He guessed Driftwood Harbor wasn’t going to be everyone’s miracle cure after all.
Outside the huge window, sunlight glistened off the clear blue water. The sea lapped gently against the rocky shore.
“Morning,” Beacon said.
His dad jolted. “Oh, hey, Beaks. Didn’t see you there.” He flashed Beacon a smile.
“Shouldn’t the rescue crews be here already?” Beacon asked.
His dad looked away and fiddled with the handle of his coffee cup. Beacon’s heart sank like a stone. He knew what his dad was going to say.
“They’ve canceled the search.”
“What about the girl?” Beacon said.
“No one’s reported anyone missing.”
“It’s a very small community,” Donna added from the stove. “If anyone were missing, we’d know about it by now.”
“But . . . I know what I saw,” he said quietly. At least he thought he did. He’d been so sure last night, but maybe they were right. Maybe it was a dream.
He tried to tell himself that it was good news that no one was missing, but it didn’t make him feel any better.
“Hungry?” Donna asked without looking over.
“Yes, please,” Beacon said. He fell into a seat across from his dad, who was already wearing a pressed black suit and a striped tie. If Beacon hadn’t seen him wearing regrettable pajamas last night, he would have wondered if he’d slept in the suit. He suspected his dad might be a tad bit overdressed for his new job. He couldn’t imagine anyone here wearing suits and ties to work, even if it was still a branch of the Centers for Disease Control, where he’d worked back in LA.
Donna placed a plate of eggs and toast in front of each of them.
“Oh,” his dad said, staring at his plate. There was a ring of black around the whites of the fried eggs, and the toast was charred so badly, Beacon was pretty sure he could use it as a weapon. By comparison, Beacon’s plate looked ready for close-ups.
“Cooked it a bit long,” Donna said. She stared hard at his dad, as if daring him to complain.
“That’s no problem,” his dad said. He forced a smile and picked up a piece of toast.
“Thank you,” Beacon said. Donna gave a curt nod before she went back to work, banging dishes in the sink. Beacon pushed his food around the plate. All of the drama was sitting like a lead ball in his stomach. The thought of food made him a little sick.
“Where’s Everleigh?” he asked after a while.
“Went into town,” his dad said. He was using the edge of his fork to try to cut his eggs, but they just slid around the plate.
“What? This early?” Beacon said.
“She was up before sunrise. Said she wanted to check things out,” he said, gritting his teeth and sawing at his eggs with a steak knife.
That didn’t sound like Everleigh at all. She routinely had to be pried out of bed with the Jaws of Life.
Then Beacon remembered the car at the junkyard. She’d definitely gone down to Murray’s.
That was just great. She’d be there all day.
“I’m going to check out some houses today before work if you’d like to come along,” his dad offered.
“You’re working already?”
“Victor runs a tight ship. So are you going to come house hunting? I’ve just got to stop off at the post office and make a quick trip to the bank first.”
Sounded riveting.
“I think I’ll just play around on my board,” Beacon said.
“You sure?” his dad asked, raising his brows.
“Sure.”
“Well, okay. School tomorrow,” he said.
As if he’d somehow forgotten.
Beacon was skeptical that there were enough kids in this town to form a school, let alone a single class. He would have to see it to believe it.
He had a sudden, intense longing for his home in LA. For his friends and familiarity. But there was no use thinking about that. Home was all the way across the country, far out of reach. He was here now. He might as well make the best of it.
Beacon found his skateboard in the trunk of the car. Just holding his old Habitat board, with its blue and white pinstripes and coiled serpent in the center, made him feel better. Beacon had been skateboarding since he was seven, and the board was almost as old. He’d gotten a handful of newer ones since then, for birthdays and Christmas, but this one was still his favorite. The perfect amount of concave and pop, and it somehow never wore out, no matter how hard he rode it.
He did some ollies and kick flips in the driveway for a while, but then he got bored and decided to go find Everleigh.
One good thing about living in such a puny town was that it was very easy to find your way around. He wouldn’t need to ask his dad for a ride anywhere, either, or brave public transit. That’s what he told himself as he rode down the empty, pitted roads. He didn’t bother keeping to the side. There was no point.
It didn’t take him long to find the main square, which consisted of a handful of buildings that branched off into four different directions. He spotted a bright turquoise bait shop, a long and low grocery store made out of dark red brick, a yellow stucco diner with old-fashioned steel stools he could see through the big windows, and off in the distance, the towering stone church. Residents walked up and down the cobbled streets.
It looked just like the postcards he’d found online before the move. Even though it was kind of charming, the idea that this was all there was made him a bit panicky. In LA, there was no shortage of things to do, exotic foods to try, and people to meet. It was as if the world had been reduced to black-and-white, when he’d been living in full color before.
He followed the road that skirted along the pier until he reached Murray’s Auto Body.
He ducked inside, blinking against the dust motes floating in the thin beams of light.
“Out back,” a gruff voice said.
Beacon scanned the room and found Mr. Murray flipping through a magazine with his oily boots up on the desk.
“Okay, thanks,” Beacon said.
He found Everleigh in the junkyard. Or, at least he found her torso. She was buried beneath the Mercury Cougar from her ribs up. The car was already a hundred times more impressive since his sister had gotten her hands on it. She’d washed off all the layers of dust and grime, and beneath it was a vibrant, teal-green muscle car that looked just like the ones old people buffed in their driveways but never actually drove.
Beacon hopped onto the hood of an old Beetle next to the Cougar.