Surfacing - Book One in the Swans Landing Series

Chapter 3

 Chapter Three

Behind the camera stood a guy around my age with a pair of broad shoulders beneath a thick black hoodie, nice full lips, tanned skin, and closely cropped dark hair, which looked wet. His deep, dark brown eyes glared at me.

“Huh?” I said. Very cool under pressure, that was me.

He pointed to a weathered sign that read, “Please stay off the sand dunes!”

“I thought this was just a small hill.” The sand beneath my feet stood a little higher than the rest of the beach, but not as high as the things that were clearly sand dunes behind me.

“A sand dune is a small hill,” he told me. “Meant to protect the beach from erosion. And you happen to be destroying this one by climbing all over it.”

“You’re standing on it too,” I pointed out.

“Only to get you off, since you couldn’t see the sign through your camera.” He sneered at me, as if taking pictures of the ocean was cliché and pathetic.

I held the camera up, inches from his face, and pressed the shutter release, letting the camera flash in his eyes simply to annoy him. “Fine, I’ll stay off the sand dunes,” I said, carefully moving to lower ground. “Since you’re apparently the beach police.”

He jumped down after me. “Sand dunes do serve a purpose. I’d prefer my house not wash away in the high tide, thank you.”

“Then here’s a thought: move off the island,” I snapped back.

Our eyes locked in a fight of wills, both silently daring the other to back down. My hands gripped my camera so hard that my fingernails ground against the casing.

Finally, he blinked first and laughed. “You look like a tourist, you know.” He pointed at the camera around my neck. “Camera and all.”

“You look like a decent human being,” I said, shrugging. “Apparently, you can’t judge people by appearances.”

He made a grunting noise and said, “I’m Josh.”

“Mara,” I told him.

“Woodser,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

“What?” I asked.

“It’s what we call people who aren’t from the island,” he said. “Staying in town?”

I snorted. “I may be fresh off the boat, but I’m not stupid. I’m not telling some guy I don’t know where I live.”

He cracked a smile, causing my heartbeat to pulse in my ears. “Scared I might sneak into your room in the middle of the night?”

I might not throw him out if he did, but I certainly wasn’t going to say that out loud. “Maybe I don’t want you littering my door with your ‘Save the Sand Dunes’ brochures.”

Josh tilted his head back and regarded me with an amused expression, as if this entire conversation entertained him.

“What?” I snapped.

“You’re going to be a fun addition to the island. There aren’t many girls around here with an attitude as big as the lighthouse.”

“Look who’s talking,” I said. “No one warned me there was a one-person beach patrol taking on newcomers around here.”

“Only when they happen to stumble onto my part of the beach.”

I made a big show of turning around, looking at the trees and sand around us. “Your beach? Funny, I don’t see a sign with your name on it.”

“Everyone knows Pirate’s Cove is my beach. No one else ever comes here.” He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow at me. “Until today, anyway.”

The sneer on his face sent fury bubbling through my veins. I planted my feet firmly in the sand and crossed my own arms. “Well, then, it’s time someone changed that. I’m thinking I’ll take this section of the beach right here.”

“Are you going to put up a sign?” Josh asked.

“A really big one.” I waved my fingers at him. “Do you mind? You’re intruding on my beach. This is private property.”

Josh didn’t move. “I should have guessed Lake Westray’s daughter would know how to make an entrance here.”

My eyes narrowed as I said, “How do you know Lake is my father?”

“Everyone knows about you.” Josh studied me a moment, as if he was looking for something. “So you’re…?” He let his voice trail off, leaving the question unfinished.

“What?” I asked. “His daughter? Yeah, that’s kind what makes him my dad. Unfortunately.”

Josh’s hard gaze bored into me for a long time, but then he shook his head, sending a misty spray of water from his hair across my cheek. “Nevermind,” he said. “Maybe I’ll be willing to share my beach with you, if you ask nicely.”

I snorted. “Keep dreaming.”

Josh gave me a cool smile. “Then we’ll have to fight it out and see who wins.” He shoved his hands deep into the front pocket of his hoodie and brushed past me, back toward a trail leading into the forest bordering the beach. “See you around, Woodser.”