“I heard every word.” Smiling back at him, Amy closed the door and stepped forward, resting her arms on the frame. “Ryan, listen . . .” She leaned in so she didn’t have to shout over the noise of the festival. “I have no idea how often you make it up to Portland, or if you ever do, because I know how much you’ve got on your plate, but next time you come—if you ever come—why don’t you give me a call? Let me take a turn showing you around. I admit, it won’t compete with where you’ve taken me today, but at least I can repay the favor.”

Ryan’s response was swift, the answer leaping straight from his lips. “Yes, okay,” he blurted out. “I mean, yes, absolutely. I’d like that. Very much.”

She opened the door and climbed back inside. “Do you have a pen?”

“Huh?”

Her eyes zipped about the cab.

“You know, something you write with.”

“A pen. Right, yes.” Ryan collected himself and popped open the glove box. He reached for a ballpoint and handed it over to Amy, who proceeded to take his arm in her hand and scribble down her details, signing off with an A and a smiley face.

“There you go. That’s how you can reach me.”

Ryan stared at the series of numbers on his skin, making a mental note to transfer them to paper at his earliest opportunity. Amy, meanwhile, had already stowed the pen back in the glove box and was exiting the truck. By the time he looked up, she was standing on the sidewalk, her hand raised in farewell.

“Till next time, then,” she said.

“Till then.”

She stepped back and slid her hands into her pockets.

They shared one more smile, said a final goodbye, and then, from behind the wheel of his truck, his heart thumping heavy and fast, Ryan watched as she turned and walked away. 20

Amy wasted no time returning to her room. As fond as her thoughts were of Ryan and the afternoon they had shared, the focus now was finding out where her dad had been. Discussing the situation with Ryan had only heightened her curiosity. If she was being honest, she was beginning to wonder if what her dad had said was true—had he really come down here to work on some case? Or was there something more mysterious at play, something he hadn’t told her about their spontaneous trip to Seabrook? The circumstances surrounding his disappearance led her to believe that all was not as it seemed. Determined to get some answers, she unlocked the door to their room and stepped inside.

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