Page 34 of Here & Now

He accepted defeat. “Right.”

“Do you need to change?”

He glanced down at his T-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops. “I’m good.”

She shifted uncomfortably. “Do you want to wait here or…?”

“Here’s fine.”

“Have a seat. I won’t be long.” She eyed him warily and then walked away.

He went into the living room, but he didn’t sit down. Instead, he moseyed around the room, getting a feel for the place, and idly glanced into one of the open boxes. It contained an assortment of things, and on top of the pile was a framed photo with a familiar backdrop.

Typically, he wasn’t this nosy, but in this case, he was curious. He carefully lifted the frame out of the box and studied it. Two young girls were in the center of the photo, flanked by an elderly couple. The foursome stood in front of the wooden sign at the entrance to Bowman’s Beach, one of the most popular shelling beaches on the island.

Upon closer inspection, he determined one of the girls was a young Bree, easily identifiable by her strawberry-blonde hair, light skin, and freckles. The adults must have been her grandparents, and the other girl her sister.

“What are you doing?”

His head shot up, and guilt rushed over him. “Sorry.”

She came up beside him and carefully took the picture out of his hands. “These are my grandparents, Charles and Helen, and my sister, Ivy. It was taken a long time ago, obviously.”

“How old were you?”

“Ten, and Ivy was eight.”

“I recognized you right away.”

She sighed. “The freckles.”

“And the hair.”

“I take after my mom, and Ivy looks like my dad.”

“Are your grandparents…?”

She sucked in a breath. “Both gone.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Me too.”

“So that’s why you’re selling the house?”

She nodded. “I wish I didn’t have to. Anyway, we should get going.” She set the frame back in the box and closed the flaps, as though shutting out the sad memories.

He followed her to the door. “Which beach are we going to?”

She paused to slip on flip-flops and grab her purse. “Bowman’s Beach.”

He didn’t think it was a coincidence. He wondered if going there would make her feel worse, but she’d chosen it for a reason, so he decided not to argue.

“I’ll drive,” he said after they went outside and she locked the door.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you one of those men?”

“What men?”