“Illumination Night is a town favorite,” I agree.
“Keribo, Murphy, Cartwright stick around the trucks, in case someone comes here for medical attention or an emergency,” Captain commands. “The rest of you walk around and mingle. We’re here to bond with the community as much as protect it. But keep your radios on.”
Logan walks over and joins us. “Hopefully we don’t have to respond to anything big tonight.”
The Cap holds up his hand and crosses his fingers before he wanders down the parking lot toward the pier, which has a series of booths set up for the night. Illumination Night is an annual event, held the first official day of autumn since the town’s inception in eighteen eighty-one. Back then Ocean Pines was a summer town with nothing but uninsulated cottages owned mostly by wealthy Bostonians. This was the weekend they would all come back to close up their places for the winter, and so it was the last time the houses had lights in the windows and lanterns on the porches. Now people purposely decorate their homes as a nod to the past and a symbol of the end of the tourist season since Ocean Pines still gets its fair share of holiday-makers in the summer. People decorate their lawns and porches and put candles in windows or do crazy lights across their roof almost like Christmas and at ten o’clock, people gather on the beach and release sky lanterns in memory of loved ones or in honor of wishes they dream of fulfilling.
“You wanna walk down to the Hawkins booth with me?” Logan asks. “Before things really get going and I end up treating forty kids with scraped knees or a drunken teenager who face-plants?”
I give him side eye. “Is your ma back to normal yet?”
Logan laughs and gives me a shove toward the pier. “Dude, you’re saving her baby’s life. She will never treat you like a normal person again. Sorry.”
I bite back a groan. Lucy Hawkins burst into tears the first time she saw me after she heard the news. And then she grabbed her rosary and held it tightly as she hugged me with more force than any women barely five feet should have and proclaimed me a gift from God. Charlie stood there and watched, his eyes watery but his face stoic and then he clapped me on the back and disappeared down to the dock.
I understand their gratitude, but it still makes me uncomfortable. I don’t want to be idolized by this family, just accepted. We walk along the ancient wood pier, past Stan’s Seafood booth, past Patti’s Parlor booth, past Kurt the Cotton Candy Man’s stand. Hawkins' Lobster Shack has the biggest booth, decorated with a string of lobster lights across the top, just under the wooden sign with the business name that Nova created herself. Nova and Declan are the ones manning the booth, and I’m relieved.
“Oh good,” Nova exclaims and turns to grab a big cardboard tray with about twelve lobster rolls lined up on it. “This saves me a trip. Bring this to your team will ya?”
Logan nods. “They’ll be forever grateful.”
“Thanks, Nova,” I say.
Her grin broadens. “Those aren’t for you. Those are just the standard rolls - toasted bun, mayo, lobster meat. Lucy made two Jake specials for you. And she pre-paid a chocolate peanut butter shake at Patti’s just for you. All you have to do is pop over there.”
“She did not have to do that!” I argue but I reach across the counter for the bag with my name on it.
Logan knocks my shoulder with his. “Gonna have to learn to live with it, Maverick.”
And then out of nowhere, a row of clam shell lights that I hadn’t noticed were hanging under the counter pop on and Terra pops up. She must have been under the counter plugging them in. She looks amazing and adorable. Her hair is in two braids and the long sleeved Hawkins Lobster Shack shirt she’s wearing is red, which accentuates her perfect, pale skin and the freckles that dot along the bridge of her nose and her cheeks. She’s in overalls on top of it, but I can still tell the shirt is clingy, so her svelte figure isn’t as hidden as it usually is. “Hey boys, make sure no one burns anything down or drops dead tonight.”
She doesn’t make eye contact. I swear she hasn’t looked me in the eye since that night in the pouring rain. Of course I’ve only seen her twice since then, once at the restaurant and once at the doctor’s office when we met for our first consultation together for the transplant after the social worker gave the go-ahead. At the restaurant she hovered in the background while her family showered me with thanks and then disappeared into the back claiming she had invoices to pay. I had to go into work, so I didn’t get to hang around or sneak into the back and confront her. At the doctor’s office, Lucy was with her and I wasn’t about to bring up anything in front of Mom. Because what I want to talk about with her is that kiss.
“Hey Terra, I got some time before it gets busy, wanna go walk the streets and check out some of the lights?” I ask hoping I sound casual and laid back.
“Sorry, I still have stuff to organize here,” she replies as she turns toward the grill at the back of the booth.
“I can handle the rest of the prep,” Nova interjects.
“Yeah, and I can help her. I know how much you love the lights,” Declan replies.
“You used to make me pay you my allowance money to take me to see them when Mom said I was too young to wander around alone,” Terra says giving Declan dagger eyes from over her shoulder.
“You don’t let anything go,” Declan rolls his eyes. “Well now I’m going to do manual labor so you can go check them out. Consider it an apology.”
“Go with Jake, Terra,” Nova adds, grinning. “The man is giving you a kidney. The least you can do is give him a walk.”
Finally, Terra looks over at me. Her expression is guarded, but why? It’s not like I’m the one that kissedher. She kissedme. Does she regret it? Is she embarrassed? Is she worried I think it means nothing or that it means something? So many questions. But I can’t ask them if she stays here. Luckily, after a fairly heavy sigh that feels like an insult, she opens the door on the side of the booth and exits. I hand the bag of lobster rolls back to Nova. “Hold onto these for me until I get back, please? If I leave them on the firetruck they’ll get eaten for sure.”
Nova takes the bag back with a smile. Terra, on the other hand looks like she’s going to the gallows. Great. I turn to Logan before I leave. “Tell Cap I got my radio if he needs me.” I pat the radio on the hip of my work pants.
Terra and I walk in silence back down the pier until we get to Dune street. It runs along the beach and has the biggest houses in town. “You wanna check out this street first?”
She shakes her head and points straight ahead to Colby street, which runs away from the beach. “Let’s go back to the other side of town, those guys don’t get as many people looking at their displays, and they deserve the love.”
Another thing that I like about Terra, she is always so sensitive to things like that. We continue down the road, crowds wandering past us in the other direction, keen to be by the pier and the bigger, fancier displays. I know where she’s going to turn before she even does it because for more than a couple of years growing up, I tagged along when her brothers chaperoned her at these events. She loves the houses on Free Street. It’s a short street with only ten homes and the start of Gold Park, a nature reserve which is thick with pine trees. All the homes are one or two story stone cottages with sunrooms on the side. Every single sunroom is decorated with different kinds of lights. One has pineapple and palm tree shaped lights, one has red, white and blue stars and fairy lights, one has old fashioned lanterns. You can visibly see Terra relax as she takes them all in.
“You still love this street?” I say.
