“You’ll just have to wait and see,” Henry said.

“Do you have stories to tell about this wreck?” Talley’s gaze widened.

“I might have one or two.”

“How do you know which one it is?” she asked.

“I know.”

“Are the stories scary?” Ruth pressed.

“Depends on what you think is scary,” Henry said.

Talley shifted from foot to foot. “Are there ghosts in this story?”

Henry seemed to be enjoying his audience. “Do you want ghosts in the story?”

“No!” Talley said.

“Yes!” Ruth said.

“Why don’t we see how the evening goes,” Henry said.

Henry liked to tell stories. Not about the war but all kinds of tales about the Outer Banks. Last year he’d spent several nights by the pool entertaining guests with his tales of pirates and lost treasures. A few of the boys had spent the rest of the week digging holes on the beach in search of lost gold. It had been amusing until one of the moms had stepped in a hole and sprained her ankle.

“Fair enough,” Ruth said. “Have you met Carlotta?”

“I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure.” Henry glanced toward Daddy, who’d dropped his gaze back toward the woodpile.

“She’s the singer this summer,” Ruth said. “She’s going to sing by the bonfire tonight.”

“Sounds like this is going to be a real party,” Henry said.

Daddy surveyed the shipwreck, looked back at the dunes, and calculated the direction of the wind before he found a spot downwind from the wooden ruin. He handed Henry a shovel and set about digging a deep firepit. “If you’re not going to eat, you can dig.”

“Be glad to.”

With the two of them working, it was done in no time flat, and then Henry went about laying the wood.

“Let’s start with the kindling first,” he said. “You girls set the thinnest pieces in the middle of the hole.”

Henry picked up the largest log, which had demanded Ruth and Talley’s combined strength to drag here, and he easily carried it over to the pit. Using the ax Daddy had brought, he chopped it into smaller pieces. Within a half hour, the wood had been arranged by size and the fire laid.

Ruth and Talley returned to the hotel and picked up the stack of quilts for guests who forgot their blankets. (Someone always forgot something.)

A few guests, including the Manchester family, appeared at the top of the dune. Pete Jr. ran ahead and came straight to the firepit, glancing quickly at Ruth before ducking his head and hurrying toward the unlighted wood. Bonnie and her friends Jessie and Dora moved more slowly, as if they were worried about looking as childish as Pete. So they sauntered, pausing to whisper something to the others as they looked toward Ruth.