Page 85 of Just Me

“Jaws.”

“What's Jaws?”

She turned her head and pointed to a huge old tank of a car that was traveling so slowly it was practically going backwards.“That's Jaws.”

The little old lady driving it looked to be about a hundred and twenty and when I caught a glimpse of the woman next to her, I thought I’dseen twins.

“The Fletcher twins.”

As I watched the car creeping along the street, I wondered why Saffron called the car Jaws. In the next minute, the car swerved a bit and, even though it was in super slow motion, there was no stopping the collision as the car hit the street sign: its post padded with foam.

“It's cheaper to stock up on foam than it is to keep ordering new signs from the state.”

“They do that often, I'm guessing.”

“Almost every day.”

“Why do you call the car Jaws?”

Saffron looked over at me and smiled.“Because it eats everything in its path.”

***

Later in the day Saffron went home for a nap, so I came back into town and set up an easel near the docks so I could paint the cove where the fishermen were all coming back in from a day out at sea. My training wouldn’tstart until next week, Logan had offered me a few days to get settled, but the beauty around me was too tempting to wait that long to paint it.

My thoughts turned to the phone call I had made to Sophia earlier. She was off the wait-list, and had been accepted into Berkley. I was going to miss not having her close but I was thrilled for her because Berkley had been her first choice.

I took a moment to really appreciate the view before I started. The whitecap water roiled in a deep green. The old wooden boats came chugging in, their colors faded, their outriggers stretched crookedly toward the sky and their engines grumbling as they moved slowly along.

I had just reached a rhythm in my sketching when a child's voice interrupted me. I looked down to see a girl of six or seven with blond ringlets and big, blue eyes.

“What are you doing?”

I smiled. It was so like a child to have no fear of strangers.

“I'm painting.”

“My uncle paints. Your eyes look just like his.”

“Is Logan Dupree your uncle?”

Her little face just beamed with pride. “Yep.”In the next instance, her eyebrows furrowed as her eyes narrowed.“How do you know Uncle Logan?”

“I'm actually here to learn from him.”

“Oh, so you're Lark. Why did your parents name you after a bird?”

“My mom named me after a flower, Larkspur, but I like Lark.”

“I guess that makes more sense.”But I could tell from her expression that my explanation didn't make any sense at all.

“What's your name?”I asked.

“Callie.”

“Where's your mom, Callie?”

Guilt washed over her features before she looked down and dug her patent leather foot into the soft soil, clearly she was nervous. “I might have run away.”

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