Moonglass (7 page)

“So, little Ryan.” He turned to me. “You’re looking for Tyler Evans, just so you know. There’s about five Tylers who work here, but he’s the one you sicced your dad on the other day. Unintentionally, I’m sure. He’s been banished to Tower Two for the last week.” I stood silently, not knowing if I should apologize or laugh. James helped me out. “Walk on down and say hi. It’s the least you could do. And, hey, tonight’s the end of the season lifeguard bonfire, down at Muddy Creek.” He held his arms out like a circus ringleader, then bowed to me. “If he doesn’t invite you, then, I have.” With that he picked up his binoculars and scanned the water to the south, then swept up to the north, where I was sure Mona and her amazingly toned butt were the main points of interest.

“Thanks,” I said, and turned south, toward Tower Two.

“See you tonight, sunshine!” James called out. “Bring your tiny blond friend.” I turned back and put my hands to my mouth.

“She’s too young for you!”

James put a hand to his chest like he had been stabbed, and staggered backward for a second before resuming his position leaning over the railing. I turned around, smiling and plotting as I walked.

It was one of the last weekends before school, and the beach was packed. Most of the sand in front of our house was claimed already, different groups marking their territory with bright beach towels and umbrellas. The tide was high and there was swell, which made the beach even small er. I walked in the wet sand, and when a big set rolled through, the water splashed warm over my feet. Just ahead of me were the tide pools, now crawling with people, and I smiled, remembering Tyler’s exasperation at running down there. James didn’t seem too concerned, although today would be the day to be. The first wave of a set thundered down onto the rocks, and people let out a collective yell , then scurried for a safer spot. I kept my eyes on Tower Two, which was a long walk down the beach.

Once I passed the tide pools, the crowd thinned out and I slowed down. Directly in front of me as I walked was the point I had run to my first day here. The point where my dad had told me my parents had met. I looked down, remembering the piece of glass I’d found that first day, but the waves had scoured the sand clean. When I rounded a small er point, Tyler’s tower came into view, but I didn’t see him on the deck. I straightened up and walked more carefully, just in case he happened to be looking in my direction through his binoculars. When I was sure I was close enough for him to have to notice me, I smiled and attempted to saunter over with an ease that I hoped looked believable. He came out of his tower shaking his head. I put my chin up and feigned innocence. “What?”

“Anna Ryan,” he said, still shaking his head. My stomach jumped at the sound of my name spoken by his voice. “Boss’s daughter …”

“I couldn’t tell you he was my dad right off the bat. You wouldn’t have given me your little tour.” Tyler’s eyebrows raised behind his sunglasses as he leaned forward with an emphatic look in each direction. “Where is he, by the way? Did you tell him you were coming on down, cuz it’s just about time he got down here to bug me today. And now he has a real reason.”

“Funny.” I rested a hand on my hip. He looked down, and I guessed that he was looking me over from behind his sunglasses, the same as I was him. I hoped he was as impressed as I was at the moment. He had the long, lean body of the swimmers I’d seen over the years, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. I took a few steps closer and grabbed the handle of the tower ladder, then looked right up at him. “So, James told me about the bonfire tonight.” He looked interested … or surprised. I went on, encouraged. “Where’s Muddy Creek?” He laughed and pointed down toward the south point. “Just down there, where that ramp comes down to the beach. You ran past it last weekend.” It took a second, but then I remembered the backpacks on the sand and the surfers in the water. “You were out in the water.”

“And you were showing off.”

He had me there.

“Somebody had to do something impressive. I didn’t see you guys out there getting any waves.” I winced a little, inwardly. It wasn’t one of my best lines.

Tyler looked back out at the empty water, apparently disregarding my lameness.

“Yeah, that day was crappy. I should be out there
today
. Look at it.” He pointed to a wave that broke off a set of rocks just offshore and peeled across the little cove. “Yep, I just get to sit down here in no-man’s-land and look at it all day. Courtesy of the Ryans.” He leaned forward on the railing and watched another wave roll through.

I leaned my back against the ladder and looked up over my shoulder. “Sorry about that.” He laughed. “Nah, don’t be. I knew what I was getting into when I talked to you.” I turned around. “Wait a sec. You
knew
who I was? Why’d you go along with it?” I was suddenly intrigued.

“James bet me I wouldn’t do it because you’re Ryan’s daughter. He gets a laugh out of that stuff. Why’d
you
go along while I talked crap about your dad?” I shrugged. “He drives you crazy as a boss. Imagine having him as your dad.”

Tyler held on to the tower railing and leaned back, pulling his shoulders back in a stretch. “You’re his daughter. He’s supposed to be that way. He’s been around long enough to realize that most guys are a bunch of jerks.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, please. Now you sound just like him.” This wasn’t the direction I’d envisioned this conversation taking. I needed to bring his focus back to me, so I turned slowly around so that I was facing the ladder, leaned my chest against it, and looked up at him casually. “Anyway, are you going tonight? To the bonfire?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there.” Tyler turned to spit out a sunflower seed shell . “
You
shouldn’t be, though.” He cleared his throat and laughed. “That’s probably why James invited you. He’s a pot-stirrer.”

I suddenly felt not so cute anymore, deflated, just like that. He spit another shell into the sand, then looked down the beach.
I should just turn around and
walk away,
I thought. Take a hint. But his attitude pissed me off. I looked out at the water and the outline of Catalina directly in front of us. “My dad and his buddy took their boat to Catalina for the night. I think it’ll be fine,” I said flatly. It was probably safe. They’d gotten off to a late start and would most likely go out for beers or something afterward.

Tyler didn’t take the bait. “Oh, yeah? well, in that case he’ll probably have one of his buddies checkin’ in on you. Or all of us.” He smiled down at me.

Condescendingly, I thought. “Maybe some other time, like when we all don’t have to answer to your dad.” Heat crept across my chest and settled on my face. He really didn’t like me. At all. Jerk. Humility peeled my fingers from the railing while at the same time pride made me open my mouth. “Wow. I guess a middle-aged lifeguard supervisor is a pretty scary thing.” Again, it wasn’t all that impressive, but I had to say something. I walked away, wishing I had thought up something better.

“Bye, Anna!!” he called. I didn’t turn around, but waved my hand over my head, more out of annoyance than anything else. Then I loosened my ponytail and let my hair fall down to my back, shaking it out a little with my fingers as I walked away. I had plans to make.

The sun dipped into the ocean as we pulled into the Muddy Creek lot. Ashley squinted behind her giant sunglasses and scanned for the best place to park.

“Does it matter where I go? I don’t want to get a ticket or get carjacked or anything.” I smiled. “Nobody’s gonna carjack you. Besides, if you get a ticket, I’ll just have my dad take care of it.”

“All right, all right. It just looks so … remote. Is that the right word for when it seems, like, far away or something?” I laughed. “Yeah, that’s what it means, but I wouldn’t call it remote with that shopping center over there.” I pointed to the lights across PCH.

“Whatever.” She pulled into a spot, or rather, two spots. “I hope we brought enough goodies. I grabbed everything I could think of that would be good for a bonfire. Do you think someone will have a corkscrew?”

“For what?”

“For the champagne. It was the best thing I could sneak out of the house. My mom has a big stash of it for her parties.”

“Um, Ash, you don’t need a corkscrew for champagne. You know how it pops and all ?” I couldn’t help but smile. “And … why’d you bring champagne for a bonfire, anyway?”

She looked at me like I had just asked her why the sky was blue, then said simply: “It’s festive!” She pulled her lip gloss out of her purse, reapplied, and then smacked her lips. “I figured there’d be some cute lifeguards to lug it down. Come on, Anna. That’s supposed to be your thing.”

“Yeah, we’ll see,” I said, looking around. “None seem to be falling at my feet just yet.” I opened the door and scanned the parking lot, hoping to see one in particular. Ashley popped the trunk of her car and walked around to the back. I couldn’t help but stare for a second at the perfect magazine picture that she was. She looked like an ad for Southern California rich, with her three-hundred-dollar jeans and gauzy white top. The front sections of her blond hair were twisted back into a hippyish do that left the rest of it wavy and expertly tousled. She smiled her sunset-lip-gloss smile, and for half a second I thought about the lack of logic in bringing a beautiful, friendly girl along when I was trying to hook Tyler.

I pulled down the sun visor and checked myself in the mirror. I had the kind of skin that tanned easily, and by this point in the summer it was deep brown with a few freckles scattered across my nose and cheeks. I had always liked it when it got like this, because it meant I’d had a good summer. Ashley walked over and bent to look at my reflection with me.

“You know, MAC makes a really good makeup that would totally take care of those freckles and even out your skin tone.” I looked at her immaculately made-up face.

“I didn’t have time to put on any makeup. Lemme see your lip gloss.” I had actually thought about it before I’d left, but then had figured it’d be dark anyway.

And I didn’t want to look like I was trying too hard. But then, a little bit couldn’t hurt. She handed it over and I smoothed the thick cakey-smelling gloss over my lips. “Okay. Let’s get the stuff and go down there.”

Just as I stepped out and closed the door, a jeep pulled up next to us. It was James. “Ladies!” He leaned out of the car. “Glad you could make it. Can I help you carry anything down?”

“Sure!” Ashley interjected, before I had even opened my mouth. I gave her a look. She pranced back to her trunk excitedly and began pulling out grocery bags. “I have all kinds of stuff in here—chips and cookies, hot dogs, all the bonfire stuff I could think of. And s’mores stuff too! No dieting tonight.” James followed her to the back of the car and stood there smiling as she loaded his arms up. “You don’t mess around, do you?” She pulled out a stack of Mexican blankets and put them into my arms. “Aren’t these cute? I picked them up today at Pottery Barn. Oh! And these.” She handed me a bundle of tiki torches. “They’re perfect, right?”

I nodded. “Ash, you didn’t have to go out and get all this—”

She waved me off, then shrugged cutely. “Why not? It was fun. It will be fun. Right, James?”

“That’s right!” He grinned from behind his aviators and gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up. “
Super
fun. Is that about it? We got a long walk ahead of us, and I could use an icy cold one ASAP.”

Ashley shut the trunk. “That’s it. Show me to the beach!” She put an arm out, and James took it, despite all he was carrying.

It was nearly impossible to be around her and not start thinking everything was just a grand adventure. As we tromped down the steep trail to the beach, I grinned and listened to Ashley chattering to James about what an admirable and heroic profession he was in, which I was sure he was eating up. They all did.

At the bottom of the trail the beach was open and empty except for a small gathering around the rock-bordered fire pit. A small pyramid of kindling sat in the middle, waiting for a splash of lighter fluid and a match. The group was mostly made up of tanned guys who stood holding red cups, barefoot in their best surf shirts and jeans. I dug my toes into the cool sand as I walked over, trying to find Tyler’s face among them. James set everything down and walked around the circle of guys, giving high fives. Ashley and I stood on the outside of the ring, while a girl sitting on the sand looked both of us over as she chewed her gum. She leaned over and whispered something to her friend next to her, and they both laughed. Just as I started to rethink the idea of us being there, James raised his voice.

“Everybody, this is Anna Ryan. That would be
Boss
Ryan’s daughter, so you never saw her here.” He waited for a reaction, which mostly consisted of nods meant to say hi. I nodded back and wished I had a red cup in my hand to raise and hide behind. “And this is her friend Ashley, who has been so kind as to bring a giant spread of stuff for our little soiree here.”

Ashley gave a coy little smile. “Anyone want to toast to anything? I brought a case of champagne.” It was like someone had pressed play again after pausing a scene. Everyone hopped to life, and soon plastic champagne flutes were tapping, the fire was lit, and we all were feeling plenty warm, even though the night had cooled down. After a long, rambling toast delivered by James, the veteran of the group, we all settled around the fire that was now spitting and crackling.

Muted conversations drifted across the fire, then tapered off. In between, the periodic smack of a wave on the sand punctuated the easy, satisfied silences, and it felt like one of those nights so perfect, you always remember it. The breeze shifted in my direction, along with the smoke, so I stood up to avoid the burn in my eyes. With no moon illuminating the beach, everything beyond our little ring of bonfire was black. On the highway above an occasional set of headlights cruised by and illuminated the white lines of breaking waves. It had a different feel to it from the beach in Pismo, with its pier lights and busy promenade. There was a quietness here that felt unique and special.