“I told them I’d find you. I scoured the ocean for years for any sign of you. Until I just couldn’t do it anymore. But your face, and the way you always looked up to me—trusting me to keep you safe—just wouldn’t leave me alone. Then I thought a few tours of duty would get you out of my head. It didn’t. And when I returned, I saw you every time I looked into my mom’s sad eyes. I failed at erasing you from my memory and from theirs. I wanted to be the one to bring you home. Alive, of course, but if that wasn’t to be, I at least wanted to find something to put you to rest. Put us all to rest.” He placed his head in his hands, looking exhausted after his speech.

Quinn saw around him that his parents were on their way over. She slid her sunglasses back on.

“You were just a boy,” she said, reaching across the table to put her hand on his arm. “It wasn’t your fault.”

He looked up, trying to pull himself together, but she could see that her words rang hollow. He’d carried the blame of her disappearance his entire life. But before he could respond again, Noah and Jules were there, and they sat down beside their son.

Jonah turned his head so they couldn’t see the emotion on his face.

Noah put his arm around his wife’s waist.

Quinn knew then that their bond was real, and that made her flush with quiet joy. She’d never seen her mother have that kind of love. Never seen anyone have it, actually.

“Hello,” Jules said. “Noah said you and your friends brought some donations. I’d like to thank you for that. This time of year the support is slim to none, so we need all the help we can get. Liam was generous to point you in our direction.”

Noah nodded, agreeing with Jules. “There’re a few soup kitchens and mission centers around, but some of these guys don’t like to go there, so we come to them. They’re too private. Right, Jonah?”

His expression held nothing but kindness for his son.

Quinn was curious about the people who lived on the beaches. She’d always held a fascination for someone who could just leave a conventional life and take to nature for protection.

“How do you think most of them get to this place?” she asked.

“Many of them are just like you and me, but life threw them a curveball. See that woman over there in the flowery pink shirt?” Jules pointed to a woman squatting down next to the spigot outside the public bathrooms. She was wringing the water out of a shirt.