He fell asleep almost immediately but woke an hour later. Tiptoeing outside again, he went to check on the daughter he loved more than life itself.
12
Ronnie
Her first thought upon waking was that everything hurt. Her back was stiff, her neck ached, and when she got the courage to sit up, a stabbing pain coursed through her shoulder.
She couldn’t imagine anyone ever choosing to sleep outdoors. When she was growing up, some of her friends had extolled the joys of camping, but she’d thought they were deranged. Sleeping on the ground hurt.
And so, of course, did the blinding sun. Judging by fact that she’d been waking up with the farmers since she’d arrived, she figured today was no different. It probably wasn’t even seven yet. The sun was hanging low over the ocean, and a few people were walking their dogs or jogging near the water’s edge. No doubt they’d slept in beds. She couldn’t imagine walking, let alone exercising. Right now it was hard enough to breathe without passing out.
Steeling herself, she slowly got to her feet before remembering why she’d been out here in the first place. She checked the nest, noting with relief that it was undisturbed, and ever so slowly, the aches and pains began to subside. She wondered idly how Blaze could tolerate sleeping on the beach, and then all of a sudden she remembered what Blaze had done to her.
Arrested for shoplifting. Serious shoplifting. Felony shoplifting.
She closed her eyes, reliving it all: the way the store manager had glared at her until the officer had arrived, Officer Pete’s disappointment on the drive to the station, the awful phone call she’d had to make to her dad. She’d felt like throwing up on the car ride home.
If there was one bright spot in all that had happened, it was that her dad hadn’t blown a gasket. And even more incredible, he’d said he believed her to be innocent Then again, he hadn’t spoken to Mom yet. As soon as that happened, all bets were off. No doubt Mom would scream and shout until Dad gave in, and he’d end up grounding her because he’d promised Mom that he would. After the Incident, her mom had grounded her for a month, and this was way, way bigger than just an incident.
She felt sick again. She couldn’t imagine having to spend an entire month in her room, a room she had to share, no less, in a place she didn’t want to be. She wondered if things could get any worse. As she stretched her arms above her head, she yelped at a stabbing pain in her shoulder. She lowered them slowly, wincing.
She spent the next couple of minutes dragging her things to the back porch. Even though the nest was behind her house, she didn’t want the neighbors to guess that she’d slept outside. Based on the grandeur of their houses, she pegged them as the kind of people who wanted everything picture perfect when they stood on their back decks drinking coffee in the mornings. The knowledge that someone had been sleeping beside their house probably didn’t fit with their image of perfection, and the last thing she wanted was to have the police to show up again. With her luck, she’d probably get arrested for vagrancy. Felony vagrancy.
It took two trips to get everything—she didn’t have the energy to carry it all at once—and then she realized she’d left behind her copy of Anna Karenina. She’d intended to read it last night, but she’d been too tired and had set it under a piece of driftwood so the mist wouldn’t ruin it. When she went back to get it, she spotted someone wearing a beige jumpsuit advertising Blakelee Brakes, carrying a roll of yellow tape and a bunch of sticks. He seemed to be walking up the beach toward the house.
By the time she’d retrieved her book, the man was closer and hunting around the dune. She started toward him, wondering what he was doing, and then he turned in her direction. When their eyes met, it was one of the few times in her life that she actually felt tongue-tied.
She recognized him immediately, despite the uniform. She flashed on the way he’d looked without a shirt, tan and fit, his brown hair wet with sweat, the macramé bracelet on his wrist. He was the guy at the volleyball court who’d crashed into her, the guy whose friend almost got into a fight with Marcus.
Coming to a halt in front of her, he didn’t seem to know what to say, either. Instead, he just stared at her. Although she knew it was crazy, she had the impression that he was somehow pleased to run into her again. She could see it in his dawning recognition, in the way he began to smile at her, none of which made any sense.
“Hey, it’s you,” he said. “Good morning.”
She wasn’t sure what to think, other than to question the friendly tone.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.