Page 34 of Sea La Vie (The Outer Banks #1)

“ H ow have we managed to sneak around all summer without you getting caught?” I chuckle. Emma rolls onto her side on the big worn quilt stretched in the sand and faces me.

It’s overcast today, the clouds gray and ominous, bringing with them an unusual chill to the air.

“I thought for sure they were going to catch me the night you threw pebbles at my window and I climbed down the trellis.” She grins mischievously then turns somber. “I wish they weren’t so hard on you.”

I laugh half-heartedly. “They just don’t know me yet,” I say. “Give them time, and they’ll warm up to me. Plus, I decided I’m not always going to be a fisherman. I’m going to build boats, make plenty of money, and give you the life you’ve always dreamed of.”

Emma frowns and reaches a perfectly polished nail out to my chin. “They said we’re leaving in a week, Beau.” Tears begin sliding down her cheeks, and I gently brush them away with the pad of my thumb. “Gosh I’m going to miss this, lying on the beach, exploring—I’m going to miss you so much, Beau.”

“You don’t think they’ll give me a chance, do you?” I ask.

Emma bites her lip. “They still want me to marry my dad’s colleague’s son. They were talking about it again last night at dinner, saying what a fine young man he is, and how I'll always be taken care of.”

I bristle at that. “I can take care of you just fine.”

“I know you can, Beau. I know. But I don’t know how to get them to see that.” She rolls into me, tucking her body into mine, and I hold her as she starts to cry. “I don’t know what to do,” she says. “I don’t want to go home.”

“Then don’t,” I plead. “Stay here with me, please Emma. I…I love you.”

She angles her face up to mine. “You do?” She asks softly.

“More than anything in the world,” I tell her. “I fell in love with you the moment I saw you, when you had first gotten into town. I watched you from the docks, mesmerized by you, and when I saw that dollar bill fly out of your purse, I considered it fate. We are supposed to be together, Emma.”

She rolls to her knees, leaning over me, her copper strands falling into her face. I push them back over her shoulders, afraid to look her in the eye.

“I love you, too,” she says softly. “I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life. This summer with you has been the best summer of my life. I’ve never felt the way I do when I’m with you.”

I move to my knees too, mirroring her and taking her wrists in my hands. The waves begin to crash more aggressively onto the sand, lightly spraying us with foamy water.

“Forever with you wouldn’t be long enough,” I tell her.

“I know you’re going back to Charleston, but I’ll find you.

I’ll always find you, in this lifetime and every lifetime after this.

” I place her hand on my chest and lay mine gently along hers, right above her heart.

“Do you feel that?” I ask her. “Our hearts beat to the same rhythm.”

Another tear slips down her cheek and she smiles. In town, the church bells ring, and an ominous chime sounds out seven times. “I’ve got to get going,” she says. “The big party for the bank's grand opening is tonight.”

“Okay,” I say. “We still have a week, Emma. We’ll figure this out.”

“Rise and shine, son.”

My eyelids flutter open and I groan, not really in the mood to spend the day out on the water. I’d rather spend every second of this last week with Emma.

“Come on, let’s go,” Dad says. He’s standing in the door frame, coffee thermos in hand. I tumble out of bed and quickly change out of my pajamas, then shove my feet into my boots. I beat dad out the door, and something catches my eye, fluttering under the mail slot.

Meet me tomorrow at the top of the lighthouse when the sun and the sky meet and we’ll leave it all behind. -E

I quickly read it a second time before folding it up and running back inside. Dad passes me in the hallway. “Everything okay?”

“Need to use the bathroom,” I mutter. I wait until he walks outside, then run into my room.

I scan the space quickly, looking for the safest place to keep the note.

If dad finds it, I’m sure to get busted.

I eye the loose floorboard beside my bed and quickly shove it under there.

Then, I smile. Because Emma and I are going to spend the rest of our lives together.