went under, and popped to the surface. Four faces stared down at me from the railing. Pink shirt was definitely annoyed.
“Where is it?” I shouted up at them.
“Right over there!” the brunette shouted. “I think I can still see it. It’s going down….”
It took a minute to locate it in the deepening twilight, and the surge of the ocean was doing its best to drive me into the pier. I swam to the side, then held the bag above the water as best I could, despite the fact that it was already soaking. The waves made the swim back to shore less difficult than I’d feared, and every now and then I’d look up and see the four people following along with me.
I finally felt bottom and trudged out of the surf. I shook the water from my hair, started up the sand, and met them halfway up the beach. I held out the bag.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you,” the brunette said, and when her eyes met mine, I felt something click, like a key turning in a lock. Believe me, I’m no romantic, and while I’ve heard all about love at first sight, I’ve never believed in it, and I still don’t. But even so, there was something there, something recognizably real, and I couldn’t look away.
Up close, she was more beautiful than I’d first realized, but it had less to do with the way she looked than the way she was. It wasn’t just her slightly gap-toothed smile, it was the casual way she swiped at a loose strand of hair, the easy way she held herself.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she said with something like wonder in her voice. “I would have gotten it.”
“I know.” I nodded. “I saw you getting ready to jump.”
She tilted her head to the side. “But you felt an uncontrollable need to help a lady in distress?”
“Something like that.”
She evaluated my answer for a moment, then turned her attention to the bag. She began removing items— her wallet, sunglasses, visor, a tube of sunscreen—and handed them all to the blonde before wringing out the bag.
“Your pictures got wet,” said the blonde, flicking through the wallet.
The brunette ignored her, continuing to wring one way and then the next. When she was finally satisfied, she took back the items and reloaded her bag.
“Thank you again,” she said. Her accent was different from that of eastern North Carolina, more of a twang, as if she’d grown up in the mountains near Boone or near the South Carolina border in the west.
“No big deal,” I mumbled, but I didn’t move.
“Hey, maybe he wants a reward,” pink shirt broke in, his voice loud.
She glanced at him, then back at me. “Do you want a reward?”
“No.” I waved a hand. “Just glad to help.”
“I always knew chivalry wasn’t dead,” she proclaimed. I tried to detect a note of teasing, but I heard nothing in her tone to indicate that she was poking fun at me.
Orange shirt gave me the once-over, noting my crew cut. “Are you in the marines?” he asked. He tightened his arms around the blonde again.
I shook my head. “I’m not one of the few or the proud. I wanted to be all that I could be, so I joined the army.”
The brunette laughed. Unlike my dad, she’d actually seen the commercials.
“I’m Savannah,” she said. “Savannah Lynn Curtis. And these are Brad, Randy, and Susan.” She held out her hand.
“I’m John Tyree,” I said, taking it. Her hand was warm, velvety soft in places but callused in others. I was suddenly conscious of how long it had been since I’d touched a woman.
“Well, I feel like I should do something for you.”
“You don’t need to do anything.”
“Have you eaten?” she asked, ignoring my comment. “We’re getting ready to have a cookout, and there’s plenty to go around. Would you like to join us?”
The guys traded glances. Pink-shirted Randy looked downright glum, and I’ll admit that made me feel better. Hey, maybe he wants a reward. What a putz.
“Yeah, come on,” Brad finally added, sounding less than thrilled. “It’ll be fun. We’re renting the place next to the pier.” He pointed to one of the houses on the beach, where half a dozen people lounged on the deck out back.
Even though I had no desire to spend time with more frat brothers, Savannah smiled at me with such warmth that the words were out before I could stop them.
“Sounds good. Let me go grab my board from the pier and I’ll be there in a bit.”
“We’ll meet you there,” Randy piped up. He took a step toward Savannah, but she ignored him.
“I’ll walk with you,” Savannah said, breaking away from the group. “It’s the least I can do.” She adjusted the bag on her shoulder. “See you all in a few, okay?”
We started toward the dune, where the stairs would lead us up to the pier. Her friends lingered for a minute, but when she fell in step beside me, they slowly turned and began making their way down the beach. From the corner of my eye, I saw the blonde turn her head and glance our way from beneath Brad’s arm. Randy did too, sulking. I wasn’t sure that Savannah even noticed until we’d walked a few steps.
“Susan probably thinks I’m crazy for doing this,” she said.
“Doing what?”
“Walking with you. She thinks Randy’s perfect for me, and she’s been trying to get us together since we got here this afternoon. He’s been following me around all day.”
I nodded, unsure how to respond. In the distance, the moon, full and glowing, had begun its slow rise from the sea, and I saw Savannah staring at it. When the waves crashed and spilled, they flared silver, as if caught in a camera’s flash. We reached the pier. The railing was gritty with sand and salt, and the wood was weathered and beginning to splinter. The steps creaked as we ascended.
“Where are you stationed?” she asked.
“In Germany. I’m home on leave for a couple of weeks to visit my dad. And you’re from the mountains, I take it?”
She glanced at me in surprise. “Lenoir.” She studied me. “Let me guess, my accent, right? You think I sound like I’m from the sticks, don’t you.”
“Not at all.”
“Well, I am. From the sticks, I mean. I grew up on a ranch and everything. And yes, I know I have an accent, but I’ve been told that some people find it charming.”
“Randy seemed to think so.”
It slipped out before I could catch myself. In the awkward silence, she ran a hand through her hair.
“Randy seems like a nice young man,” she remarked after a bit, “but I don’t know him that well. I don’t really know most of the people in the house all that well, except for Tim and Susan.” She waved a mosquito away. “You’ll meet Tim later. He’s a great guy. You’ll like him. Everybody does.”
“And you’re all down here on vacation for a week?”
“A month, actually—but no, it’s not really a vacation. We’re volunteering. You’ve heard of Habitat for Humanity, right? We’re down here to help build a couple of houses. My family’s been involved with it for years.”
Over her shoulder, the house seemed to be coming to life in the darkness. More people had materialized, the music had been turned up, and every now and then I could hear laughter. Brad, Susan, and Randy were already surrounded by a group of coeds drinking beer and looking less like do-gooders than college kids trolling for a good time and a chance to hook up with someone of the opposite sex. She must have noticed my expression and followed my gaze.
“We don’t start until Monday. They’ll find out soon enough that it’s not all fun and games.”
“I didn’t say anything….”
“You didn’t have to. But you’re right. For most of them, it’s their first time working with Habitat, and they’re just doing it so they have something different to put on their resume when they graduate. They have no idea how much work is actually involved. In the end, though, all that matters is that the houses get built, and they will. They always do.”
