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“Okay. I will.”
“Today?”
“Mia.” I close my eyes.
“Do you have a copy?”
“Yeah, I brought mine.”
Emerson nods. “If there’s time, I’ll read it. If there’s not, I’ll have a copy sent to my house and read it tomorrow.”
“So,” Will says. “The smallest bedroom is on the second floor, last door on the right. Oh—Mia, Ben, I brought wetsuits, if you want to go in the water?”
“Yes?” Ben shakes his head. “I mean, yes.”
“They’re upstairs in the green bag in your room.”
The twins go, walking as fast as they can without running. Halfway up the stairs, Ben murmurs something to Mia.
“What?” she says. “They don’t even look different otherwise.”
“Emerson also brought wetsuits,” says Daphne, raising her eyebrows at Will. “And boards.”
“Aww,” Will says. “For me?”
“No,” Emerson says, deadpan. “Only Bristol.”
“I don’t know how to surf.”
“Neither do I,” Daphne whispers. “But it’s really fun to watch.” Her voice lifts again. “Let’s put these groceries away, and then we’ll go.”
I catch Will’s arm before he can follow them to the kitchen. “What did Emerson do? Not many things make Mia that happy.”
He leans down and kisses my cheek. “Don’t know. Couldn’t see him.”
“Youknow.Tell me.”
Will gives me a shrug. “If I had to guess? He took off his mask.”
“You’re not very nice.”
“At least I’m honest.”
Inside a half an hour, we’re all out on the beach in the late afternoon. It’s warm under the sun, even if the waves are chilly and the breeze is definitely a fall-level cool. Daphne looks like she’s in a magazine with her big sunglasses and floppy hat. She takes a selfie of us on some beach chairs, and I look so happy in the photo that I get tears in my eyes.
“Oh, no.” Daphne notices and rubs at my arm. “Is everything okay?”
Mia and Ben are in the water up to their shins in navy wetsuits. Mia bends to drag her hands through the waves, and Ben rests his palms on the choppy surface.
“Yes. I mean—” I’ve known her for less than an hour, but I already like her. “No.”
“Mia and Ben are your siblings, right? Do they live with you?”
“Our dad…” It feels twice as embarrassing, now that it’s Daphne who’s asking. She has money and a husband and a family. “I’m not sure where he is, or if he’s coming back. So, yeah. The twins are with me right now. But—really, I’m just—I’m happy to be here. I’ve always wanted to go to the beach.”
“Well, we need to enjoy the hell out of it, then. Look at Will in his wetsuit.”
Emerson and Will are out on the water on surfboards. The swells are bigger farther out. Will surfs like the waves have antagonized him in some way. Emerson surfs like he was born on the board.
