“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” she called through the window.

John grinned and held up a clear plastic bag full of marshmallows.

“What are those for?” she called. “Have you finally gone mad?”

“Come on!” he called through the glass, and motioned to the beach.

“I can’t, I’ve got to clean up here.”

“Leave it,” said John. “I’ll help you later. Come on, you’ve been working all day. Come eat burned sugary fluff with me.” He pointed along the beach, where a thin curl of smoke was rising up from the pebbles.

She grabbed her coat and bobble hat and ventured out into the cold dusk.

The beach was all but deserted. John grabbed two patio chairs from outside the café, and they tramped down across the beach, their feet crunching and sinking into the loose pebbles as they headed toward a small campfire.

A sharp breeze whistled around her ears, and Annie pulled her hat down lower. John positioned the chairs next to the fire and pushed the legs into the shingle to steady them. Annie sat down, sinking a little as she did so, and John joined her, handing her a long metal toasting fork.

“You’ve come prepared,” said Annie.

“I used to be a Boy Scout.”

“Really?”

“Not for long. They threw me out.”

“You got thrown out of the scouts? What on earth did you do?”

“Consistent disruptive behavior; their words, not mine.”

“What would you have called it?”

“Being a little shit.”

Annie laughed.

They spiked a marshmallow each and held them in the flames, twiddling the forks this way and that. Annie was grateful for the warmth given off by the small fire.

“Are you absolutely serious?” John asked. Annie didn’t need to question his meaning.

“Yes, I am. I didn’t come here with the intention of starting a business. This was supposed to be a temporary stop for me to catch my breath. That’s one of the reasons why a short lease was so appealing.”

“And now?”

Annie breathed in the smoky air, so in contrast with the freshness of the cold afternoon. The waves whispered to the shore as they began to reclaim the beach in a long, slow embrace.

“Now, I can’t imagine being anywhere else,” Annie replied.

She pulled the fork out of the fire and tugged at the brown crisp edges of the marshmallow to reveal the molten sugar within. She licked her fingers greedily, wincing slightly at the intense sweetness, which made her jaw ache.

John took a more cautious, measured approach, blowing on his marshmallow before taking a tentative bite. He reached his other hand into his pocket and handed over a folded piece of paper.

“That’s the offer from the developer,” he said. “I understand that it’s for a different proposal than what you’re suggesting. His takes into account the profit he can make on the land.”