“He went mad. I had this one moment where I thought, I’m in trouble. But I didn’t really believe it. How was it possible? Stephen Penderghast. He was one of the good guys! I didn’t react when I should, the way my karate master taught me. Penderghast grabbed me by the throat and he—” Tears leaked from her eyes. Then she broke down and cried, and in a broken tone she said, “How could I have been so wrong? I knew I was going to die. I knew he was going to kill me!”

Adam located the napkins and thrust one into her hand. “You didn’t die.”

“You said I did.” She wiped her cheeks, blew her nose, and wadded up the napkin and tossed it in the garbage bag.

Adam put his arm around her, hugged her close. “Not permanently.”

She smiled a wobbly smile, then put her head and one hand on his chest. “That’s what matters now. Ryan said all the currents meet and push toward this beach. That’s why you found me.”

Adam put his other arm around her, too, because she liked it and he liked it, and they were better together. “I found you because I was meant to.”

“Maybe my great-grandparents held me up when I would have drowned.”

“Maybe they did.” Adam looked out to sea.

The wind blowing, ruffling their hair, cooling their skin. The ceaseless waves, always the same, every one different. The blue, every color of blue, in the sea and the sky. The smells of salt, fish, shells, wet sand, ancient rocks ground to sand and earth movements bringing new stone to grow beneath their feet.

God, he loved this place.

He loved this woman.

He was alive again.

Elle put her hand into the crook of his elbow. “When I realized what was under the water, buried in the sand, a spark ignited in my brain, and I remembered...everything. But Adam, it was you who laid down the fuel for the fire. You’ve kept me safe, given me a chance to heal, and you told me the story of your survival, your love for your mother and your father, your continuing quest to bring people to safety, to make the world a better place... You teach me.” She leaned her head onto his bicep and sighed with satisfaction. “You’re the person we all dream of being.”

He loved to hear this. Who wouldn’t? But in all honesty, he had to remind her, “People have died under my care.”

“People have lived, thanks to you.” She smiled up at him. “Gothic looks to you as law enforcement because when there’s a shooter in the hills and the sheriff and deputies are a half hour away, you’re sensible, you have experience and you care. Some people, if they lived through those winters with your parents, would lose their humanity. You have the compassion your parents taught you.”