Track 34 Ocean Eyes
Track 34
Ocean Eyes
The Lifeguard
It only took a few seconds after the dark-haired girl with his blue eyes had left the bar with Matthew Tucker, two nights earlier, for Chase to realize the missed opportunity. He’d only needed to ask to see her ID, and date of birth, to have the proof he needed. He had never been one to think on his feet, unless there was a surfboard under them, but he was really kicking himself for missing that one.
And asking Beatrix Silver about her only confused him more. It was as if she didn’t know their daughter was on the island. He was beginning to think he had imagined the whole thing until she walked in again, with another guy.
This girl takes after me in more ways than just eye color , he thought, laughing to himself.
“Two menus, please, and two tequila and sodas with lime,” the guy ordered for them both.
“ID?” he asked, as he placed two menus in front of them.
They both complied. He barely looked at the guy’s, but studied the woman’s.
“Date of birth?” he quizzed her, as he did when someone looked underage. This time he was just stalling, committing it all to memory.
“Really,” she laughed. “I’m thirty, and I was here the other night, drinking.”
He raised his eyes at her in an “Answer the question, please” way.
“May fifth, 1987.”
He repeated her info out loud.
“Maggie May Wheeler. May fifth, 1987. Chagrin Falls, Ohio.”
He realized it might look odd for him to be reading off the details like that, and was happily interrupted by a regular, who called out on the way to the dartboard, “Hey, Chase—the usual, please!”
He nodded, and then returned their IDs.
She must have found the interaction odd as well, because the girl, his daughter, was staring at him strangely when he handed them back. He could swear she did a double take when she looked him in the eyes. There was no denying that their unusual color—almost violet—was the same as her own. When he went into the kitchen to place their dinner order, he saw her whisper to the guy she was with.
Chase questioned whether he was being paranoid as he returned to the bar and set down their drinks.
“What’s to do around here?” bachelor number two asked.
“It’s early, but we get a good crowd here on Friday nights.”
“OK, cool, you been tending bar here long?”
“Not too long,” he answered.
“We’re new around here too,” the guy said, fishing.
Chase fell for it. He knew he’d fallen for it but couldn’t help himself.
“New? I’ve been here every summer since I was born, my first gig was a lifeguard, but now I mostly tend bar.”
“Oh.”
His daughter, Maggie May Wheeler from Chagrin Falls, Ohio, picked up her tequila and soda and downed it like it was a shot. She handed him back the menus and said:
“Actually, we’re gonna go.”
She knew too. He knew she knew.
At least she didn’t ask to borrow his bike.