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“Boardwalk later?” I ask, grabbing the bottle off the counter.
“No boardwalk for me tonight.” Marcus tosses his controller down as the words GAME OVER flash across the TV. “I have plans with Allison.”
Marcus and his summer go-to were hitting their stride. She was exactly his type. Cute, and not overly aggressive, or part of a pack. She’d come to Cherry Cove for the summer with her parents and would be heading back to Seattle at the end of July.
“I’m in.” Jake stands up and stretches his arms overhead. “Don’t know about Cal, though.”
We both turn our attention outside, watching as he takes another swing. It’s textbook and had there been a ball, he’d have parked it.
“What’s he up to tonight?” I lift my chin in his direction.
Jake strolls over to the fridge and grabs a beer from inside. “Said something about checking out a party in town.” He flips the top, takes a sip, then shrugs. “He’s in a mood so didn’t ask for details.”
Parties were Cal’s thing. He liked being the center of attention and living it up. And apparently, moods were his thing now, too.
While he was in good spirits the first week, he’d gotten pissed off last night about Marcus stepping on his foot when we were at the boardwalk waiting in line for one of the rides. Then, this afternoon, he almost came to blows with some guy who bumped into him as we left the market in town.
“Maybe he can’t take the heat,” I suggest.
“No.” Jake takes another sip of beer. “He’s from Arizona. The bug up his ass isn’t the heat.”
“Alright then,” I shrug, not worried about Cal. He was a big boy. He’d figure his shit out. “It’s just you and me. Why don’t we meet back here at nine?”
“Take your time.” Jake claps me on the back. “Have fun with your dad and let your food settle. Don’t want you yacking up on the rides. I’ll be here.”
“Right.” I snap and point. “Good thinking.”
If tonight was the night I finally found myself alone with Ellery again, the last thing I needed was her mother’s baked crab coming up in the middle of it, thanks to an unsettled stomach from one too many spins on The Zipper.
Jake was the only one who knew I went to see Ellery that night after the cove. I didn’t go into specifics about what happened, but he knew me well enough to have a pretty good idea. Every time we ran into her on the boardwalk he’d give me a knowing grin. Just like the one he was giving me now.
“Alright then.” I rap my knuckle against the counter. “I’m off. See you later tonight.”
I make my way out the back door and walk along the beach. When I reach the house, I push through the gate and stroll up the back walk.
“Papito,” my father says jovially once he sees me, pushing from where he’s sitting on the patio to meet me halfway, arms open.
I step into his embrace, clapping him on the back with myfree hand. “Good to see you, Pops.”
We embrace for a moment, then he places a hand on the back of my head, kisses the side of it, and steps back. “Let me take a look at you.” I hold the wine bottle up and flash him a smile. “You look good,” he nods with approval. “You’ve gotten some sun.”
“Pretty sure that’s the genes,” I laugh.
My father once joked that my mother had a fling with the milk man because my dark hair, olive skin, and blue eyes favored her, as opposed to his hazel eyes and sandy brown hair.
“Come on.” He grips my shoulder with a laugh. “Saff is anxious to see you.”
I flick my eyes inside, looking for a sign of Ellery, and when I follow my father into the kitchen, I see her. She’s with her mom at the counter and they’re laughing and talking. The familiar melody of their voices stirs something in me. A feeling of home I hadn’t felt in years.
“Cruz!” Her mother calls out excitedly when she sees me. Ellery looks up, eyes wide. Clearly she had no idea I was coming.
The night we came to an agreement about our truce, we didn’t really talk about if or how we would tell our parents. Well, if I was being honest, we hadn’t really talked like we did that night in any of our run-ins on the boardwalk. But clearly, given how she looks like a deer caught in the headlights, she wasn’t expecting me, and hadn’t said a word.
“It’s so good to see you.” Saffron throws her arms around me and holds on tightly. Almost as if she’s expecting me to turn and run out the door.
After air kissing each cheek, she steps back and looks down at the wine in my hand. “Is that for me?”
I hand her the bottle, beaming with my good mood. “Someone once told me the first rule of southern hospitality was to never show up empty-handed.”
