Page 16 of Letting Go

Just boys.

My heart can’t stop throbbing in my chest though and leaning over, I put my hands on my knees, waiting for this to pass. It's not until they walk by me on the narrow causeway that I stand up.

"You 'kay miss?" one of them asks.

"Yeah, yes," I say. "Just looking at rocks."

"Hey. Aren't you that chef?"

"Yes. At The Inn," I shove a thumb in the same direction they’re going.

The black kid asks, "Did you go to NECI?"

I shake my head. "No. I'm self-taught, but it’s a great school."

The white kid snaps his fingers. "Yeah, that's right, you grew up here and bake a lot of the same things your mom did when she ran it."

"You guys have a good memory. That story came out weeks ago."

"Na," says the first. "Just read it last night." They both turn away and start toward the road.

My heart stops. "Where did you see it?

"On the net."

My silence makes the first boy turn around for a moment. "School's just put up all the back issues. It’s pretty cool. All the summer sports scores too. Go Bulldogs!" He hits his buddy in the arm.

I freeze, unable to breathe, and watch them walk towards the mainland.

"On the net." Those three little words tell me how that guy in the white Honda found me.

Chapter Six

Bryce

The trip to the tile place is without incident. I unload the two boxes via the outside cellar door and am just closing the bulwark when Finn comes around the corner of The Inn, claps a hand on my shoulder, and points toward the causeway. Two boys pass us on the road. "Here she comes and something's up. Look at her."

Chloe looks terrified. Her face is pale and her mouth, usually generous and warm, is a thin line. She's almost running up the driveway and I hear her slam through the back door.

"Go check it out."

He doesn’t need to suggest this twice.

Rounding into the kitchen, she's not there. I check the library, front room, and the communal downstairs "Head." Where the hell did she go? Then I see her through the window the library window, headed towards the veterinary clinic to her sister's. We must have missed each other.

But she stops. She's not going to see Claire. Instead, she slips one foot onto a railing and lifts herself onto the bars of the small corral. Salty, the dark brown rescue horse brought in nearly dead from a fire, nickers softly and rubs his head against her. All of them grew up with animals and it makes sense that she would go to Salty to make her feel better. I duck out the back door.

"What's going on?" I say coming up behind her.

She flinches at my question.

"Hey" I try to soften my voice. "What's you got you so spooked?"

"Nothing." She lays a hand on my shoulder to steady herself as she steps down. Her touch is electric. A tremor runs through her arm.

"Finn and I saw you walking up from the beach. You've been jumpy ever since you got back from running errands today. What gives?"

"I don't know," she says. Chloe glances around as if looking for confirmation of something and then turns to me. "I don't know, Bryce. I just feel like someone is looking … like someone is spying on me or something."