“I’m definitely okay with giving Finley credit,” he says, beckoning the girls to follow him down the narrow boardwalk built over the dune that leads down to the beach. “How long are you staying?”

“We’re leaving in the morn—”

“What do you do around here for the Fourth of July?” Taylor interrupts.

“We’re having a barbecue here at the house tomorrow,” he says. “My friends and I usually set up a Slip ’N Slide on the beach and surf if there’s decent swell. At dusk, we’ll take boats down the sound to see the fireworks at Corolla. We have a guest room, and I’m pretty sure my parents wouldn’t mind if you joined us.”

“We haven’t slept in real beds since Niagara Falls,” Taylor points out as they kick off their flip-flops at the end of the boardwalk. “So you can count me in.”

Before Willa can say yes, a chocolate-brown horse drops onto the sand and rolls around on its back, just a few yards away from where a family has set up their lounge chairs for a day at the beach. Even though she knows Finley had nothing to do with it, being here seems magical. Fated. Willa looks up at Wyatt and smiles. “We’re definitely staying.”

Taylor crouches low, like a real photographer, her camera whirring with every shot. They’re quiet as the horses in the water come out and shake, sending spray into the air around them. At moments like this Willa wishes she hadn’t thrown her phone into Lake Erie. She could be taking pictures of wild mustangs. She could be putting Wyatt’s phone number in her contacts for later, when she’s in South Carolina or Tennessee or Michigan. Because Wyatt seems like the kind of boy you keep.

“Willa,” he says. “I would really like to take you out on a date.”

The last word has barely left his lips when she says, “I’d love that.”

Taylor

Brady: How’s it going, stranger?

Taylor: Hey, hi!

Brady: Your pictures today are incredible.

Taylor: Thanks.

Brady: How’s the trip going? Are you figuring out how life works without Finley?

Taylor: Slowly, but yeah.

Brady: It doesn’t look like you and Willa have gone full Hunger Games yet.

Taylor: Ha! We’ve discovered that we actually kind of like each other.

Brady: That’s good.

Taylor: It is. How are you?

Brady: I’m figuring out how life works without Taylor.

Taylor: And?

Brady: I have a date tomorrow night.

Taylor: Good. I hope she deserves you.

Brady: Thanks. Night, Tay.

Taylor: Night, B.

Vanessa: Those horse pictures are so gorgeous. I almost feel like I’m there.

Taylor: Willa’s on a date right now, so I kinda wish you were.

Vanessa: Did she ditch you again!?