Free Returning to Shore by Corinne Demas Page A

beach alone. She decided to wear her newest bathing suit, but she covered it with a T-shirt and draped a beach towel over her shoulders. She walked to the other end of the island to the cove where people swam. The small cluster of beach umbrellas—hot pink and turquoise and yellow stripes—looked festive, though a little jarring against the background of pale sand and beach grass. There were two boys digging in the sand, but no one was in the water, so Clare spent some time beachcombing, instead. She walked around thetip of the island, past the people, and then started back again. She noticed a girl her age ambling in her direction along the edge of the water, but didn’t acknowledge that she’d seen her. But the girl was more gregarious. Once she spotted Clare she changed her course so she was headed right towards her. Clare stood where she was. As the girl approached, she gave a little wave. She was a few inches shorter than Clare and had an abundance of thick, bushy hair held up with an elastic, and a plump face that made her look, Clare guessed, probably a lot happier than she really was.
    She introduced herself just the way Vera would do, holding out her hand and giving Clare’s hand a squeeze.
    â€œHi, I’m Jaylin, J-A-Y-L-I-N,” she said. “I always spell it because people never seem to get it right. Someone even once thought I said, ‘Caitlin’.”
    â€œI’m Clare,” said Clare. “No ‘i’.”
    â€œThat’s a relief,” said Jaylin, and she smiled. “Are you staying here on the island?”
    â€œYes,” said Clare.
    â€œDo you have a house here?”
    â€œWell, my Dad does.”
    â€œMy parents built a house,” said Jaylin, “and dragged me here last summer. And there’s no one around who isn’t ancient or a little kid except for Mark—my brother—and his friends, and they don’t count. How come I didn’t see you last summer?”
    â€œI wasn’t here. I haven’t been since I was little.”
    â€œLucky you,” said Jaylin. “I hope you’re here for a while this time, because I’m stuck here for two more weeks.”
    â€œI’ll be here,” said Clare.
    â€œSweet,” said Jaylin. “We can hang out together.”
    â€œSure,” said Clare.
    â€œWhat are you collecting?” asked Jaylin, looking at Clare’s hands.
    Clare held out her open palm. “Whatever looks interesting,” she said.
    â€œLast summer I was obsessed with collecting scallop shells. I’m not anymore, but there’s nothing much to do on this beach, so sometimes I still pick them up.” Clare noticed Jaylin’s gold bracelet. It seemed crazy that someone would wear something expensive like that on the beach.
    â€œI don’t know which shells are which,” said Clare, “but I thought I could look them up. There’s a shell book at the house.”
    â€œWhere’s your house?”
    â€œBack there,” said Clare, pointing vaguely towards the marsh.
    â€œWe’re right up there,” said Jaylin. The house she pointed to was a big one, perched on the top of the dune with decks hanging off in all directions. “Hey, why don’t you come up with me and we can get something to drink, or some ice cream, OK?”
    â€œOK,” said Clare. She wondered if she should ask Richard or at least let him know, but there was no way to do that. If she was staying long at Jaylin’s she could call him from the phone in Jaylin’s house.
    There was a long wooden staircase leading up to the house.
    â€œThe stairs are brand new this week,” said Jaylin. “They almost didn’t get it done in time. My mom was going to have a fit.”
    They paused at the landing halfway up and Clare looked out at the view of the bay. “The stairs we had last year got washed away in a storm,” continued Jaylin.“Everything