Page 2 of Bluebell Tides

“It’ll be fine, Sophie,” Ethan told her, hopping up and heading to Freddy’s SUV, where they’d apparently stacked firewood for this very occasion. They’d planned this. Sophie ached with worry and wrung out her hands. She knew that Ethan had kept this from her on purpose. He’d heard her worries. He’d known she’d freak out.

Sophie sipped her beer and watched as Freddy and Ethan made a little tent with the firewood, then struck match after match until Lizzie had to come up and show them how it was done. “You’re such city boys.” She shook her head, explaining that she’d gone to Girl Scout camp and could, therefore, do everything. “I’m a survivalist,” she declared, just as the fire struck and flames began to creep up the logs.

For a little while, the fire was relatively tame. Sophie monitored it as best as she could, unable to participate in the conversation any longer, as fear made her brain blurry. Each time Freddy or Ethan or Cedric put another log on the fire, it grew a little higher, and Sophie’s panic deepened. She stopped drinking beer, knowing that somebody would have to be more sober if something happened.

And then, when Ethan went to collect three more logs, Sophie lost it.

“Ethan, stop,” she said.

Ethan paused next to the bonfire, his nostrils flared. “I beg your pardon?”

Sophie got to her feet and reached for the logs. “The fire’s big enough. And it’s almost eleven. I mean, we don’t need to put anything else on? We don’t need to make it bigger and bigger until…”

“Are you telling us to go to bed?” Ethan asked. “Are you actually telling us to stop?”

“No. I mean…” Sophie trailed off, considering. They were all between twenty-three and twenty-six years old, with different habits and different ways of partying. These days, Sophie hardly partied at all. She was far too focused on her future and her career, and she didn’t want to disappoint her professors. But she knew that Ethan and the others frequently went out till three or four in the morning. This meant they wanted a fire to rage until at least that time, if not later.

Why had Sophie agreed to come camping? Her heart thumped wildly. But she stood her ground.

There was something dangerous about Ethan’s eyes.

“Please, Ethan. Let’s just keep the fire low for a little while,” Sophie begged. “Let’s be safe.”

“No way, man.” Cedric shook his head. “We’re fine. It’s fine.”

Ethan seemed to take this as a challenge. With that, he dropped the logs onto the fire, and the flames roared. Ethan smacked his hands and sauntered past Sophie, grabbing another beer and leering at her. “What do you think about that, Miss Soph? You gonna call forest control?”

Sophie’s heart shattered at the edges. Ethan’s friends cackled, as though he’d really shown her. She got to her feet and headed away from the fire, her shoulders slumped. She didn’t want them to see how upset that had made her. She didn’t want them to see her cry.

When she reached the edge of the woods, her lips quivered, and she smashed her fist against her thigh. She never should have agreed to come on this trip. But there was no way she could leave, not now. They were miles and miles into the mountains, far from civilization.

The leaves crunched beneath her, and she followed a little trail, wanting to get away from their laughter and voices.

Ever since Sophie and Ethan had begun dating, Sophie had wondered why he wanted to be with her. Ethan was handsome. He was from money, with an immaculate apartment and every kind of pot and pan in the kitchen, though he almost always ordered food from the numerous restaurants in their college town. He was very good at sports and liked to watch them even more—everything from basketball to baseball to something called handball, whose rules Sophie didn’t understand. He consumed all of it.

It was something about Ethan’s arrogance, about the way he carried himself through the world, that had initially drawn Sophie to him. He never took any crap from anyone. He always had a comeback ready. He was funny and charming and alive in ways Sophie’s previous boyfriends simply hadn’t been. Often, Sophie worried that Ethan would realize she wasn’t good enough for him and that he could have any beautiful girl on the planet. Girls threw themselves at him. She watched it happen over and over again.

But now, as she wandered through the dark woods, her eyes fixed on the twinkling stars above, she wondered for the first time whether Ethan was good enough for her. He didn’t seem to respect her, especially not in front of his friends, and he cared so little about the environment that it made her shiver with distaste. When they were alone, they often had nothing to talk about. Usually, he watched sports while Sophie studied. More than that, they often stayed the night at Ethan’s place, because Ethan didn’t like Sophie’s place. This was fair, as Sophie’s apartment was shared with three other girls, and it was much smaller and grimmer. Still, it would be nice for him to offer to stay over sometimes, wouldn’t it? Especially if—as he said—he loved her?

But was their love a true kind of love? Sophie wasn’t sure anymore.

Sophie leaned against a tree, gasping for breath, realizing that she wasn’t entirely sure where in the forest she was. Had she really gotten lost in the woods in the middle of the night? This was not like her. Before she’d met Ethan, before she’d “fallen in love,” she’d been strong and confident. A few summers ago, she’d led the charge against a sinister company in Bluebell Cove, helping her mother write an article that took that same company down and saved the area's environment. The coastline was now flourishing, as far as she knew. What had happened to that version of herself? Was that Sophie gone? All because she’d fallen in love?

Just as Sophie was about to scream for help, just as she’d decided she had to prove herself to be that pathetic if she was going to survive the night, she smelled something. It was ashy. Oh no, she thought. It couldn’t be. But it was.

The air smelled of fire.

Sophie’s heart dropped into her stomach. At once, she realized that someone nearby was screaming. Another voice joined that voice. Sophie’s eyes widened as orange light seemed to swallow the sky around her. If she didn’t know the danger, if she didn’t know how doomed she and the forest were, she would have said it was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.

2

It was a beautiful late afternoon in mid-April, with blue skies and a slight chill, when Ruth arrived in Bluebell Cove. She thought, I’m back. Please, don’t let me be back for long.

A little blue sign read: Parking for Eco-Lodge This Way. She followed the snaking driveway around the side of the Bluebell Cove Eco-Lodge, cutting her engine as she gazed at the little inn. It was perfect, exactly what she needed for this time, with a gorgeous view of the thundering Bluebell Cove just beneath. Even she could admit it was pretty. She’d read online that there was a little path through the cliff, down to the beach below, and she imagined herself taking numerous walks to the ocean, if only to step into the frigid water and set her spirit to right.

Ruth grabbed her suitcase and headed to the front door, telling herself to be normal and smile in a typical way. She’d practiced in the mirror that morning before driving the rest of the way to Bluebell Cove. Somehow along the road of life, she’d lost all her instincts for human expression.

A woman around her age opened the door for her, greeting her with a resounding, “Welcome to the Bluebell Cove Eco-Lodge! We’re so glad you’re here.”