Chapter 38

More sketches are framed and stored in boxes currently waiting in the back storeroom of the skate shop whose owner knows the woman in Carytown who enticed him to enter. He’s supposed to meet the guy at seven to transport everything from the shop down to his vendor space on the boardwalk. The show runs the length of the beach, and it opens to the public at nine, though he’s heard people tend to turn out early. He wants to have his displays up and ready for customers by eight thirty, if he can. He doesn’t expect to sell much, but the thought of showing his stuff— and hopefully getting feedback from those who pass by—is both scary and exhilarating at the same time.

This early Gavin is still asleep, so Brody doesn’t turn on the light as he slips out of the bed. Quietly he tiptoes to the door, sure Evie’s sleeping, too. But when he steps out into the hallway, he hears the television turned down low in the living room, and knows he isn’t the only one awake at such an ungodly hour.