AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He jerked his head toward the beachgoers on the sand and explained, “There’s a whole crowd of people watching us.”
My eyes shifted behind him to the people sitting in their chairs, standing near their blankets, or sunbathing on their beach towels. Many of them were watching us, and all of them had smiles on their faces.
“Did we just become a Hallmark movie couple?” I asked him.
Johnny chuckled. “I’m not sure, but I can’t say I’m upset about it if we did. Those always have happy endings, don’t they?”
Shrugging my shoulders, I confessed, “I don’t know. I don’t watch them, but my parents do. Actually, my dad does a lot at Christmas time, which I know might seem strange. He pleads with my mom to watch them every year.”
“Does she do it?”
I wanted to laugh, thinking about my parents and how big a source of contention this whole thing was for them. “She’s agreed to two of them each Christmas.”
“Hey, at least she was willing to compromise,” he reasoned.
“Yeah,” I agreed, thinking that compromise had been one of the biggest reasons my parents’ marriage had lasted so long. They might have had those moments that made me question how they ever wound up married in the first place, but when it all boiled down, there was no missing just how much they loved one another.
A few moments of silence passed before Johnny asked, “So, what are we looking for? Any shell in particular?”
I stopped walking, which forced him to a halt. We turned toward one another, and I held my bucket up between us. I pulled out a handful of the shells I’d collected so far today, and explained, “I’m looking for shells like this. Ones that are in near perfect condition, are exceptionally unique in shape, or unbelievably beautiful in color.”
“Wow, you’ve found quite a bit already,” he noted, lifting one from my hand to examine it.
I did my best to ignore the fact that I could still feel the touch of his fingers on the palm of my hand even after it was no longer there and returned, “I’ve been doing this since I was a kid. I loved finding them whole and perfect and beautiful. It’s always been a thing I challenge myself to do whenever I’m here.”
Johnny placed the shell back in my hand, and once I put them back in the bucket and we started walking again, he asked, “So, you’re not from here?”
“No. I live in Dogwood.”
“Really?”
Nodding, I said, “Yes. Do you know where it is?”
He smiled at me. “I live in Doveport.”
Doveport was the neighboring town of Dogwood. I didn’t know why, but I had assumed Johnny was just visiting Cardinal Beach from somewhere else. Obviously, I knew I was from somewhere else, but I thought he was going to tell me he lived out of state.
Regardless of where exactly he lived in Doveport, it was safe to say that Johnny and I didn’t live more than twenty or twenty-five minutes away from each other.
“What a small world,” I said.
“Yeah, how about it?” he returned.
I watched something move through his expression, but I couldn’t quite make out what it meant, especially not while we were walking, and I was staring at his profile. Of course, it was at that realization I decided it was probably best for me to focus on what was happening in front of me. I didn’t need Johnny having to rescue me again, because I walked into someone when I wasn’t paying attention.
“Oh, hang on a second,” Johnny said, his hand coming out briefly to touch my wrist and stop me from moving ahead without him. He took two steps forward, bent down, and reached into the wet sand. After cleaning off what he’d picked up in the water that rushed in, he held up the shell between us and asked, “What about this one?”
I stared.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
My mouth opened and closed several times in utter disbelief. Unable to formulate a sentence, I reached out with my free hand and took the shell from Johnny.
As I inspected it, he asked, “Is it a good one?”
“It’s a scotch bonnet,” I marveled.
“I don’t know what that means,” he replied.
