Chapter 24

“You got that right,” Cole says. He takes my hand with a wink and we head back up the hill.

I suppose if you don’t live on it, there’s nothing special about this hill. A smattering of houses here by town, another cluster near the bar, and a cottage the size of a cracker box plunked at the top is pretty much it in the landmark department. At some point we pass the path off to Milton’s Cove, but even though I’m watching for it, I can’t distinguish the cluster of trees at its mouth from any other. If I’m to see that cove again, it will need to be with Milton as my guide; who knows what other cliffs are dangling out there waiting to be fallen over?

“What’s the best Christmas present you ever got?” I ask, just for something to say. I don’t have an especially exciting answer to this question myself—we always got presents like socks and windbreakers and Strawberry Quik—but it seems to please him to share, and I like that he’s kind of a softy underneath all that bulging protein.