Surfacing - Book One in the Swans Landing Series

Chapter 38

Chapter Thirty-Eight

I leaned back against Dylan’s shoulder, closing my eyes as I listened to the first notes of the song floating across the water. The night was dark under the March new moon and I could just barely see the small ghost crabs that skittered along the beach nearby.

“Do you think I’ll see my mom again?” I asked, remembering the first time I’d heard the finfolk song from within the trees of the forest behind us. Dylan and I were the only two people on the beach at Pirate’s Cove that night. I had come for the finfolk song, but Lake thought I should ease myself into it and listen for now instead of actually participating out there in the water. Dylan had volunteered to stay behind with me. He’d been quieter than usual in the weeks since Josh and Sailor had left. He missed her and he had confessed once to me that he felt like he’d failed her as a friend by refusing to go with her.

It had been a hard adjustment for both of us. I missed Josh every day, the ache a deep pain inside me that I didn’t like to think about. But Dylan had forgiven me for the secrets I’d kept from him and his friendship made life a bit more bearable.

The crowd was larger than I had expected. Besides Lake, Miss Gale, and Dylan’s parents there were a few other small families that were also finfolk. Most of them were older couples, but a few had young children, elementary school aged. I had been surprised to see how quickly and expertly the kids dove into the water when it was time to start, giggling as they kicked off their clothes and splashed into the waves.

Some of them were half-finfolk like me, and their human parents lingered on the beach beyond Pirate’s Cove to watch and wait for their return.

“You’ll see what you want most,” Dylan reminded me. “So there’s a good chance it could be your mom.”

I wouldn’t be afraid this time, I promised myself. All the secrets were no longer mysteries to me and this was just another part of my life. And with Dylan sitting in the sand at my side, I didn’t think it was possible to be afraid. He squeezed my hand as I leaned closer to him.

The sound of the song swelled louder, a lullaby beckoning our people home. I opened my eyes, preparing myself for the sight of my mom as she had once been.

But the figure walking down the beach toward us was too tall and wide to be my mother, even at her healthiest.

“It’s not my mom,” I murmured, unable to believe what I was seeing.

Dylan turned and he jumped in surprise. “That’s—that’s not from the song. I see him too and I can assure you that Josh Canavan is not what I want most.”

I leaped to my feet, racing across the sand toward a dripping wet Josh, wearing a pair of soaked sweatpants and his hoodie that he must have carried in the ocean with him as he swam. I paused only a few steps from him.

“Are you really here?” I asked. “Or is it the song making me think you are?”

Josh’s smile was a challenge. “Come find out.”

I laughed and slipped across the sand toward him, letting him sweep me up into a tight hug. He was real, he was solid and soaked, but he was real. I squeezed him tight, burying my nose into his shoulder to breathe his scent deep into my lungs.

“You came back?” I asked, pulling back enough to look at him.

Josh smiled sadly. “Only to see you before we head out farther.” He looked over my shoulder to where Dylan still sat, trying not to appear obvious that he was watching us. “How are things?”

“Better,” I said, trying not to let my disappointment show. I traced my fingertips over his jaw, memorizing the lines of his face. “I was afraid I would never see you again.”