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“It’s certainly better than Red.”
“What’s wrong with Red?”
“It’s topical, at best,” he said plainly. “I love my brothers, but they don’t know you like I do.”
“BecauseSkittlessays soul-deep connection?” I challenged, lips twitching.
“At least it’s customized to you specifically. Rhyett had this crush in high school, and called her Freckles…” About ten minutes of easy sibling stories passed between us before we fell silent, eyes on the rocky beach. Part of what I enjoyed about Jameson was that he didn’t feel the need to fill the quiet. When conversation trailed off, he allowed the rush of waves and hush of the wind to surround us. So many people were so afraid to be present that constant chatter was necessary. And yeah, I could be that way too, especially when nervous, but when I was comfortable with someone or in a group of trusted…
I trusted Jameson Rhodes. Wholeheartedly. The realization left me fighting the desire to gape at him again. Sand shifting beneath my feet, I continued on, enjoying the fact that he was just willing tobe. Eventually I looked up from the slippery kelp-coated rocks to a cave in the shape of a—
“That’s Keyhole Cavern.”
I giggled, nodding, “Welp, that’s fitting.” Sandstone had eroded into a perfect antique-style keyhole rimmed in copper and kelp. “It looks like a secret passage toNeverlandor something,” I said, smiling.
“Honestly, Rhyett, Axel and I are lucky to be alive. We loved the caves so much, we’d march clear out here and play in them until the tide came in before sprinting back to the high ground. I’m not sure how we even made it back all those times.”
“Obviously you’re supposed to be here for something.”
“Are you one ofthosepeople?”
Smirking, I asked, “Thosepeople?”
“You know, thefatekind?” He questioned, the emphasis on the word, feeling like an illusion to Brexley when she attempted to dismiss Rhyett. “The zodiac, destiny, pre-ordained path people?”
“Pre-ordained path people? Say that three times fast.”
“No thanks,” he said back to me as he reached out a hand to trace his fingertips over the end of the rock wall. I could hear the smile in his voice.
“I’m not sure if I believe anything is pre-ordained,” I admitted, thinking about faith, thinking about my life so far as I stepped over slick rocks, avoiding the barnacles on one. “We all make our choices, and live with the consequences, you know?”
“I agree. But you believe there’s a purpose behind it all?”
“Obviously.”
“You say like that’s the end of it.”
“Well, don’t you?”
He shrugged, glancing back at me. “I’m not sure. Sometimes I think this is all there is.”
“All there is?”
“Heaven, hell, life.” Shaking his head, Jameson turned back for me after climbing up onto the side of a gradual incline. He extended a hand to hoist me up onto the mountainous climb.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, accepting the offering gratefully, feeling anything but sure on my feet.
“You’re fine. Take your time. This is unfamiliar territory for you. It’smybackyard.” When I smiled in answer, he nodded, turning back to the walk. “And I don’t know. We’re here. We live. We experience. We work. We die. Maybe that’s it.”
“Awfully pessimistic of you.”
“I guess there’s only one way to find out.”
“In a rush to know?”
He snorted, dropping my hand and turning to lead up a softly worn trail through the grass and whimsical, delicate yellow buttercups that danced in the breeze. “Not particularly. I’m enjoying the journey.”
“You don’t always give that impression.”
