Chapter Seventeen
ONE DAY YOU’LL do just that. BTW, Evan said it’s cool. Meet us here around ten? Xox.
Bella read Caden’s text message for the tenth time in as many minutes. He was hoping for a future as much as she was. She sent him a text saying ten was fine. Then she showered and packed her beach tote, excited to spend the day with them.
An hour later, Evan answered the door wearing a blue bathing suit that hung to his knees. “Hey. Come on in.” Evan smiled as he stepped aside.
“Hi.”
“Dad’ll be out in a second. He’s on the phone.” He waved to the couch. “You can sit down if you want.”
“I’m okay, thanks. Are you sure you don’t mind if I come along?”
He flashed the same easy smile as Caden’s. “Nah. It’ll be fun. I’m gonna grab a shirt.” He disappeared down the hall.
“Great.” Caden’s voice came down the hallway. He stepped into the living room clutching his cell phone.
“Hi.” Bella crossed the living room, and the irritation in Caden’s eyes stopped her cold. “What’s wrong?”
Evan appeared behind him, arms over his head as he slithered into his T-shirt.
“Ready, Dad?”
Caden looked from Bella to Evan. “One of the guys called out sick today. I’ve got to cover his shift.”
“Man, that sucks,” Evan said. “I was looking forward to going.”
“I can still take Evan. I mean, if you want to go while your dad’s at work.”
“You don’t have to do that.” Caden’s tone softened.
“Do you mind, Dad?” Evan asked, surprising them both.
“Do I…? No. I think it’s great if you both want to go. I’m just pissed that I won’t be there.” He reached for Bella’s hand. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“A day at the beach with Evan is hardly a hardship.” She glanced over his shoulder at Evan. “Evan? You sure?”
“Yeah, I’m in.” He grabbed a beach towel from the kitchen table and slung it over his shoulder. “Do you have our boogie boards?”
“I’ve got them in the truck. Why don’t you go grab them and we’ll be right out.” He tossed the keys to Evan.
Caden placed his hands on her hips and drew her close. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay. Duty calls. I’m glad he wants to go. It’ll be fun, but I’m sorry you have to work.”
“Low man on the totem pole for a while.” He kissed her forehead.
“Like everything in this world, you’ve got to pay your dues before you can rise to the top. Luckily, there are no dues to be paid in boyfriend world. You’re already on top.”
He pressed his cheek to hers. “Speaking of on top…” He nuzzled against her neck and sent a thrill through her body.
“Careful making promises you can’t keep.”
“Oh, I intend to keep it.” He covered her mouth with his, and his kiss filled her with all sorts of delicious promises.
The door swung open, and they both took a startled step back.
Evan crossed his arms and shook his head. “It’s not like I don’t know you two kiss.”
Bella felt her cheeks flush.
Caden cleared his throat. “Cells don’t work on the beaches, so call me when you guys leave? The shift is from eleven to seven, and if he gets too mouthy, just bring him home.”
“Dad,” Evan snapped.
“I’m kidding,” Caden said. “Sort of. Behave, okay?”
Evan rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
Bella loved that Caden cared enough to say it, but she was pretty sure it was unnecessary. Evan seemed like he was in a fine mood, and she probably handled teens better than she handled adults.
“We’ll be fine. Anything I need to know? Rules for the ocean?” Even though Bella wished Caden was going with them to the beach, she knew they’d have fun and she was glad for the chance to spend time with Evan. Maybe she could find out what types of things were going on in his teenage brain and help ease the rough spots.
“Evan’s a good swimmer, but you know, just keep an eye on the undertow and look out for sharks, of course.”
“Can we go? Please?” Evan tossed Caden his keys before heading out the door.
Caden caught the keys in one hand, then pressed a soft kiss to Bella’s lips.
“Have I told you lately how great you are?”
“No, but between that and the promise of you being on top, the day’s looking better and better.”
“GRANT. COME IN here, will ya?” Chief Bassett waved him into his office.
“What’s up, Chief?”
“Have a seat. We’ve got a lead on the thefts.” Chief Bassett pushed a stack of papers across the desk. “An eyewitness put two teens hanging around the Dunes the day of the theft.” The Dunes was a cottage community in South Wellfleet. The property was heavily treed, making visibility from the road into the community nearly impossible.
Caden scanned the report.
“Can they identify them?” Caden asked.
“No. But this confirms what we’ve thought all along. Kids looking for trouble.” Chief Bassett locked his hands behind his head. “Now we just have to catch them.”
“Chief, the description is pretty vague, don’t you think? Two teenage boys with darkish hair.” Caden met his serious gaze. “That describes half the population. That even describes Evan.” The thought made his gut ache. “Thankfully, he was home with me last night, so that’s one Wellfleet teenager off the list.”
“I know. It’s not much to go on, but when you’re out on patrol today, spend your free time trolling the rental communities and the beach parking lots. See if anything stands out. They’re hitting cars and cottages during the day, with a few rare exceptions, like over at Healy’s.”
“I’ll keep my eyes open.” Caden rose to leave.
“Grant, sorry to pull you in on your day off. Your dedication is duly noted.” He nodded a dismissal.
“Thanks, Chief.” Even though he knew Evan wasn’t involved, he was glad he was spending the day with Bella. The less time he had to get roped into something like this, the better.
BELLA SAT ON a beach chair at the edge of the surf and, with Evan’s safety in her hands, she finally understood why her parents were so overprotective of her when she was growing up. Every time Evan disappeared under the waves, the pit of Bella’s stomach sank and she held her breath until he reappeared on the other side. Riding waves and smiling when he broke through the surface, Evan looked so different from the brooding teenager she knew him to be at times. It was funny how a dark hoodie and a cell phone could change the image of a person.
He came out of the surf shivering; his hair fell long and streaky across his face. He crossed his skinny arms over his chest and squinted against the sun.
“Wanna boogie board with me?” he asked.
“I haven’t been boogie boarding for a while, but heck yeah.” She wrapped the Velcro strap of her board around her wrist and stepped into the icy water.
“My dad loves to boogie board.” Evan carried his board over his head while Bella clung to hers for warmth.
Her teeth were already chattering.
“Come on!” Evan waved her out deeper. He eased his rangy body onto the board and paddled over the next wave.
Bella turned to the side, clutching her board as the wave crashed against her. Evan paddled toward her and reached for her hand, then pulled her through the next wave.
“Climb up on your board,” he directed. “We’ll ride the bigger waves in.”
She did as he instructed. Somehow boogie boarding seemed easier when she was eighteen. They paddled out side by side with the sun warming her back.
“You’ve done this before, right?” he asked.
“Of course. It’s just been a few years.”
“Such a girl,” Evan teased.
Bella spied a big wave rolling toward them. “I’ll show you what a girl can do.” She spun her board around and rode the wave all the way up to shore. The icy spray of water on her face and the rough sand on her thighs as she climbed the bank brought memories of her childhood rushing back. Her heart thundered in her chest as she paddled out to do it again.
“Awesome!” Evan hollered.
She rode the next few waves and wondered why she’d ever stopped boogie boarding. Oh yeah. Boys. She’d given up boogie boarding for lying in the sun in a bikini and flirting with lifeguards and hot boys in surf suits. She had turned into a girl, and now that she was back on a boogie board, she decided that maybe she’d given it up too soon. She smiled at the thought. In one sense she’d become a girl, and in another she’d cast away being too girly in lieu of taking care of herself—and with Caden, she realized, she had the best of both worlds.
“Come on, daydreamer.” Evan splashed her as he waded back out into the deeper water.
Bella was definitely not too girly to give it right back to him. She paddled out and splashed him, then dunked him under the water. They splashed and laughed so hard, neither noticed the next wave mounting until it crashed over the top of them. Bella tumbled against the hard, scratchy sand, and when she broke the surface her first thought was for Evan’s safety. She spun around and scanned the water.
“Evan?” she hollered. She pushed through the waves, frantically looking in both directions.
“Hey!” Evan was about twenty feet down the beach from where she was. He waved his arms over his head and—thank goodness—he was smiling.
She ran through the surf. “I thought I lost you.”
“Whatever.” He splashed her again. “Guys don’t get lost.”
“Oh, I am so going to get you.” She dunked him under again, then jumped on her board and paddled out into the deep water. They boogie boarded until Bella’s body was numb from the cold; then they made their way up the beach, shivering and covered in goose bumps. Bella lay on the blanket, soaking in the warmth of the sun.
“Hey, Bella, thanks for bringing me here.” Evan sat in the beach chair, piling sand up beside his feet, his eyes tracking an attractive young brunette walking along the shore.
“Anytime. I love the beach, and I’ve had a lot of fun. I forgot how much I loved boogie boarding.” She shaded her eyes with her hand and caught his gaze. “I should thank you.”
“Hardly.” He rested his head back and closed his eyes.
“Let me know when you’re hungry and we’ll head up to the snack bar.” Bella closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the surf and the din of the people on the beach. Evan was as easy to be with as Caden was. Without his phone, he seemed to breathe easier, and Bella realized, she thought that held true for most people.
A few minutes later Bella felt a shadow steal her warm sun; then the blanket shifted. She opened her eyes and found Evan sitting beside her. His arms rested casually on his knees as he gazed out over the ocean.
“I’m sorry about last night. I didn’t mean for you to leave early.”
Bella opened her eyes, and he kept his trained on the water.
“Don’t worry about it. I don’t ever want to come between you and your dad.” She closed her eyes again, proud of him for apologizing. It was a difficult thing to do at that age, and she appreciated the confidence it took for him to do it. The silence that followed was surprisingly comfortable.
“When you were growing up, what did you do here during the summers?”
Bella sat up beside him, leaning back on her palms. “Oh, I guess the same stuff kids do now. We had the cottage, so I was always with Amy, Jenna, Leanna, and pretty much the same friends for most of the summer. We rode our bikes to the beach when we were your age, or to the flea market, and just hung out together. And at night we gathered around the fire pit roasting marshmallows, or if we wanted to escape the parents, we’d hole up in one of our cottages and just, I don’t know, talk or play games at night. Not much has changed, actually.”
His solemn expression remained. “You were lucky that the other kids in the development were like you and not jerks.” He glanced at her. “Sorry. I mean—”
“I know what you mean, and it’s okay. I say it too sometimes.” She smiled to ease his discomfort, but his eyes remained dark and serious. “I guess if they were annoying, I wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much, and I probably wouldn’t spend any time with them now.” She’d counted her lucky stars for her Seaside friends more often than there were stars in the sky.
“You must really miss your friends from Boston.”
He shrugged.
“What kinds of things do you do with your friends here?”
He shrugged again and pushed sand around with his feet. “Video games and stuff. The beach sometimes. I don’t know.” He was quiet again, and a few minutes later he said, “It’s different than it was in Boston.”
“Night and day, I’d imagine.” Feeling the serious turn of the conversation, Bella sat up straighter. “I’d imagine it’s a different type of change for you than your dad sees in his life.”
“Dad’s life sucked before you came along.” A hint of a smile lifted his lips.
Wow. That was interesting. “I doubt it sucked. I mean, he obviously misses your grandparents and his friends, but he seems to be happy here.”
“Yeah, I guess. But he didn’t have a life. He had work and me, and then we moved, and now I’m the one without a life.”
Ouch. So the move was far more of an issue than either Caden or Evan were letting on—or maybe than Caden even realized.
“So you don’t like the kids you’ve met here?”
He shrugged again. “They’re okay. They’re just different from my old friends.” He threaded his fingers together and cracked his knuckles.
“I’m sorry you had to move.”
Evan was quiet for a long time. He moved sand around with his feet, watching a group of children running from the surf and a group of teenage girls gathering their towels and umbrella and walking down the beach.
“I guess I’m glad we moved, after what happened to George.” He shook his head. “I always knew my dad’s job was dangerous. I’m not stupid, or anything, but when you grow up seeing someone all the time and then they’re gone forever, it’s kind of unreal.” He swallowed hard and turned his face away from Bella.
If she weren’t afraid of embarrassing him, she’d pull him into her arms and hold him. She’d brush his hair from his face and tell him it was okay to feel sad and angry about George, and moving, and his friends. She’d let him yell and cry and kick sand if it made him feel better; then she’d hold him again until he got all that bottled-up frustration out of his system.
“I’m sorry.” She wasn’t sure what else to say. Talking too much would make him more emotional, which would probably lead to him clamming up out of embarrassment. Talking too little would say she didn’t care, and she did care. Desperately.
He rose to his feet and pulled his shirt over his head. “Wanna eat? I’m getting hungry.”
Deflection. She knew it well from her students. “Yeah, sure.” There were so many things she wanted to ask, like if he’d talked to his father about how he felt. She thought he must have, but teenagers were experts at camouflaging their emotions—even from themselves—with anger and attitude.
Bella pulled on her cover-up and grabbed her wallet from her tote.
“Crap.” Evan turned his back to the dunes.
“What’s wrong?” She shaded her eyes and looked up toward the path that led down the dunes from the parking lot. She didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“Can we go?” Evan grabbed his towel and boogie board.
“Yeah. I was just getting my money.”
“No. I mean, like, leave.” He grabbed the second boogie board and picked up her tote. A deep V formed between his brows, and his narrow chest rose and fell with each heavy, agitated breath.
“Sure. Why are you in such a hurry?” She scanned the beach again. There were people lying out on the beach, kids filling buckets with sand, and lifeguards sitting high up in their chair. She wondered what had caused his reaction.
“Just hot.”
Bella grabbed the beach chair and blanket, and they crossed the hot sand. Evan walked at a quick pace with his eyes glued to the path that led up the steep dune. When he shifted the boogie boards in his arm to block his face from the right, Bella was sure something was up, and she quickly surveyed that part of the beach.
She was pretty sure that the two boys Evan had met at the flea market were walking along the base of the dunes, fully dressed in shorts and tank tops. For Evan to leave the beach in order to avoid them could only mean there was some sort of trouble brewing. Bella was so tempted to ask why he didn’t want them to see him that she had to bite the insides of her cheeks to keep the words from slipping out.
They packed their stuff in the car and drove away in silence. Evan clenched his jaw repeatedly as he stared out the window.
“Mac’s okay for lunch?” she asked, hoping to ease the tension.
“Sure. Whatever.”
Bella drove through the center of Wellfleet, along the main road that was home to art galleries and cozy restaurants.
“Have you and your dad been to the gallery walk?” The gallery walk was a popular tourist attraction on Saturday evenings, when the galleries offered free wine and cheese to patrons and local artists came out to meet the customers.
“No.” His voice was flat as he stared out the passenger window.
“It sounds boring, but it’s really pretty fun. We usually go to the juice bar or the pizza place and eat, and afterward we fill up on ice cream at the pier.”
He slid her a blasé look that either meant she sounded like a stupid adult who was trying too hard to make a kid feel better, or that she was speaking a foreign language. She was pretty sure she was guilty of the first. She pressed her lips together and silently chided herself for doing just that. Ugh. She was turning into an adult in ways that she swore she never would.
They parked at the Wellfleet Pier, and as they walked across the parking lot in a bubble of uncomfortable silence, Evan kept his eyes trained on the ground. Bella wished she understood what was going on, but she knew better than to push. She tried to ease the conversation into a safe subject as they neared Mac’s Seafood.
“What are you hungry for?” she asked.
Mac’s was built at the edge of the parking lot on the beach. Lines at least twenty people deep led to several walk-up windows. On the far side of the cedar-shingled building, where a covered deck met the beach, there was a handful of picnic tables packed end to end with customers.
“Whatever.” He eyed the menu, and Bella noticed that he was breathing a little easier than he’d been at the ocean. “Burger, I guess.”
Bella was in the strange position of feeling like she was young enough to relate to anything Evan might be willing to share with her, when in reality, she knew that the way she saw herself was very different from a teenager’s perspective. As a high school teacher, she was well aware of the dichotomy, but as Caden’s girlfriend, everything she knew about dealing with teenagers felt different with Evan.
She was beginning to see even more clearly how remarkable what Caden had done the other night really was. He’d done what he believed to be the right thing for Evan, regardless of how uncomfortable it was for him. And he hadn’t seemed the least bit hesitant. Let him snap.
What was even more remarkable was that it had worked. It had brought them closer together.
They made their way through the line, and as they waited for their food, Evan kicked the sand with the toe of his flip-flop. “Sorry I made you leave the beach.”
“It’s okay. I was getting hot anyway.” She was struck not only by the sincerity in his voice, but by the fact that he was apologizing again. That was pretty unusual for a teenager, and she knew that was a testament to how Caden had raised him.
She hoped Evan might reveal his reasons for leaving, and again it was torture having to refrain from asking. She was so used to saying what she felt that it took extra effort to navigate this touch-and-go conversation. She wasn’t Evan’s friend or his teacher. She was his father’s girlfriend, and her heart was tied to both Caden and Evan. She didn’t want to make a mistake that might alienate her from Evan, or make him uncomfortable, but her gut told her not to completely ignore what she’d noticed, either.
They picked up their food and decided to sit on the knee-high wall at the edge of the parking lot by the marina, with their trays balanced on their knees.
“Are you excited to start school in the fall?”
“Sort of, I guess.” He took a bite of his burger. “I’m looking forward to the technology club more than school. School kinda bites.” He smiled. “Crap, you’re a teacher. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. Hopefully, I’ll be teaching again.”
“What do you mean hopefully? I thought you were teaching?”
“I was a teacher in Connecticut, but the program I’m putting together has to be accepted before I can get a full-time job here.”
“In Connecticut? I thought you lived here.” Evan set his burger on the tray. “You don’t live here?”
“It’s a little complicated. If the work-study program is accepted, I’ll probably move here full-time.”
Evan’s voice grew serious. “So, if the program isn’t accepted, will you go back to Connecticut?”
Bella shrugged. “I haven’t decided yet. I do have a job offer there, but there’s a lot to consider.” Like where your dad and I are heading.
“But…” He turned away. The wind whipped his hair away from his face. He looked at Bella, and she couldn’t miss the concern in his eyes. “Does Dad know you might move back to Connecticut?”
“Sure. He knows it’s a possibility.” They hadn’t discussed it in very much detail, but they’d touched on it as a possibility. Against her plan, and against what she’d promised herself, she couldn’t deny that the idea of leaving Caden made her stomach hurt.
Evan shook his head. “So you might move away?”
“Well, I hope not, but it’s a possibility, I guess.”
He got up and carried his tray back to the restaurant. She followed, and after they returned their trays, she tried to get his mind onto something else.
“Do you want to walk the pier?” she asked.
“Nah. Can you take me home?” He shoved his hands in his swimsuit pockets.
“Sure, but, Evan, I don’t want you to think that I’m moving. At least that’s not my plan.” My plan. Meeting Caden hadn’t been part of her plan either, and it was the best thing that had ever happened to her.
“If there’s one thing I learned this year, it’s that life doesn’t always go by what we have planned.” He stalked into the parking lot.
Bella couldn’t have agreed more.
WHEN CADEN’S SHIFT ended, he checked in with Evan and then stopped by Bella’s. She and Amy were sitting by the pool even though it was dusk. Bella’s laughter filled the air. He loved her laugh, whether she was laughing raucously at a joke or flirtatiously against his neck when they were intimate. Both made him warm all over. The gate to the pool creaked as he pulled it open, drawing Bella’s attention. Her smile lit up her eyes, and when she jumped up to greet him, he knew he looked just as happy. He waved to Amy, and after waving back, she crossed her arms on the table and rested her head on them.
Bella fell into his arms and lifted her eyes to his. Man, had he missed her.
“Hey,” she said in a soft voice.
“Hey yourself.” He pressed his lips to hers. “Is Amy okay?”
“Yeah. Just nursing a terrible hangover. Luckily, she has no memory of Tony being there when she threw up, so at least she’s not embarrassed on top of it.”
“A hangover? Ouch. I’m sorry.” He glanced at Amy and wondered how different it must be for Bella when she was in Connecticut. Did she have friends she was close to there, too? “Thanks for taking Evan out today. He said he had a great time.”
“Yeah, we did. Did he say anything about practically running off the beach to avoid seeing his friends?”
“No.” Caden thought about Evan’s recent snappy and sullen behavior. “He probably didn’t want them to see him with you. You know, the whole teenage independence thing. I have tomorrow off, and I asked him if he wanted to go to that go-cart and batting cage place in South Yarmouth. When we first moved here, he loved it. But he had no interest in that either.”
“I hope you’re right, but maybe you can find a way to talk about it without telling him that I mentioned it? He seemed a little stressed.”
“Okay, I will.” She felt so good in his arms, and she smelled like the ocean. He wanted to spend the evening with her. They could go for a walk, then watch a movie, rub each other’s feet, or read on the couch. He didn’t care what they did. He only knew that nothing felt right without her by his side.
“I was hoping we could go for a walk or something, but it looks like Amy needs you, so can I call you later?”
Bella glanced over her shoulder at Amy. “I’m sorry. Thank you for understanding. It isn’t often that she needs me, but she’s feeling a little down today. She never drinks—well, none of us do, really, except when we’re here on vacation, but Amy is a super lightweight. She’s, like, pixie light, and she drank like she was a heavyweight.”
“Don’t be sorry.” When they kissed again, it was painful to break away. “I hate not being with you every night. It feels like you should always be right there with me.”
“I feel that way, too.” She glanced at Amy. “You could stay if you want.”
“That’s okay. Enjoy your time with Amy. You don’t get much of it when you’re apart for nine months out of the year. Besides, I had Evan time the other night; you should have girl time.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
He touched his forehead to hers. “Babe, I’d do anything for you. Since I’m off work tomorrow, do you want to do something?” He could spend every minute with Bella and it wouldn’t be enough.
Her lips curved down in an adorable frown, but the ache it caused wasn’t cute at all.
“I have meetings scheduled with a few companies, but afterward, definitely.”
“Definitely.” He pulled her close again. “Call me when you’re done and we’ll figure it out.” He looked back at his truck, knowing he should leave, but every part of him wanted to stay. He forced himself to take a step back, but he kept hold of her hand. Even the short distance between them felt too far apart.
She smiled up at him and pressed her other hand to his abs. “Why does it get harder and harder to say goodbye?”
“I think it’s what happens when you fall for someone.” Forget falling. I think I’ve base jumped. “I’ll call you before I go to sleep later, but, babe, good-night phone calls aren’t enough.”
“I know.”
“But for Evan’s sake, it has to be for now.”
“I know that, too.”