Page 21 of The Magic of Sea Glass
The shadow of a flying seagull passed over them as Lauren dug her feet into the sand, considering Brody’s words.
“I didn’t talk to my dad a lot, but one time, he told me something thathisfather told him: ‘The key to a happy life is to never let anything go unsaid or undone.’ Things are different here. We support each other. It’s who we are.” He stood up and grabbed his shoes. “I’ll see ya tomorrow at six.”
She opened her mouth to protest, but his back was already to her and he was headed toward the inn. She wrapped her arms around her knees, the wind blowing the pieces of her bracelet, the tinkling sound echoing in her busy mind as she debated how she was going to get out of this one.
SIX
There was a knock at Lauren’s door, sharply, at 6:00 a.m. She’d been up since four, staring at the dark ceiling, unable to sleep, finally surrendering and climbing out of bed around five. And now, she sat on the sofa in a baseball cap and her cut-offs, the kind of thing she’d have worn with Mason on their summer walks in the park.
She eyed the sea glass bracelet on the coffee table—a reminder that she was somewhere new, trying to remake herself. Lauren got up off the sofa and answered the door.
“Good morning,” Brody said on the other side, handing her a to-go cup while he held a second in his other hand. “Mary said you liked coffee.”
She took it from him gratefully.
“I put cream and sugar in it. I hope that’s okay.”
It was perfect. “Thank you,” she said.
“Ready?”
“Yep.”
“Off we go.” He gestured toward the hallway and she let herself out, locking the suite door behind her.
A short, quiet drive later, in the purple haze of early morning, they traveled over the bridge to the village of Manteo, and arrived at the marina. The water lapped gently against the wood as they walked down the creaking dock toward the center-console fishing boat tied to the post at one end. The moon, still out despite the sun’s nudge, gave the planks a white glow. Lauren walked carefully over them. Once they made it to the boat, Brody jumped onto the vessel, and she surveyed the thin slip of orange swelling ever so slowly on the horizon.
He held out his hand to help her board. She took it, appreciating his strong grip, and made an unsteady step onto the boat, trying not to drop her cup of coffee. The boat rocked under her, and she leaned against the side with her elbow to steady herself. Brody gripped her tightly until she was stable.
“There’s a ton of rockfish out here right now.” He grunted slightly when he lifted the heavy rope off the post, untying the boat from the dock. “We should catch some today. And we should definitely see lots of flounder.” The boat grumbled underneath them after he started the engine. “But I digress.” He flashed that smile of his. “Mary says I’m supposed to teach you about the area, right?”
He pulled away from the dock, the cool early morning breeze against her skin.
“This is the largest lagoon on the East Coast,” he said, the boat whirring toward the open waters. “It’s home to dolphins and sea turtles, both very popular with the kiddos.”
The corners of his eyes wrinkled with fondness and the image of him playfully tossing a child in the air flashed across Lauren’s mind without warning. It made no sense, given what Mary had told her about him. He definitely wasn’t a family man. Although, she was willing to bet that he’d be a great one.
When she surfaced from her thoughts, she realized the boat had slowed.
“You think a lot,” he said, shifting gears.
“I don’t like it when you do that,” she informed him, in a knee-jerk reaction to his comment.
“When I do what?”
“When you make assumptions about me.” She tried not to focus on the friendliness in his blue eyes because it was more than she could handle.
He slowed the boat and stepped away from the wheel. “Why?”
She gripped her coffee cup so tightly that the side bent inward. She set it down on the bench seat of the boat and crossed her arms, fixing her stare out at the pink and orange horizon.
“I don’t have any agenda. I just want to be honest about what I see,” Brody said.
She faced him. “My emotional state isn’t your concern,” she said, barely able to get the words out, a lump forming in her throat.
“I know it isn’t.” He cocked his head to the side. “I only said you think a lot. I never mentioned your emotional state. But now thatyouhave, why don’t you tell me about it? I’m curious.”
“Because I’m a private person.”
