Page 72 of Dreaming at Seaside
“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. “Youdon’tlive 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.
