Jack Beale 00 - Dangerous Shoals

as it ended its journey against the shore. The occasional cries of gulls as they soared above, ever vigilant for any tidbits left by man or nature, added the final track to nature’s rhythms.
    Max found a small recess in one of the folds of a dune where a piece of driftwood had been wedged, affording shelter from the breeze and prying eyes while allowing a clear view of the ocean. She sat on the piece of wood and immediately could feel the sun’s warmth on her face. She closed her eyes and imagined lovers huddling together, sharing each other’s warmth under a moonlit night. Then, for just a moment, the grass stopped rustling as the breeze paused, leaving only the sound of the surf, and between waves breaking she could hear the faint cries of unseen children playing on the beach. Memories were triggered of her parents and grandmother, and a tear rolled down her cheek.
    She remembered the first time she ever saw a beach. She was little, maybe six or seven, and her dad came home one day and announced that they were going to the beach. She remembered her mother’s surprise both at her father’s early return in the middle of the week and his pronouncement that they were going to the beach. After her father had calmed her mother down and convinced her that nothing was wrong, there was a great flurry of activity and excitement. Max and Grandma Ruth watched while her parents packed the car with food and blankets. Now, staring out over the water, she could still hear her grandmother’s voice answering her questions about the beach. “It’s a wondrous place where the land meets the sea.”
    It was, and ever since, that’s where she would go when she needed to be alone, to think. She lay back and closed her eyes. The sun, warm on her face, triggered other memories. Belize. Daniel. Jack. She smiled. Jack was always there for her. He was one of the first people she had met when she moved to the seacoast. Too often he had helped her pick up the pieces when things went wrong. He had saved her life, and for a brief time they were together. Then she drifted away from him and ran off with Daniel to Belize. Why? She had asked herself this question many times. She knew the answer, but just didn’t want to face it. It was fear. Fear that she could lose the best thing in her life.
    Jack had followed her to Belize, not like a pathetic puppy, but out of genuine concern, expecting nothing in return. When Daniel disappeared, Jack appeared. Once again he had been there for her, no questions asked, and she finally admitted the truth to herself. They belonged together. It was so simple.
    He accepted her. He didn’t judge. He gave without any expectation of anything in return. They had had no secrets. And that was the problem. That was why she was sitting alone among the dunes. Courtney and Jack had kept things from her, things that she should have been told, things that might have made a difference. Why? Why did he keep those things from her? Why? “I didn’t want to worry you,” he had said. “Bullshit,” she said to herself. She didn’t need protecting. They had never kept secrets from each other before. Then, when she told them that she had seen Daniel, he questioned it.
    While her anger with Courtney and Jack hadn’t diminished, her emotions were more in check as she drove back to Ben’s for her shift. She couldn’t avoid Courtney because of work. She’d go to work and do her job. The friendship part would have to wait ―for a while at least. Jack was another story. It really hurt that he hadn’t told her. He needed to understand that, before she could forgive him.
    She knew that after work she’d go home, to her home, and that she’d ask Patti to stay with her, at least for this night. She was sure that Patti would say yes because she was that kind of a friend. Patti would listen, wouldn’t judge, and in the end she’d feel better. How long she would avoid Jack wasn’t clear, but she knew she needed some time.
    By the time she got to work, she was feeling more stable. The night proved to be uneventful, especially since neither Jack nor Courtney were around.

CHAPTER 11
    SHE SPENT THAT night at home and Patti stayed with her. That one night turned into a week, during which she had time to think, vent, and heal. There had been no more Daniel sightings, and she was beginning to question whether she had really seen him. It all began to feel so far in the past and besides, she missed Jack.
    * * *
    Jack knew that she