Jessalyn smiled as Caleb got closer. She looked back at the house and didn’t see any sign of Nina.
“What happened to catching a plane?” she asked when he was about two feet away. She crossed her arms.
“I rescheduled for tomorrow. I’m not in any rush to get home and I kind of hoped I would run into you again before you left” Caleb replied with a smile across his lips.
“Is that right?” Jessalyn smiled back and her arms relaxed back down to her sides.
“Why would I lie?”
“I don’t know, why would you?” she challenged in a playful tone. He chuckled and sat down on the sand. Jessalyn sat down next to him and sprawled her legs out in front of her. “You’re unpredictable. I figured I was only going to see you once.”
“I guess it’s a good thing you were wrong. I’m not that unpredictable, but I have a feeling you’re very predictable.”
“Why do you say that?”
“It’s just this look about you that tells me so. I’m good at reading people.”
“I see.”
“So, what do you do in Seattle?”
“Well, I’ll be going back to school and I help out at the zoo. My mom’s best friend, Lucy, works with the sick animals and she lets me hang out there. I love working there and Lucy pays me to sit and feed them. She says they like me.”
“An affiliation with animals is a good thing. They seem to run in the opposite direction with me” Caleb chuckled.
“My dog didn’t” Jessalyn stated.
“That’s true. That means you have the coolest dog I’ve ever met. I’m surprised he’s not here.”
“I’ll give you that. Mom said no way. I wouldn’t trade him for anything.”
“He wouldn’t let you.” Jessalyn giggled as she stared out at the waves. Even with Caleb sitting next to her, she was distracted. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you sure about that? You’re looking at the water like you want to jump in and keep swimming.”
“Do I?” she questioned, looking at him.
“Yeah.”
“Sorry about that. I guess I don’t want to leave tomorrow” she fibbed, although it wasn’t entirely false. She adapted to the beach scene in the week she and her mother stayed in the beach house. Jessalyn didn’t want to drag him into her worries about her mother and she definitely didn’t want to tell him about her ability to bring birds back to life.
“I don’t know. I don’t think I could live here. I’m a small town guy.”
“I’ve only lived in Seattle and that’s far from a small town.”
“I was raised in a city, but I moved to the country as soon as I could. The less people the better.”
“Why’s that?” Jessalyn asked him.
“Space. I don’t like breathing down someone’s neck.”
“I never thought about it that way. I don’t mind either way.”
Jessalyn and Caleb continued to make conversation as the sky darkened above them. Their laughter carried over the music and Diana watched from the balcony of the house. Seeing her daughter happy made her smile, but there was the knot of worry in her stomach. All she wants is for Jessalyn to be in high spirits, but she couldn’t help worrying about the life threatening problem before her. Diana didn’t want to inflict pain upon her daughter, but in order to protect her, she would have to. It broke her heart to think she could do that to her only child, but time was running out and she didn’t know how close the threat was.
