start up I’ll run into a few more people I know. If not,” he made a face as if to say…Who cares? “It’s kind of like having a whole new start,” he said. “And that was my reason for coming here.”