Page 69 of The Scars I Bare
“No.”
“Then, you really haven’t seen everything, have you?”
“I guess not.”
He was grinning again.
“You just wanted an excuse to rent a golf cart, didn’t you?”
He turned the key, an unimpressive event for the ears since the cart was battery-operated. It just sort of made a low-key hum.
“Kind of,” he answered before that very large foot he’d mentioned hit the pedal.
And we were off.
Thank goodness the clocks hadn’t been set back an hour yet because we needed every bit of daylight to be able to do and see everything Dean had on his agenda for the night.
“No wonder you and Lizzie get along so well,” I said as we rounded the corner toward the docks. “I didn’t know such a small town could be so big.”
He seemed pleased with himself. “You’re just amazed Ocracoke is so interesting, aren’t you?”
I crossed my arms in front of me as he parked the golf cart. “I knew Ocracoke was interesting. Why do you think I moved here?”
Jumping out, Dean pulled something out of the back—a basket—and looked up at me, grinning. “Actually, I don’t know. I assumed it was to find me, but that might be a bit presumptuous.”
I laughed. “A little.”
“You ready to eat?”
I looked around at our surroundings and saw nothing but boats and several parked cars. “Here?” I asked.
“Yep.”
I’d had a great evening so far. We’d been to the lighthouse and the British cemetery where Dean had tried to scare me with ghost stories and old town legends, and then we had gone for a lovely hike out to where Fort Ocracoke once stood.
But dinner in a parking lot?
Surely, there had to be more.
“Ah, there he is,” Dean said, looking behind me to where I heard a car driving up.
I turned to see a truck with a familiar logo on the side.
Sutherland Fishing Company.
Suddenly feeling very nervous, I checked my appearance.Was I going to meet Dean’s family? Shouldn’t he have told me? Did I have bugs in my teeth?
“Hey, Taylor!” Dean called out, taking hold of my hand as a green-eyed younger version of himself walked up to us.
“Hey. Here are the keys. Be careful with the throttle; she’s been a little touchy.”
I felt Dean flinch. “I’m not taking her out. It’s just for the lights and, uh…”
The two brothers stared at one another. There was a spark of something in Taylor’s eyes. Hope maybe. But it was dashed just as quickly as it’d appeared.
“Sure, right. My mistake. I just thought…well, enjoy.” Taylor’s gaze flickered over to me, and he smiled. “This Cora?”
“Yes, sorry. Cora, this is my younger brother, Taylor. Taylor, this is Cora.”
