Page 44 of Even After Sunset

“It’s okay,” I say as nonchalantly as possible. “You obviously want to—”

“I said it’s fine. Jesus.” He rolls his eyes. “Sit, though. You’re making me feel like I’m about to be interrogated or something.”

“Oh. Sorry. Um, well… Yeah. Okay.” I lower myself next to him and I can feel the dampness of the sand through my sweatpants. The tide must be going out. I’m definitely going to have a wet spot on my butt when I get up.

There’s just enough room against the sea-worn beam for me to lean back next to Silas, and from this low vantage point underneath the floor of the pier, the only slice of sky I can see is the horizon line: an orangey-yellow strip with an intensity so fierce it’s hard to believe it’s a color custom-mixed by nature.

The sound of the water lapping against the sand is calming. It’s rhythmic and really peaceful, and I sit there, transfixed by the tiny rivulets the waves create every time they shrink back into the ocean. I kick off my flip-flops and dig my toes in, wiggling them and then patting the sand down again with my foot; over and over.

I glance at Silas, who’s reaching into his shirt pocket for his pack of smokes. Again.

Geez.

I bump his leg with my knee. “You should take your boots off. The sand feels really good.”

He taps the pack against his palm and slides out a cigarette, which he places between his full, bowed lips.

“I’m good,” he mumbles as he cups his hand around the end while he lights it. Then he stashes the lighter back in his pocket.

“Okay.” I wiggle my toes again. “I just think you’ll regret it later — that you watched the sun rise from underneath a legit beach boardwalk, and didn’t even bother to take your shoes off. You’re definitely not getting the full experience.”

He takes a long drag off the cigarette and holds the nicotine in his mouth for a second before turning his head to exhale the smoke away from me.

“I’m sure I’ll get over it,” he mumbles.

“You might…” I shrug. “Or maybe, someday when you’re old and feeble and on your death-bed, you’ll be thinking ‘man, I sure wish I dug my toes into the sand under that rickety old boardwalk in Old Orchard Beach back when I was a spritely young buck’…”

His upper lip curls into just the tiniest hint of a grin around his cigarette, and he exhales another column of smoke through the corner of his mouth

After a beat, he leans forward and reaches for his right boot, cigarette still dangling from his lips. He pulls it off in two sharp tugs, then tosses it, then does the same with the other one. Then he takes off both socks, discarding them in the sand next to the coffee that he still hasn’t touched.

He arches an eyebrow at me. “Happy?”

He isn’t grinning anymore, but I can tell he’s grinning inside. Which is almost as good.

“Yup.”

The smile thatIgive him is definitely real. And totally unapologetic.

He shakes his head again. “Spritely young buck…” he mumbles, and he lets out another singular chuckle before taking another drag from his cigarette.

A couple of seagulls swoop under the pier, squawking and pecking at the sand. We’re the only people around, except for a couple so far down the beach they’re just black dots moving against the sunburst-sky.

Out of my peripheral vision, I see Silas digging his toes into the sand just like I was doing a few seconds ago, and I tilt my head upwards, biting back a grin and pretending to be fascinated by the planks and wooden beams criss-crossing the underside of the pier so he won’t seeme gloating.

“So,” he drawls. “You have the whole day mapped out again?”

He might be teasing me. Or not. I still don’t have Badass Silas anywhere near figured out.

“Kind of,” I say. “I have to bake. Another six batches of cookies before the gates open at two.”

He takes a final drag from his cigarette, then tosses it onto the sand a few feet away.

Unbelievable.

I jump up and scurry over to grab the stub before the next wave takes it out to sea, then come back and drop it into my empty coffee cup.

Once I’m settled back into the sand beside him, Silas continues the conversation like there wasn’t any interruption.

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