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She beamed but didn’t know how to respond. Instead, she reached for his hand. “When the water reflects off the sun, you burn easier and I’m out of sunblock. We can always stop at one of the stores on the way, but they jack the prices, and we don’t have time to go to the pharmacy.” They were going whale watching this morning and hadn’t had time to prepare, which wasn’t saying much about how she lived since she spent most of her time outside, under the sun. She should own stock in sunblock.
Without letting go, he turned and reached for something on the table, and then he handed her a bottle of sunblock. “I saw it in your bathroom.”
She held the bottle in her hand. “Odd, I don’t remember buying this.”
“It’s not expired either.”
“Sunblock expires?”
Kiel nodded. “I didn’t know either until my mom lectured us about it years ago. I think it’s a thing.”
“A thing?”
“You know, another way the government makes us spend money year after year. I haven’t actually looked it up online, so I don’t know all the facts.”
“Interesting.” She popped the cap, squeezed some into her hands, and began lathering her skin. “I’m still wearing a hat,” she told him.
“This one in particular?” He took it off her head and placed it on his. “I think I should wear it.”
Eloise apprised him and saw how ridiculous he looked. “Point taken. I’ll grab a baseball cap.” She ran back upstairs, found a hat, and then returned. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“Perfect. How are we getting there?” he asked as they walked out of her apartment. He waited for her to shut the door before he reached for her hand.
“Let’s walk.”
Kiel linked his arm with hers. “Walking it is.”
They walked from Eloise’s to downtown. It took them an hour and while most would balk, it was the scenery that they couldn’t pass up. They walked along the seawall and stopped to take some photos. Mostly selfies, with the ocean in the background. The sky was the perfect shade of blue and the bright sun still rose in the sky. They had truly lucked out with the weather. After they crested the hill, they bought breakfast from one of the food trucks and then finished their trek to downtown.
At the crosswalk, Kiel grumbled.
“What’s wrong?”
“How does such a small town have so much traffic?”
“Tourism,” she told him. “After Labor Day most of this disappears. The wait lines for restaurants become non-existent, it’ll be easier to park, get into bars, do things like sit in the park or take a walk without having to dodge people who think it’s okay to be three wide on a sidewalk.”
He looked at Eloise. “You know, everything you said are all things I’ve noticed since being here. Who the fuck walks three wide and thinks they don’t have to move when people are coming at them?”
Eloise cocked her eyebrow at him.
“Tourists,” he mumbled. “Wow. I hope I’m not this way.”
“You’re not,” she said as the signal to walk lit up. “I’d tell you.”
“That’s a relief. What else bothers you about living in a place like this?”
“Well, not just here.” They crossed the street and headed toward the pier, where Blue Lobster Adventures docked their boats. “But in any place, really—people don’t walk on the right. It’s like somewhere along the way, the rules changed and it’s okay to just barrel your way down the wrong side of the road. For instance, if I open the door on the right, someone inevitably exits, thinking I’m holding the door for them, when I’m not. It’s like people don’t have manners anymore.”
“Again, valid. And honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever paid attention. I’m definitely a right-side walker.”
“Most are. I swear I learned the habit in kindergarten.”
When they arrived at the park, they waited in line at the ticket booth. “We should’ve bought tickets online,” Eloise said as she counted the people in front of them.
“Maybe they’re for different tours? I saw in the brochure that they have multiples.”
“Let’s hope.”
