Swans Landing #1 - Surfacing (7 page)

He studied me for a long moment, his forehead creased into a deep frown. “Need help with anything, ma’am?” he finally asked.

“No, thanks,” I said. Shelves and displays of everything from baking flour to laundry detergent packed the small floorspace within the shop. Shelves of dusty DVDs and paperback books lined the wall near the front register. I wound my way through the maze of items, pausing to examine a display of beach trinkets before moving on.

At the back of the store, I found a counter made of old, battered wood that stretched along the back wall. Five bar stools sat in front of it, painted with starfish on the seats. I sat down next to a display of sunglasses and a giant jar of pickles.

“Well, hey there, sugar,” said a voice behind me. Miss Gale Mooring emerged from the crowded aisles, dumping an armful of canned soups on the end of the counter. She lifted up a door in the counter and moved behind it, smiling at me as she tied a stained apron over her clothes. “What can I get for you?”

“You work here?” I asked.

“Sometimes,” she said, blowing a wisp of white hair out of her face. “Not too much this time of year, but today must be your lucky day. Did you want something to eat or drink?”

My eyes scanned over a hand-lettered whiteboard on the back wall that served as the menu. “A peach milkshake?” I asked.

Miss Gale laughed. “A child after my own heart. I always say it’s never too cold for ice cream.”

She prepared the milkshake in one of those tall, old fashioned glasses and slid it across the counter toward me. I trailed my fingers over the frosty glass, remembering the summers that Mom and I would stop at this ice cream place down the street from our apartment. We always ordered peach milkshakes and had contests to see who could drink theirs the fastest. We usually both ended up with ice cream headaches only seconds into the game and would laugh and groan together.

Miss Gale leaned against the counter. “You know, your mama always came in here and ordered that same thing.”

My eyebrows rose in surprise. “You knew my mom?”

“I knew her as well as she let most people know her, I reckon,” Miss Gale said.

“What does that mean?”

Miss Gale cocked her head to the side. “Your mama was kind of quiet and kept to herself. I remember she came with some friends, but they were the usual tourist type. Always laughing, squealing over the little trinkets in the shops, making friends with all the boys they found on the beach. Your mama didn’t talk much. I’m surprised she and Lake even managed to find each other.”

I took another sip of my drink. “Why is that?”

“Lake has always been real withdrawn and independent. I reckon they matched well together, but the fact that neither one of them never had much to do with other people made it surprising that they would talk to each other and fall in love.”

I had always wondered why my mom left Swans Landing and why she didn’t stay with my dad. When I was little, I imagined him as this great, mysterious man, a romantic hero who was crushed by the loss of his wife and child. He had to want us back, I was sure of it. I used to secretly look out of my window and imagine my dad pulling up to the apartment. I was always sure that the next car coming up the street would be him. It
had
to be.

But it never was. And when Mom found out what I was doing, the heartbroken look in her eyes made me feel too guilty to do it again. She would never talk about him or why she left, but that look on her face convinced me that she didn’t leave because she didn’t love him anymore. She left because something happened that forced her to go.

“Do you know what happened with my parents?” I asked. “Why my mom left?”

The wrinkles along Miss Gale’s face deepened as she frowned at me. “I can only assume that they wanted different things out of their lives, Mara.”

I chewed on the end of my straw as Miss Gale wiped down the counter around me, even though there was no evidence that anyone else had sat down there today. She hummed softly as she worked, a light melody that skipped and danced through the room. For several long moments, I was lost in a sort of trance as the song wrapped around me.

A familiar fragrance filled the air. I breathed deeply, sucking in the scent of lilacs and vanilla. Was it just my own memories that made it seem real?

I turned, expecting to see Mom sitting on the next barstool, her sweet perfume wafting toward me. The air shimmered a little, wavering a tiny bit. I reached toward it, my fingers only inches from the silvery glow.

“Gale.”

The gruff voice made me jump slightly, shattering the illusion that had started to form. The old man from the front counter emerged between the aisles. He scowled at Miss Gale, but didn’t say anything else.

Miss Gale heaved a sigh. “I’m sorry, Jim. I forgot.”

“None of that in here,” he said, pointing a crooked finger at her. “I don’t want you scaring off my customers.”

She nodded. “It won’t happen again.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head, trying to clear away the fog that had settled into my mind. Nausea washed over me and I could still smell the faint scent of my mom’s perfume in the air. For a moment, I could have
sworn
she was there, sitting right at my side. I had felt her there and I was certain that if Jim hadn’t interrupted, I would have been able to
see
my mom in the shimmering air too.

“Are you okay, child?” Miss Gale asked me as Jim turned to go back to the front.

Was I okay? At this point, I wasn’t sure that I wasn’t suffering from some kind of breakdown with reality. My mom was not in Swans Landing. My mom had died nine days ago.

“I’m okay.” I pushed aside the rest of my milkshake, suddenly unable to stand the thought of drinking anymore. “How much do I owe you?”

“On the house,” Miss Gale told me, waving her hand.

“That’s not necessary,” I said.

She shook a finger at me. “Don’t make me call your daddy. I insist. You can pay next time.”

I gave in, smiling at her. “Okay. Thanks.”

The old man kept a close eye on me as I moved unsteadily toward the door. Even after I’d walked outside, the bell tinkling softly behind me, his stare still felt heavy on my back as I descended the steps.

The loud revving of an engine caught my attention as I unhookd my bike. Through the curtain of hair that had fallen into my face I saw a dusty red ATV moving down the street. My stomach did a flip flop when I recognized the rider.

I leaned against the bike rack, trying to look cool and casual when Josh stopped in front of me. He revved the engine a moment, then looked me up and down.

“Nice bike,” he said.

I shrugged and kicked at one of the tires. “Gets me where I’m going.”

“I’m sure.” He revved the engine again, louder this time and causing me to cringe a little.

“You ever ridden one of these?” he asked.

“No.”

“Want to?” His grin was a challenge, asking me if I dared get on. With him.

Of course I dared. But desperation wasn’t my style.

“With you?” I asked, yawning. “No thanks.”

“Scared?”

I gave Josh a cool gaze. “I do not scare easily.”

He jerked his head toward the seat behind him. “I don’t bite. Promise.”

“Maybe I do,” I said.

Josh’s mouth curled into a smile and I couldn’t hold out any longer. I left my bike and climbed on the back of the ATV, pressing myself close against his back. My arms circled his torso, feeling his solid form underneath the baggy hoodie.

“Hold on tight,” he told me, even though he didn’t have to.

My head snapped back when we took off before I could catch myself.

Josh maneuvered through shops and houses, past kids playing and people who stopped to watch as we zoomed past. Cold wind stung my eyes, sending tears trailing down my cheeks, and I hunched closer to him for warmth. Eventually, we raced down the mostly empty street leading to the beach, along trees and sand dunes. Then Josh veered left and the golden sand and gray ocean stretched before us.

The ATV went airborne a little as we bumped over a small hill in the sand and the impact when we landed sent a jarring jolt through me. But I soon forgot this as Josh turned so that we sped alongside the water. We rode through an inch of surf whenever the water rolled foaming onto the sand and a soft mist sprayed against my face. I could have reached down and ran my fingers along the water as we rode, but staying cuddled close to Josh was much better.

Birds took flight, squawking, when we disturbed their search for fish and crabs along the shore. After a few minutes, Josh turned the ATV around and we headed back. The vehicle climbed back through the sand toward the road. This time we headed along Heron Avenue, back through the village toward the southern end, until Josh veered off onto a narrow slip of a dirt road. The path led to a small sandy parking lot bordering the edge of a forest.

“You have a fascination with trees or something?” I asked.

“I thought you might like to know a shortcut to
your
beach,” he told me, gesturing toward the woods.

When we walked away from the rest of civilization, toward the dark live oak forest overgrown with dry grass and scrub brush, it hit me that maybe wandering around an unfamiliar island with a strange guy wasn’t the greatest idea. He could take me some place no one would ever find me. And who would even care? Lake? Like he’d cared about me before now.

Josh and I followed a trail that led deeper into the trees. Overhead the branches reached out like squirming tentacles and the quiet of the woods only added to the eerie feeling that crept up my back.

“How exactly is this a shortcut?” I asked, stumbling over a root.

“Maybe not really a shortcut,” Josh admitted. “But it’s better than having to walk by all the people on the beach to get here.”

We walked in silence through the stunted forest and I tried not to let the creepiness of the trees freak me out too much. The air was thick trapped within the dark forest and it took a conscious effort to breathe slowly.

We finally broke free of the trees to the little strip of beach Josh had called Pirate’s Cove. Lake had a framed map of Swans Landing hanging in his living room and it showed that Pirate’s Cove was actually a small half-circle cut by the water into the southern tip of the island. It was where the Atlantic Ocean became the Pamlico Sound on this end of the land and the forest and beach were actually a nature preserve. But its isolated location made it perfect for hiding out.

Josh marched halfway across the beach and then plopped himself down in the sand, lying back so he could examine the sky. Being outside of the trees opened my lungs again and I breathed deep, taking in the smell of the ocean.

I sat down next to him, but we didn’t talk for a long time. He laid there, watching birds flying over us, and I scanned the water stretching toward the horizon, letting sand drift through my fingers. The hypnotic roll of the water on the shore left bits of shells and tiny creatures in its wake. It almost felt as if the water called to me. I closed my eyes, letting the gentle roar wash over and fill every part of me.

Josh’s movements at my side caused me to open my eyes again. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked at me. “Everyone’s talking about you, you know,” he said.

My teeth ground together and the trance of the water I’d been under broke suddenly. “Nothing better to talk about around here?”

“Nothing quite as interesting,” he said.

“And what exactly makes me so interesting?”

“Mystery.” Josh stared at me and just like during our first encounter I felt as if he searched for something I wasn’t telling him.

“So what are they saying?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Nothing much.”

“Then why even bring it up?” I snapped.

“People are saying you don’t know anything about this island,” he told me.

This was not anything close to what I had expected to hear that it took me a moment to absorb this. “Is that some sort of crime? I’m a stupid Woodser who doesn’t know how to talk funny like all of you.”

“It’s not a crime. Just…” He shrugged. “Weird, I guess. Considering you’re Lake Westray’s daughter.”

“What does he have to do with anything?”

“Nothing. Forget I said it.”

I sighed and then stood, brushing dirt off my backside. “Okay, you know what? I’m done playing beachcomber with you. Take me back to get my bike so I can go home.”

Josh scrambled to his feet, grabbing my arm. My coat prevented us from making skin contact, but I could still feel the warmth from his hand through the layers. “Hey,” he said. “I didn’t mean to make you mad.”

My arm tingled where he still touched me, making it hard to think. “If you’re going to talk in stupid riddles, I don’t want to hear anymore. So either be straight with me about what you’re really asking or I’m going.”

He opened his mouth, then closed it. A gull swooped overhead, checking to see if we had any food to hand out, and then squawked angrily before flying on.