Page 48 of All the Ways You Save Me
“Of course,” I say with an emphatic nod. “Sandy Harbor is just about the safest place on the planet.” The island is a sleepy, family-oriented place where people leave their cars unlocked and their bikes on their front lawns with no fear they’ll be stolen. I’ve never had one moment of concern about being out alone at night. But I admit that tonight, I sort of wish I’d driven to the bar instead of walking. It’s only a handful of blocks, but I’m still a little creeped out from that guy who was staring at me earlier.
I’m glad I didn’t mention it to Chloe, though. Her kid is asleep upstairs, and she’s paying the babysitter by the hour. She doesn’t need to deal with driving me home on top of all her other responsibilities. Besides, I’m probably just overreacting. The other locals at the bar didn’t seem fazed by that guy, it’s not like he’s a stranger around here.
I step onto the porch and close the door behind me. Andthen I nearly jump out of my skin when a shadow slants across the floorboards. I whirl around, ready to run, when I spot Garrett leaning against the clapboard siding of the building.
“Garrett!” I press a hand to my heart. “You scared me to death.”
“Sorry.” He holds up a hand to show me he’s harmless. “My intent was the complete opposite.”
“What are you doing here at this hour?”
He lifts a shoulder. “You seemed a little uncomfortable about the extra attention that guy at the bar was giving you, so I thought you might want someone to walk you home.”
My heart squeezes. Not only did he notice the guy bothering me, but Garrett picked up on the fact that he was creeping me out. “It’s so late,” I murmur. “Did you hang around here this whole time?” I lost track of Garrett hours ago. He was sitting with Ian, but I was intentionally not looking at him. At some point when I turned around, they had vacated the table.
He shoves his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “I came back at closing time.”
My instinct is to tell him he didn’t have to do that, but I’m glad he did. I look out past the porch railing at the quiet streets, realizing I was more nervous about walking home alone than I wanted to admit. But that’s not the only reason I’m glad he came back. I’ll take any opportunity to spend time with him.
I peek in Garrett’s direction as he guides me ahead of him down the stairs. In the bar earlier, he wore a pale blue button-down shirt, but he must have taken it off and gone into his workshop because now, his plain gray T-shirt is coated in a fine layer of sawdust. The sleeves cling to his biceps, covering the spot where I remember his scar, but still revealing bits of his tattoos. We step onto the sidewalk and turn toward the east, where I can hear the waves crashing beyond the dunes. A full moon glows in the sky overhead.
“Do you want to walk along the water?” Garrett asks.
I nod, and we head toward the path that leads to the beach. I take a deep breath, pulling the salt-kissed air into my lungs as the cool night breeze pricks at my skin. My shoulders relax, and a sense of gratitude washes over me. I don’t know who this man is or what comes next for me. But I can’t regret this chance to step out of my normal routine and be here on a night like this.
“It’s hard to remember why I waited so long to come back here,” I muse, slipping out of my shoes and feeling my toes sink into the sand.
“This place really draws you in, doesn’t it?” Garrett says.
We wander down the beach to where the hard-packed sand meets the ocean waves. I take a tentative step into the water, and it swirls around my ankles, but I don’t panic. The cold is soothing after eight hours on my feet, and I know I’m safe when Garrett falls into step next to me. I shift my shoes under one arm and pat my hip, looking for a spot to put my phone so I won’t drop it in the next wave. I would have brought my cross-body bag to the bar if I’d known I’d be walking home on the beach.
“Do you want me to put that in my pocket?” He nods at the phone.
“Sure. Thanks.” I hand it to him.
“So, this is the first time you’ve been back to Sandy Harbor since you were a kid?” he asks.
I nod.
“What took so long?”
“My family left abruptly.” I look to Garrett for signs that he’s heard this story before, but he looks genuinely interested. “My mom said it was because she got a new job in Maple Ridge, but it always felt… I don’t know. Like something else was going on she wasn’t saying.”
“Did you ever find out what it was?”
“No. My mom says she was too busy working and raising kids and doesn’t really remember.” I press my lips together asthe creepy guy’s questions come back to me.Does he know something?But then I shake off that thought. I have enough mysteries to solve without forming new conspiracy theories.
Garrett takes my elbow and gently tugs me out of the path of a jellyfish. “I would have thought you would have come back after high school. Or college.”
“Honestly, the whole thing was so painful, I decided a long time ago that I’d never come back.”
“And how does it feel now?”
“There’s nowhere else I’d want to be.” I look past Garrett to the houses lined up beyond the dunes. “But this is a different part of the island. I grew up south of here, and I haven’t been back there yet. I don’t even know if my old house is still standing. I’m sure you remember the destruction from Hurricane Wendy.” It was all over the news, even in landlocked Maple Ridge.
“Do you think you’ll go back and look for it while you’re here?” Garrett asks.
“I don’t know.” My gaze skates to the moon reflected in the water. “I worry about what I’ll find, and that it might break my heart.” I could say that about so many things in my life.
