Out of Focus #SYTYCW15 Top10 Finalist! [COMPLETED]

23| Guilt & Shame

The parade had rolled through the heart of Salt Springs, the streets decked in festive regalia as the island community gathered to celebrate two hundred illustrious years a week early to take advantage of the Canada Day long weekend.

Most of the mom and pop type shops had shut their doors early for the day, with the odd exception, of course, who wanted to take advantage of the rush of tourist and local activity.

And now the crowd converged along the stretch of the beach for the fireworks, the air thick with conversation and excitement. The cold trickle against his cheek said that Lucy's ice cream was melting again, so he let go of Payton's hand to swoop Lucy down off his shoulders, setting little feet to the ground.

Her hands a mess of melting chocolate also smeared around her grinning mouth.

"How's the ice cream?"

"Yummy."

"I see Aunt Jen and Mrs. Davies," he said, gesturing to where his mom always camped out, snatching up the best spot on the sand with chairs and cooler. "I hear chocolate ice creams her favourite."

"M'kay." She beamed, eyes bright, and then gave him a sloppy chocolate kiss on the cheek that absolutely melted his heart into an equally goopy mess.

"Hailey, do you mind taking your sisters while I check on your mom?"

Hailey, arms crossed, glowered up him. "Don't tell me what to do," she quipped, but stuck out a hand for each of her sisters, busy with the cones he'd bought them at the shop while Eva took to high ground to see up her gear for the show.

As the kids scampered off to join his family, Marshall rolled his shoulder; the ache from the afternoon was now a grating throb that spiked down to his fingers. Having Lucy perched up there, bouncing like a yo-yo for the last two hours had been a dumb, dumb decision but seeing her face light up, knowing that he'd been the one to make her so completely happy-what the hell was a guy supposed to do?

Gritting his teeth, Marshall cut through the tight wedge of bodies to find Eva, deep in the zone.

Positioning the Tripod, Eva peered through the lens and adjusted the frame. From this vantage, overlooking the water, the fireworks erupting in a dazzling explosion of light and colour...it would be magic, she thought. And an excellent feature for the front page of Haven's local newsletter.

She sensed Marshall at her side and looking up Eva noted that the lines of his face were strained. Weary with stress. He hadn't been himself all afternoon, though he'd made a valiant effort to hide it, especially in front of Lucy, who had chanted his name like a squealing fan at a ballpark when he'd arrived at the door.

And the way she'd stopped to kiss his cheek before leaving to join his parents on the beach had both stopped and touched her heart.

"Something wrong?"

His eyes snapped to her, a little startled, a little vacant-as if his thoughts had pulled him hundreds of miles away, but he recovered quickly with a smile. "Just some work stuff."

"Like?"

Marshall lifted a shoulder in a shrug, then immediately winced from the movement, clapping a hand over the area. War wound, Eva thought, and realized what it must have cost him to carry Lucy around all afternoon.

"Here," she said, wiggling a hand. "Sometimes I get a bit of carpal tunnel and I find this helps." Taking the weight of his arm in her hands, she rotated the joint, massaged the muscle of his bicep and though his lips tightened, he didn't protest or complain.

"Got a call from my editor this morning," he said, a little grim. "Apparently I'm flying out tomorrow afternoon." She stayed quiet at that, and his eyes searched her. Looking for...what, he couldn't say, not when he wasn't entirely sure himself. But for something. A hint. Anything. And found he couldn't see beyond the mist clouding her gaze.