“No big deal,” I mumbled, but I didn’t move.
“Hey, maybe he wants a reward,” pink shirt broke in, his voice loud.
She glanced at him, then back at me. “Do you want a reward?”
“No.” I waved a hand. “Just glad to help.”
“I always knew chivalry wasn’t dead,” she proclaimed. I tried to detect a note of teasing, but I heard nothing in her tone to indicate that she was poking fun at me.
Orange shirt gave me the once-over, noting my crew cut. “Are you in the marines?” he asked. He tightened his arms around the blonde again.
I shook my head. “I’m not one of the few or the proud. I wanted to be all that I could be, so I joined the army.”
The brunette laughed. Unlike my dad, she’d actually seen the commercials.
“I’m Savannah,” she said. “Savannah Lynn Curtis. And these are Brad, Randy, and Susan.” She held out her hand.
“I’m John Tyree,” I said, taking it. Her hand was warm, velvety soft in places but callused in others. I was suddenly conscious of how long it had been since I’d touched a woman.
“Well, I feel like I should do something for you.”
“You don’t need to do anything.”
“Have you eaten?” she asked, ignoring my comment. “We’re getting ready to have a cookout, and there’s plenty to go around. Would you like to join us?”
The guys traded glances. Pink-shirted Randy looked downright glum, and I’ll admit that made me feel better. Hey, maybe he wants a reward. What a putz.
“Yeah, come on,” Brad finally added, sounding less than thrilled. “It’ll be fun. We’re renting the place next to the pier.” He pointed to one of the houses on the beach, where half a dozen people lounged on the deck out back.
Even though I had no desire to spend time with more frat brothers, Savannah smiled at me with such warmth that the words were out before I could stop them.
“Sounds good. Let me go grab my board from the pier and I’ll be there in a bit.”
“We’ll meet you there,” Randy piped up. He took a step toward Savannah, but she ignored him.
“I’ll walk with you,” Savannah said, breaking away from the group. “It’s the least I can do.” She adjusted the bag on her shoulder. “See you all in a few, okay?”
We started toward the dune, where the stairs would lead us up to the pier. Her friends lingered for a minute, but when she fell in step beside me, they slowly turned and began making their way down the beach. From the corner of my eye, I saw the blonde turn her head and glance our way from beneath Brad’s arm. Randy did too, sulking. I wasn’t sure that Savannah even noticed until we’d walked a few steps.
“Susan probably thinks I’m crazy for doing this,” she said.
“Doing what?”
“Walking with you. She thinks Randy’s perfect for me, and she’s been trying to get us together since we got here this afternoon. He’s been following me around all day.”
I nodded, unsure how to respond. In the distance, the moon, full and glowing, had begun its slow rise from the sea, and I saw Savannah staring at it. When the waves crashed and spilled, they flared silver, as if caught in a camera’s flash. We reached the pier. The railing was gritty with sand and salt, and the wood was weathered and beginning to splinter. The steps creaked as we ascended.
“Where are you stationed?” she asked.
“In Germany. I’m home on leave for a couple of weeks to visit my dad. And you’re from the mountains, I take it?”
She glanced at me in surprise. “Lenoir.” She studied me. “Let me guess, my accent, right? You think I sound like I’m from the sticks, don’t you.”
“Not at all.”
“Well, I am. From the sticks, I mean. I grew up on a ranch and everything. And yes, I know I have an accent, but I’ve been told that some people find it charming.”
“Randy seemed to think so.”
It slipped out before I could catch myself. In the awkward silence, she ran a hand through her hair.
“Randy seems like a nice young man,” she remarked after a bit, “but I don’t know him that well. I don’t really know most of the people in the house all that well, except for Tim and Susan.” She waved a mosquito away. “You’ll meet Tim later. He’s a great guy. You’ll like him. Everybody does.”
“And you’re all down here on vacation for a week?”
“A month, actually—but no, it’s not really a vacation. We’re volunteering. You’ve heard of Habitat for Humanity, right? We’re down here to help build a couple of houses. My family’s been involved with it for years.”
Over her shoulder, the house seemed to be coming to life in the darkness. More people had materialized, the music had been turned up, and every now and then I could hear laughter. Brad, Susan, and Randy were already surrounded by a group of coeds drinking beer and looking less like do-gooders than college kids trolling for a good time and a chance to hook up with someone of the opposite sex. She must have noticed my expression and followed my gaze.
“We don’t start until Monday. They’ll find out soon enough that it’s not all fun and games.”
“I didn’t say anything….”
“You didn’t have to. But you’re right. For most of them, it’s their first time working with Habitat, and they’re just doing it so they have something different to put on their resume when they graduate. They have no idea how much work is actually involved. In the end, though, all that matters is that the houses get built, and they will. They always do.”
“You’ve done this before?”
“Every summer since I was sixteen. I used to do it with our church, but when I went off to Chapel Hill, we started a group there. Well, actually, Tim started it. He’s from Lenoir, too. He just graduated and he’ll start on his master’s degree this fall. I’ve known him forever. Instead of spending the summer working odd jobs at home or doing internships, we thought we could offer students a chance to make a difference. Everyone chips in for the house and pays their own expenses for the month, and we don’t charge anything for the labor we do on the houses. That’s why it was so important that I get my bag back. I wouldn’t have been able to eat all month.”
“I’m sure they wouldn’t have let you starve.”
“I know, but it wouldn’t be fair. They’re already doing something worthy, and that’s more than enough.”
I could feel my feet slipping in the sand.
“Why Wilmington?” I asked. “I mean, why come here to build houses, instead of somewhere like Lenoir or Raleigh?”
“Because of the beach. You know how people are. It’s hard enough to get students to volunteer their time for a month, but it’s easier if it’s in a place like this. And the more people you have, the more you can do. Thirty people signed up this year.”
I nodded, conscious of how close together we were walking. “And you graduated, too?”
“No, I’ll be a senior. And I’m majoring in special education, if that’s your next question.”
“It was.”
“I figured. When you’re in college, that’s what everyone asks you.”
“Everyone asks me if I like being in the army.”
“Do you?”
“I don’t know.”
She laughed, and the sound was so melodic that I knew I wanted to hear it again.
We reached the end of the pier, and I grabbed my board. I tossed the empty beer bottle into the garbage can, hearing it clank to the bottom. Stars were coming out overhead, and the lights from the houses outlined along the dunes reminded me of bright jack-o’-lanterns.
“Do you mind if I ask what led you to join the army? Given that you don’t know whether you like it, I mean.”
It took me a second to figure out how to answer that, and I shifted my surfboard to my other arm. “I think it’s safest to say that at the time, I needed to.”
She waited for me to add more, but when I didn’t, she simply nodded.
“I’ll bet you’re glad to be back home for a little while,” she said.
“Without a doubt.”
“I’ll bet your father is glad, too, huh?”
“I think so.”
“He is. I’m sure he’s very proud of you.”