“Well, this is your date,” Daniel said. “So if you want to watch fireworks from the beach, then the beach it is.”

“This is my date?” Harper asked. “Not ours? Just mine?”

“Yep.” He grinned down at her. “I’m all yours for the night.”

As they got nearer to the bay, the conversation got easier between the two of them. The awkward date jitters began to wear off, thanks in large part to Daniel. He had a way of making her feel at ease. Or at least he had a way of teasing her until she forgot to be uptight.

The beach was packed, but not unbearably so. They checked out the booths that were set up on the grass first. Most of them sold food or beer, and Daniel offered to buy both for Harper, but she declined. He did buy her a glow-in-the-dark bracelet, even though she insisted it was silly, though she secretly wanted one.

They stopped to watch a juggler. He wore a black-and-white harlequin getup, and he juggled color-changing light-up balls. In the fading light, this became more impressive, especially when he kept tossing more up into the air.

Harper clapped along with the crowd when the juggler threw the flashing lights even farther up into the sky, but she caught a glimpse of something else when she looked up. Three birds were circling above them.

In the dim light, it was hard to make them out precisely, but their wingspan appeared much larger than that of an ordinary bird. She couldn’t tell exactly how high they were in the sky, but as Harper squinted at them, she was certain they were too big to be regular birds.

“What’s the matter?” Daniel asked. He leaned down, almost speaking in her ear, so she’d hear him over the crowd and the nearby band.

“Those birds.” She pointed up at the sky, and glanced back at him. “Do they seem too big to you?”

“Are they ravens?” Daniel asked.

When Harper looked back, the sky had filled with a small flock of black birds. The three birds that she thought she’d seen before had either flown away or gotten lost in the flock. Either way, she couldn’t see them anymore.

“Never mind.” She shook her head. “I’m probably just being paranoid.”

“That does sound like you.” He smiled at her, then took her hand in his. “Come on. Let’s go find a place to sit before there aren’t any more places.”

As Daniel led her away, weaving through the crowd toward the beach, Harper tried to still the butterflies in her stomach. She’d held hands with guys before, and this wasn’t even the first time Daniel had taken her hand.