Sunset Beach(139)

“Soon,” Drue promised. “First, why don’t you show me your new trick?”

Aliyah turned and pointed at Jonah. “Okay, but I need a diving platform.”

Jonah groaned good-naturedly and sank down into the water to allow the girl to clamber onto his back, and then stand on his shoulders.

He raised his hands and Aliyah clutched them in hers, one foot on each of his broad shoulders.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Ready!”

“One, two, three!” Jonah called, and Aliyah pointed her toes and gracefully dove, her body slicing into the water with an almost imperceptible splash.

“Amazing,” Drue cried, clapping her hands in approval when the girl resurfaced a few yards away.

“I can hold my breath for a really long time now,” Aliyah bragged. “And when I’m under the water, I open my eyes and I look at the little fish, and I’m not one bit afraid.”

“Just like a mermaid,” Drue said. “But with goggles.”

Aliyah paddled back to where Jonah stood in the waist-deep water.

“Again?” He rolled his eyes and let his body sag in feigned exhaustion.

“Again! But this time let’s do the really cool new trick you showed me.”

Aliyah climbed onto Jonah’s shoulders and stood, perfectly balanced, her arms wide-stretched.

“Ready?” Jonah called.

“Ready!”

He grasped each of her feet with his hands and pushed her off, launching her high into the air as Aliyah screamed with pure joy.

She swam back and looked up at Jonah, water streaming from her face.

“Again?” she said hopefully.

“Again,” Jonah said.



* * *



The aroma of charcoal smoke and roasting meat wafted down from the direction of the deck. Corey walked down to the seaweed line, cupped his hands and yelled.

“Come on, you two. Steaks are almost ready.”

“Ten more minutes,” Drue called back. “Tell Wendy I’ll toss the salad when I come up.”

The tent and the rest of the beach gear and the still-slumbering baby had been packed and hauled back to the cottage. All that was left were the two folding beach chairs Drue had excavated so many months ago from Papi’s shed.

Drue walked down to the edge of the water, where Jonah was waiting, cell phone in hand.

The sun hovered inches from the horizon, a fiery orange orb in the deepening violet sky.

She shaded her eyes with her hands, anxiously looking up the beach.

“He might not show up tonight,” she fretted. “I think some people up the beach are feeding him.”

Jonah put his arm around her waist and kissed her neck. “If he doesn’t show up tonight, no worries. There’ll be lots of other sunsets.” He kissed her again, and she sagged comfortably against him. “Hundreds and hundreds of gorgeous sunsets. And we’ll watch them together. Right here.”

A V-shaped formation of pelicans flew past then, their dark shapes silhouetted against the dusky sky.

Jonah raised the phone and clicked off a series of photos.

“You know? I think we might see the green flash tonight,” Drue said. The sun had dipped so low on the horizon the only thing still visible was a faint orange streak.

“Hey, look.” Jonah turned and pointed. He handed the phone to her. The blue-gray bird approached, neck outstretched, eyes trained down on the water, balancing delicately on stick-like legs.

Drue held her breath, waiting, as the heron finally stood poised in front of her. The bird lifted its head, turned and seemed to be staring directly into her camera. She clicked the shutter only once, and put the phone down.

A brilliant phosphorescent burst of green slashed across the horizon and was gone. “There it is,” Jonah said. “A perfect sunset.”

“The first of thousands. Tens of thousands of sunsets,” Drue murmured. The heron startled, unfolded its wings and flew off.

“They’ll all be perfect to me,” Jonah said.

Drue swung around and faced Coquina Cottage, lit up against the night sky. “Let’s go home,” she said.