brother. He wasn’t a typical sixteen-year-old boy, probably because of how challenging his life had been. She often worried about how much disappointment he was holding inside to spare her feelings.
Landon was only five when their parents were killed in an accident and he spent one horrifying year with their mean spinster aunt and then had spent the past ten years as her responsibility. She’d moved him five times, put him through a divorce from a man he’d grown attached to and now, just when he was happiest... No, she couldn’t talk to him yet, not until she had time to think things through.
She could tell Cooper. He loved her; he was proud of her. But he’d just put all his time and energy into setting up his new local business and she couldn’t put him in the position of choosing between breaking it off with her or leaving behind everything to follow her. She could tell that his new lifestyle not only suited him, but he was also very happy. Relaxed.
* * *
That afternoon she hadn’t even made it home after work before Landon called her cell. “You going out to Cooper’s tonight?”
“Not tonight,” she said. “I have things to prepare for for our inspection.”
“If Eve comes over to do homework tonight, will it bother you?” he asked.
“Nope. I’ll take my paperwork to my bedroom. What are you cooking?” she asked.
He laughed at the joke. “Want me to pick up a pizza? I still have that twenty you left me.”
“I’ll make sloppy joes. Save the pizza money—I sit alert tomorrow night and you’re on your own. And before you even ask, no, Eve cannot spend the night.”
“Damn,” he said, making her laugh.
She made the same excuse to Cooper, though he didn’t buy it as quickly. “Can’t you do your paperwork tomorrow night while you sit alert?”
“I have enough work for both nights. We’re gearing up for a big inspection. I’ll see you in a couple of days. I mean, we’ll talk, but—”
But I have to work on my poker face.
“—I have the day off after my twenty-four at the station and I’ll come out to your place. If the sun’s shining, maybe I’ll take out my board.”
“I love to watch you on the water,” he said. “The ocean is more beautiful when you’re out there.”
* * *
Sarah hadn’t seen Cooper in a couple of days and she could’ve taken the Razor—the all-terrain vehicle—across the beach with Hamlet, but they both needed some exercise. She’d just had two long nights and now she was stiff and groggy and Hamlet was restless.
Rather than getting right to their walk across the beach to Cooper’s, Sarah stopped at the diner to say hello to Gina. Hamlet enjoyed that part of his walk almost as much as being on the beach. He didn’t mind being hitched to the lamppost with a bowl of water and treated to pats and pets from every passerby.
Mac McCain was sitting at the counter in the diner. Gina was on the other side and they were holding hands across the counter. Sarah realized she’d been so self-involved she hadn’t even remembered that almost every midmorning around this time the diner was usually empty and Mac took his coffee break with Gina. They were so focused on each other, Sarah was impressed that they looked up and smiled at her. “Hey,” she said.
“Hey, yourself. I hear you’ve been putting in a lot of hours,” Gina said.
“A lot of hours, but I’m off today.”
Gina and Mac might be the cutest couple in Thunder Point. They’d been best friends for years. Both single parents, their sixteen-year-old daughters were also best friends. Just a couple of months ago, they came out as a couple. A real couple, not just a couple of good friends, and ever since that had happened, they’d been staring soulfully into each other’s eyes when they weren’t stealing the occasional kiss. For a brief moment Sarah turned cynical and almost said, “Look out—when you think you’re staring happily ever after in the face is when the fates get jealous and pounce.”
“On your way to Cooper’s?” Mac asked.
“Yep. I think I’m going to take my board out for a while. There’s sun today and I could use some exercise.” And alone time, think time. Not that she hadn’t had enough of that over the past day or two. “And Cooper always needs quality time with Ham.” She laughed. “If we ever break up, I’ll have to share custody.”
“You’ll never break up,” Gina said. “You’re down for the count.”
No, she thought. Just down...
Two
Mac and Gina might be enjoying new love, but that didn’t keep them from spending plenty of time talking about their families. While Gina only had one child, sixteen-year-old Ashley, Mac had three kids. His oldest, Eve, also sixteen, his son, Ryan, was twelve and another daughter, Dee Dee, was ten. Recently, their sixteen-year-old daughters seemed to take up most of their conversations about kids—Eve was a little too in love with Landon, sometimes worrying Mac, and while Ash had had a steady boyfriend for the past year, she had seemed a little out of sorts lately. Ashley was sulky and down in the dumps.
“Things haven’t been what you’d call hearts and flowers between Ashley and Downy lately,” Gina said, wiping down the counter. “All Ashley will say about it is that Downy seems to be too busy to take her calls or return them, something that hasn’t happened before now.”
“And I’ve got nothing but hearts and flowers between Eve and Landon,” Mac said. “Doesn’t help me sleep at night, either.”
Since teenage girls can fluctuate between true love and moodiness with regularity, Gina didn’t worry overmuch about Ashley’s sulk.
* * *
After work, Gina walked home to find a message from the high school on her answering machine. The school had resorted to leaving recorded messages that informed parents if their child had been absent. Ashley had missed her last two classes. Since she’d borrowed Gina’s Jeep for cheerleading practice after school, Gina wondered what was going on. She immediately called her daughter, but Ashley didn’t answer her cell phone. Gina then called Eve, who answered right away. “She skipped practice,” Eve said. “I don’t know why—she didn’t say anything to me.”
“Do you have any idea where she could be? She’s not answering her phone.”
“I have no idea,” Eve said. “If she calls or shows up, I’ll be sure she calls you.”
Gina’s mom, Carrie, had just returned home herself, and hearing Gina’s story she said, “You know how these girls can get distracted. You left her a message, right?”
Of course she had. And Gina was not typically a worrier, but Ashley had been in a real funk for the past week, complaining that Downy was acting weird, as if he couldn’t be bothered with her. After a year-long, intense romance, one in which the phone calls and texting seemed annoyingly constant, even Gina wondered what was up. But Downy was a college freshman now and baseball was in full swing. He was attending Oregon State on an athletic scholarship;
