“He will be,” I said. “Tonight’s tough. He’d fallen pretty hard for Sabine.”
She nodded, like she understood.
Do you, Charley? Do you see how screwed up Nil really is?But I pushed Nil’s cruelty from my head, because I didn’t want to think about it tonight. Just one night.
“There’s something I want you to see,” I said, standing.
“What is it?” She tilted her head to look at me.
“You’ll see.” Smiling, I held out my hand, hoping she’d take it.Needingher to take it.
She took it.
I grabbed a torch and led her down to a stretch of black rocks, the same black rocks Jason had been chunking into the sea the day I met Charley. Some were tiny, like black diamonds. Others were pebbles, like slick gravel, or chunks. But one was as big as a table and just as flat.
“Cool rocks,” she said. “Thanks for the beach tour. I give it five stars.”
I laughed. “Five? Man, I was hoping for ten. But I do like these rocks.”
“Uh-huh,” was all she said, in that same velvet voice.
Chuckling again, I said, “Have a seat.”
She let go as we sat, which pretty much sucked, although it did help to have both hands to wedge the torch into the sand. Then I sat beside her, so close our hips touched, which was a fresh rush all its own.
The sun was a brilliant orange ball. It hung over the water, centimeters from the horizon. The fading light licked the ocean’s surface like fire.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” I said, “but when the sun sets here, it sinks fast. After it touches the water, it disappears in seconds. And just before it drops out of sight, you’ll see a green flash. Watch.”
For a few minutes, we sat side by side. Not talking, just being.
Now, Nil whispered.
The orange ball tapped the water, dropped, and dipped from sight. And there it was—the emerald flash. Then it was gone, like the sun.
“Wow,” Charley breathed. “That was cool.”
“Yeah. It’s like the sun’s last stand, like the day wanted to live a bit longer.”
I wanted to kick myself. I’d asked her not to talk about death, and here I was, doing it for her.
Charley faced the water, biting her lip, and I didn’t know her well enough to read her. But I knew I’d ruined the moment.
“Hey,” I said quietly, “you okay?”
She turned to me. Torchlight flickered in her eyes, like flames on the sun. “Yeah. I was thinking about the green flash and how gorgeous it was, like everything else on Nil. More surreal island beauty. And I was thinking that you’re a heck of an island guide. First the Crystal Cove, then the Flower Field, and now this. You do this often?”
“Never,” I said.
“So I’m just lucky?” she teased.
Not if you landed here, I thought. But I couldn’t bring myself to say it. Then I had the weird thought that right now, Ifeltlucky, which wasn’t just weird, it was insane.
“Hey, other than your family,” I said, “is there anyone special you’re missing back home?”’Cause if there is, I bet he misses you more.
“Are you asking me if I have a boyfriend?” Her smile was mischievous.
“Subtle, eh?” I laughed. Usually I wouldn’t come right out and ask, but here, I had nothing to lose but ignorance. “Well?”
