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“Yeah, Brett sometimes has a way of saying the deepest thing in the simplest of ways. He loves you. He wants you to be happy.”

“It’s not about me,” I said softly, looking down at my hands that were folded in my lap because it was too hard to look at him.

Dalton walked toward me with that slow saunter that showed his confidence in his body and in his purpose. His demeanor was more serious this time as he focused those perfectly green eyes on me.

He climbed up, somehow managing to still look confident and liquid while straddling me but keeping his weight on his knees, wiping tears from under my eyes as he whispered, “What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’re young, Dalton.”

“We’ve established that.” He tilted his head and thought for a moment. “Younger,” he emphasized.

I nodded. “Younger. And you have your whole life ahead of you.”

“So do you.”

“Yes! Exactly! And I know what I want my life to be. I want it to be those two stores down there, and that view, and Anita as my family, and monotonous chamber meetings, and …”

“And?”

“And that must sound like a very boring life for an oceanographer slash marine biologist who can travel the world studying the Earth’s literal last frontier.”

Dalton sighed but didn’t respond right away.

Eventually, he said, “Just because you ran away from your hometown doesn’t mean everyone wants to leave theirs.”

“But you do.”

“Says who?”

“You’re not the only one who can eavesdrop, Dalt. I remember you and Austin talking one time. He was going on and on about going to New York, and you talked about going to Alaska.”

“I mean, I talk about Alaska a lot, and I’m sure I was excited about it, but I’ve been there now; I spent a bunch of time up there. And sure, I loved it, but that was part of my studies, Turner.”

I nodded, wanting to understand.

“I’ve been offered a job here.”

“Here?”

I may have sounded incredulous. Dalton’s expertise could take him anywhere; the one place I didn’t think it would take him was New Jersey.

“Well, it’s a little further north in Point Pleasant. Tidewater University has an outpost there, in conjunction with the federal government. I’ll be working and getting my master’s.

“And yeah, it will involve some traveling, but I can … No, I want to stay here. Make this my home base.”

“No!”

“No?” he repeated.

“You can’t stay here just because … Just because you think I don’t have anyone, Dalton. It’s not up to you to make up for Anita leaving or Brett getting married.”

“What are you talking about, Turner? Do you think my feelings have something to do with them? Do you think I, what? Feel sorry for you? That's the furthest thing from the truth, Turner. I think you're so brave. Coming here all alone, finding your home, finding your life. Protecting this building and protecting that store down there. What happened between us last year has nothing, nothing to do with anyone else in this absurd tourist town.

“Turner, you have to know. You have to understand. There is one thing, one thing that I have wanted above all else, for a very long time.”

He leaned in and kissed me, but I still couldn’t quite see it. No, that’s not right. It wasn’t that I doubted Dalton. I believed he meant every word. I just wasn't sure he fully understood his own feelings yet or could comprehend the vastness of his future.

He pulled back and sat up, his hands warm and heavy on my shoulders, his weight finally resting in my lap.