“Don’t be offended,” I say. “Fight for what you want, Carter. Don’t settle.”
When our fingers are pruned, we sit on the big flat rocks beside the pool. The stone heats my body, and I lie on my side, facing him. He does the same. Water pools in the dip of his collarbone. I reach over and trace the hickey I left on him two mornings ago. He watches my finger move across the faded purple mark.
“Has anyone seen it yet?” I ask.
“Just you,” he says. “You like knowing you marked me.”
“I see how everyone looks at you,” I say as we lie back, letting the sun dry our skin.
“Looks atme? Are you kidding me? You’re gorgeous, and you could have anyone you wanted. You don’t even know the power you have,” he says.
I laugh at him, and he just keeps smiling.
“You’re serious.”
“Yeah,” he says. “My little mermaid.”
A bead of water tracks from his temple down his jaw. The rock is warm underneath me, and the mist from the falls cools my shoulders every few seconds. My hand rests on his chest, and his heartbeat is steady against my palm. Nothing else in the world matters. Just us. This.
“There’s a trail to the top,” I say, pointing and covering my eyes. “You can see the whole island from there.”
“Can we go?”
“You might have to carry me halfway up,” I tell him.
“I’d be happy to.”
He leans toward me and kisses me. Then we redress.
The climb is steeper than I remember. At one point, I lose my footing on a root, but he catches me. The rest of the way, his hand stays on my lower back. When we step out of the tree line, the lookout gives us a gorgeous view of the whole island, surrounded by blue water and skies. The town, the boardwalkcurving along the shore to the pier, the beach—all of it stretches as far as the eye can see.
“Is that lighthouse operational?” Carter asks.
“Yeah, actually, it is.” I smile. “One of my dreams as a kid was to own it. How cool would it be to help those at sea?”
He tilts his head at me. “You do seem like a woman who’d run a lighthouse.”
“Oh hush,” I say. “Don’t be facetious.”
“I’m not. I can imagine it. Hair blowing in the breeze. Maintaining it like the captain of a ship.”
In the distance, a crowd forms on the beach. Colorful umbrellas stick in the ground, decorating the beach in neons and stripes.
Carter stands beside me, taking it all in.
“When I was younger, I felt trapped by the island. Treated it like a prison instead of a paradise,” I admit. “Everyone knew everything about me because Gran is friends with the entire town. I really thought everything I wanted was on the mainland.”
He wraps his arm around me, placing a kiss on my forehead. “And now?”
“I don’t want to be anywhere else. I saw what life was like outside of here. I’m good.”
“I don’t deserve this time with you.” His chin rests on top of my head as the breeze brushes over us.
“But what if you do?”
We don’t talk much on the trail back, and we don’t let go of each other’s hand. The path down is faster, and the shade thins as we get closer to the beach. Up there, we were just two people, floating in warm water and spilling secrets. Down here, things are complicated.
When the trees part and the ocean finally appears, Carter’s grip tightens around my fingers. The B&B windows reflect theevening sun, and every pane glows orange. He pulls me into him and kisses me. Carter hooks his finger with mine, leading me onto the beach path, then breaks away.
