“Mmm.” He tightened his grip around me, as if he thought I’d try to get away. I couldn’t have if I wanted to. Not with that strong grip. “Not the whole time. “
I rolled my eyes, then tucked my chin to my chest. “I’ve got burned fruit to show for it.”
A rumble of laughter tumbled through him, vibrating my skin and warming my heart. “We need to work on your cooking skills.”
“Hey!” I gave him a little shove, but it didn’t move him an inch. But I wasn’t complaining, because he was right where I wanted him to be.
Trenton peeked toward the fire, and his smile fell from his lips. Anne Marie sat where I left her, eyes wide and mouth agape. He looked back at me with a furrowed brow. “What’s up with her?”
With my teeth tugging at my lip, I shifted until Trenton released me from his grip. I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward Anne Marie.
The bangles and bracelets on her wrists caught on her flowy boho top as she stood from her spot. She didn’t tear her eyes from Trenton as she tried to untangle herself, and by the time we stopped in front of her, she looked like she wanted to run.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, finally looking at me.
“Don’t worry about it,” I whispered back before I gestured to Trenton and spoke at a normal level. “Anne Marie, this is my boyfriend, Trenton. Trenton, this is my new friend, Anne Marie.”
Trenton’s toothy grin made a comeback, and I swear, my heart skipped a beat at the sight. He extended a hand toward her, then shook gently when she finally offered her own. “Nice to meet you.”
Anne Marie sucked her lip between her teeth, making it look like she was grimacing. “Nice to meet you,” she finally said, her words coming out more as a question than a statement.
“You’re new here?” Trenton asked, and the girl jolted like a gun had gone off.
With a shake of her head, she said, “No. No, I’ve been here before. And I didn’t…” Her gaze darted to me before she looked him over. “I didn’t recognize you. I mean, I’ve seen you before. I used to come here every summer with my sister, and you… I…”
Trenton’s smile faded, and he shot me a glance. He wiped a hand across his jaw, then dragged his gaze over the beach, to the bonfire, across the picnic tables set up with food and drink, and over the small fire pit behind her, before returning his attention to Anne Marie.
“I can’t say I remember you at all.” He turned to me, his face scrunched up. “You okay here, love? There’s something I need to do.”
“Of course.” I pushed up on the tips of my toes, pressing a kiss to his mouth. He pulled away too quickly, nodding at Anne Marie.
“It was good to meet you.”
“You too.” Her gaze trailed after him as Trenton raced down the beach, his wetsuit flapping around his hips. Anne Marie plopped back down on her log, and I scooted around her, taking a seat on mine.
“Are you okay?” I asked after a moment, when she dropped her head in her hands.
“Yes. No.” She shook her head before lifting it from her hands. “Maybe? I don’t even know anymore.”
I dropped my spoon from my mouth, swallowing down the bite of ice cream. “What’s wrong?”
She sighed, and her entire body seemed to deflate. She pulled at the strings hanging from the collar of her shirt, twisting them around her fingers as her bracelets clanged. It was a moment before she spoke. And in that moment, I felt a pit form in my stomach that threatened to swallow me whole.
“My sister, Miranda.” She lifted her gaze from the sand beneath her feet, and her unshed tears glimmered in the firelight. “She disappeared.”
“When?” I asked. “What happened?”
“A few years ago.” She sniffed, then wiped her knuckles across her nose. “We came to the Seaside Festival every year when I was a kid. But after we lost Miranda, after the Seaside police couldn’t find her… my parents never wanted to come back here.”
“I’m so sorry.” I set my bowl aside and scooted to the end of my log. I had an overwhelming desire to reach out and hug this girl I’d just met.
“I couldn’t stay away,” she said, sniffing again. “Miranda always loved this place, and I did too. And this was where she was last seen.”
Anne Marie peered over her shoulder, toward the bonfire, and my gaze followed. Trenton had his hand wrapped around Miller’s arm and was tugging him away from the flames.
“I was hoping someone would remember something,” she said, drawing my attention back to her. “I’ve been trying to find people I recognize from previous summers. Miller. Fitz. Even Alden and Colton and some of their friends. I remember them. Remember them hanging out with Miranda and her friends. And I remember…”
She dug her toe into the sand. Kernels flicked toward the fire and covered her sandaled foot. She lifted her hair off her neck, pulling it over one shoulder as she leaned ever so much closer to me. “I remember your… Trenton. I remember seeing him.”