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asleep again.” Apologetically, she glanced up. “My dad and his brother. They say they want to fish, but all they ever bring home is a sunburn and sand-filled shoes.”
    I chuckled. “It’s easy to fall asleep by the shore. Kind of lulls you, doesn’t it?”
    She nodded and trotted toward them. “Right you are. But their supper’s getting cold, so I’m off to roust them from their dreams of mermaids.” She cast me a wave and headed toward them.
    I waved back, deeply disappointed that the car hadn’t been Sassy’s.
    Ten minutes later, the old men shuffled back to the station wagon and were ushered home by the dutiful daughter/niece. I sat on my boulder, starting to wonder if I’d been foolish to think Sassy would really be allowed out alone. I tried to picture the scene.
    “Hey, Dad. Can I go to the beach with that guy I met today?”
    “Alone? At night?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Over my dead body.”
    By seven-thirty, I’d almost given up. I slid off the jetty and had bent to pick up my sneakers when I heard someone calling me from the bike rack.
    “Finn!”
    She trotted along the path, her cheeks flushed bright pink. Puffing hard, she leaned on me to catch her breath. “Oh, Finn. I’m so sorry. I had to sneak out my window. I almost didn’t make it. My father was going on and on about responsibility and respect and oh, God, you know what I mean? I thought dinner would never end!”
    I laughed, pulling her toward me. “I know exactly what you mean. My brother and I just had the lecture about safe sex from my father. In front of my mother , no less.”
    She giggled with a hand over her mouth. “Oh my gosh. Really?”
    I locked eyes with her, so in love with the image of her, the way her hair swung against her back, her long, lithe, tawny body, her smile that filled my heart with joy. “Really. Do your parents lecture you about that? It’s so embarrassing.”
    “I only have Dad,” she said, looking down.
    “Oh. I thought that lady you were with today was your mother. I’m sorry.”
    “Nope. That’s Aunt Shirley. She’s got a real pole up her butt, if you’ll excuse my language. Thinks she’s my mother. And she’s not!” Her face turned angry, and I was surprised at the level of emotion that shot from her dark eyes. “She won’t let me do anything. I hate her.”
    “Your father’s sister?”
    “No. My mother’s sister.”
    “Oh. What happened to your mom? If it’s okay to ask.”
    She grimaced. “She left us. Dad doesn’t tell me much. Except she’s gone. Left when I was three.”
    “Holy crap. I’m really sorry.” I tilted her chin up. “Nobody deserves to be treated like that.” I leaned down with a sudden impulse and touched my lips to hers. Gently. Quickly. Barely a kiss.
    Her eyes widened, and she smiled again. “Thanks, Finn.”
    I linked arms with her. “Take your shoes off. Let’s walk on the beach.”
    “Okay.”
    She slid out of her flip-flops and we hid both pairs of shoes in a hole in the jetty. Nobody would see them there.
    “So,” I said. “Where do you live? Is it close?”
    She hesitated. “I don’t want to tell you.”
    “What? Why?”
    “Because you might judge me.”
    I stopped walking and turned her to face me. “Are you kidding?”
    With a shake of her head, she grimaced. “No. You don’t understand.”
    “But Sassy, I don’t know your real first name, or even your last name, and I don’t know where you live. I don’t have your phone number. All I know is you have a father and aunt.”
    “She lives with us, by the way.”
    “Crap. That must be hell.”
    She chuckled and kicked the sand. “Darn right it is.”
    “But I need to know more about you.”
    “I’ll tell you, eventually.”
    I frowned. “Why don’t you trust me? Do you live in a poor area? You know I wouldn’t care one damned whit about that. I’d like you no matter where you came from. I don’t care if you live in a rundown trailer on the wrong side of the tracks.