Chapter 20 Summer
SUMMER
I was craving a Beans ’n Bliss iced coffee as we left the community center and to my surprise there was one waiting for me. Right in Lucien’s hand, Jae beside him sipping from his own beverage.
“We thought you might want a coffee,” Lucien said, handing it to me. “Also, is Giancarlo around? I would love to meet such an…illustrious man.”
Hmm.
“He’s a big ol’ scam artist,” Olive scoffed, overhearing.
“I will be filing a complaint with Stanley,” Ivy added crisply.
I pointed across the road to where Giancarlo was struggling to get an enormous banner of his face into his car. His eyebrows were even more unruly blown up and printed. “There he is. The court system or his ex-wife will catch up with him eventually. My money’s on the ex-wife,” I said, taking a sip.
“That’s Giancarlo?” Lucien asked, his voice higher than usual.
“Yup. Except that’s not his real name and he’s not Italian.”
His face split into a smile. “Okay.”
God, he was such a muppet.
Jae held up two yellow slips of paper. “I found these on our front porch. Did you know La Dolce Vita has a gelato stand by the beach in the summer? Let’s get cones before these expire.”
I took the vouchers from him. Were those fang marks? I smoothed them out absentmindedly as I read over the buy-one-get-one-free offer. “We should see if Mercer wants to join,” I suggested.
Lucy pulled up in Stanley’s stolen golf cart, ready to take us home. Olive and Ivy climbed in and she looked at me expectantly. “Are you coming with us, Summer?”
I glanced at Lucien and Jae. “I, um—”
Lucy laughed. “Have fun! Show them what you made!” She winked before trundling off. Traitor.
“What did you make?” Jae asked.
“Err.” Nothing I said would make it any less disturbing, so I simply gave him and Lucien their clay doppelg?ngers.
“Is this me?” Jae pasted on a smile, pretending he was not freaked out. “It’s not like…cursed or anything, right?”
I shrugged. “I don’t think so.”
“I was really hoping for a more enthusiastic no if I’m being honest.”
He didn’t seem charmed at all, so Lucy’s hypothesis about being in love with me was dead wrong. I made a mental note to gloat later.
Lucien seemed fine with his, except he was very unsure about how to hold it. It was standing upright in his flattened palm. “Do you have one?” he asked.
“Maybe.”
“Let me see.”
“Why? So you can make sure Giancarlo didn’t steal it?”
I laughed at his rapidly reddening face and headed toward the patisserie.
Mercer didn’t know what to make of his figurine either so we sat them on top of the cash register.
Four ghouls to scare away customers. He was uncertain about leaving for gelato so Camille kicked him out and ordered us not to return him.
There was a small crowd dispersed along the beach path and teal flags fluttering on the sand.
I’d forgotten about the Coast2Town Marathon, known for its mix of terrains.
Starlight Grove’s beach was making its inaugural appearance on the course.
Stanley’s relentless campaigning had finally paid off, and runners now swept through before turning inland, bypassing Briar’s Landing entirely.
He was insufferable for weeks after the map was finalized and Carmen had to create a new ordinance to ban discussion of the marathon, and/or thwarting their neighboring town, with unwilling individuals.
Jae surveyed the marked-off areas. “Do you think we’ll still be able to reach the gelato stand?”
“Antonio would make sure of it,” I said confidently. The gregarious owner of La Dolce Vita would never miss a business opportunity like this.
It was hard to miss Stanley strutting around in his highlighter-yellow running gear.
He probably believed he was managing the race while the officials humored him.
Was he getting closer to us? He was . Arms flailing, his already too-short shorts riding higher as he ran.
I prayed his destination was somewhere behind us and not—
“Thank god you’re here. It’s an unmitigated disaster!” he wailed.
I was almost one hundred percent certain that it was a very mild inconvenience at best.
“I need help! These officials don’t understand the gravity of the situation at all!”
“What’s the matter, Stanley?” I asked, proud at how not-annoyed I sounded.
“The turtles are early .”
A sharp intake of breath jammed in my throat. Shit . For once Stanley was actually right. “How? They’re meant to hatch between late July and August.”
Stanley swept his hand dramatically at the beach. “Well, you go tell them that because I have hundreds of baby Fogwater sea turtles digging their way out of the dunes!”
For the briefest moment, insecurity lurched in my stomach. What if the guys thought this whole situation was frivolous and silly?
But I should’ve known better than that. Lucien snapped into action immediately. “We need to divert the runners off the sand and up to the beach wall to give the turtles a clear path to the ocean.”
Mercer gave the area a sweep. “You got any signs?”
“Or we can steal some flags.” Jae grinned.
“Steal away!” Stanley said frantically. “Steal whatever you want!”
I whistled. “I want that in writing.”
“Just hurry!”
Lucien and Jae immediately got to work stealing flags and planting them along the beach wall instead.
Mercer’s big mouth was useful for once, directing runners to move to the new route.
I mostly jumped up and down and windmilled my arms, trying to catch the attention of anyone confused about where Mercer was sending them.
We were a pretty good team.
The runners soon adopted the detour, and the four of us gathered to watch the emergence of the sea turtles. Lucien was on his phone, reading intently. “It sounds like it’s extremely unusual for them to emerge during the day.”
It was very adorable that he wanted to research the sea turtles. His forehead formed an extra line for each potential reason for the early hatching.
“…heavy rainstorm, a significant drop in temperature. No, that can’t be it. Let me see, what else?” His pupils zigzagged rapidly. “…human activity can disturb their nests and trigger premature emergence. Oh.”
Lucien grimaced as the weight of humanity’s impact on the natural world flattened him.
“Tell Stanley,” I encouraged him.
“Trust me, I will.”
I had a feeling this was the first and last time Starlight Grove was going to be part of the Coast2Town Marathon.
“Look!” I pointed at a dark shape on the white sand. “The first ones are making it onto the beach!”
The mood shifted as more of the tiny, bewildered creatures appeared from the dunes.
Shouts and exclamations rose from the crowd, and some of the runners even slowed to get a better look.
My heart was trapped high in my throat watching the babies scurry and find their bearings.
No matter how disoriented they seemed, their instincts continued to guide them toward the sea.
“They’re kind of amazing, aren’t they?” I filmed a quick video and sent it to my friends.
SUMMER
Making 500 new friends
IVY
Oh my gosh, an early emergence of the Fogwater sea turtles???
OLIVE
Ah!! I’m going to go up to the balcony to see if I can spot you!
LUCY
Weird way to break up with us but ok
Lucien straightened sharply beside me. “The birds!” He pointed at the circling silhouettes in the sky and ripped a nearby flag out of the ground. “I’m going to shoo them away. These turtles only have a one-in-a-thousand chance of surviving to adulthood. No need to worsen the odds.”
He strode off as blood drained from my face. “Did he say one in a thousand?” I asked in a small voice.
“Shh.” Mercer drew close, his hands circling my waist from behind. “Watch Lucien chase birdies.”
“But—”
His chin settled on my shoulder. “Look. The first one is about to make it.”
He was right. The brave turtle was tossed by a breaking wave before it righted itself with its little fins and swam onward. A second one joined it, then a third.
They had survived an early hatching and an entire marathon of runners. I had to believe they would beat the odds in the ocean, too.
Lucien continued to keep the birds away.
“I think we all deserve gelato after that.” I could finally breathe again after the last turtle disappeared into the foaming water. Lucien had retired his bird-deterrent flag and returned to us.
“Where’s the stand?” he asked.
“Back that way near the path into town,” I thumbed behind me. All the turtle-saving had really put us off course.
Mercer crouched down and patted his shoulder. “Come on. I want gelato this century.”
“You are so rude,” I griped, even as I climbed onto his back. His strong hands gripped my thighs, and his hair smelled really good. Oh no. I was going to have to pretend I didn’t love this the entire way.
Jae watched me, amused. “Is Mercer comfy?”
“Very, but don’t tell him.”
Mercer sighed loudly but kept walking.