Dragonfly
Authors: Leigh Talbert Moore
By Leigh Talbert Moore
To my friends in Baldwin County and to the Alabama Gulf Coast,
which inspired this story.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
The first time I saw the Gulf of Mexico I didn’t believe it was real.
The colors were so vivid—turquoise and deep marine blue splashing on sparkling-white grains of sand—it was as if the whole place glowed in the sunlight. It was beautiful. Magical.
I had no idea it would change my life. That my parents’ decision to move our family almost a thousand miles south, to their tiny hometown just off the coast, would drop me into the middle of a decades-old impasse.
A separation mandated by a long-forgotten crime.
A secret I would accidentally revive.
* * *
Last day of summer break. I was alone at the public beach just south of Fairview, my new hometown, feeling sorry for myself. Senior year was a day away, and Gabi, the best friend I’d made since we moved here, was gone, her Coast Guard dad reassigned to Key West.
A military brat, Gabi was practiced at the art of breaking into a new town, meeting a whole new group of people. I was preparing for the loneliest year of my life.
We’d lived in Fairview three years, and I still didn’t get southern “hospitality.” People weren’t
weird
here, they were
quirky
or
eccentric
. On top of that, everybody knew everybody, and if you didn’t ask about everyone’s family members, most importantly their mothers, you were considered rude.
It was a setup I was destined to fail, but Gabi could always turn it around with a funny quip or a hilarious questioning of how anyone could be so nice. They were clearly either hiding a secret life or they needed to get one. Now I was the one entering senior year in need of a life. Of course, I had other friends, but none like Gabi. We shared everything, and now it was just me and my journal.
On the beach, I could pretend it wasn’t happening. I could close my eyes behind giant shades, and disappear into the sounds of Nova Bossa, which my earbuds delivered directly to my brain. My crazy-curls were tied in a knot at the base of my neck under a huge, Audrey Hepburn-style straw hat, and I pretended I was somebody important, tanning outside of Cannes or Nice. Maybe a cabana boy would bring me a fruity drink, and I would call someone
darling
or something unexpected like that.
I was no longer Anna, the outsider. I was a star.
The song ended, my damp eyes flickered open, and there they were—right next to me on the sand, facing the opposite direction. Not really setting up camp or even looking like they planned to stay for long. Just glowing in the sun.
“Dad will never go for this, Lucy,” the guy said.
He was incredible. Tanned, slim, and somewhere around my age—maybe a little older. His blonde hair blew in his eyes, which I couldn’t see behind his dark Ray-Bans, and he moved in a way that radiated confidence. He was the type of guy I was sure got whatever he wanted. I slid my filmy beach-wrap across my soft stomach, wishing I did more sit-ups and thankful at least my frizz was well-hidden.
Lucy’s hair was perfect. It was the exact same color as his and hung down her back. It blew in beachy waves around her arms, and she slid one thick lock behind her shoulder before turning to touch my arm. I jumped as if I’d been electrocuted.
“Excuse me,” she said, smiling like a Junior Miss contestant. “Have you been here all day?”
“Um… no,” I said, cheeks hot. “I’ve only been here about an hour.”
“Oh, sorry. I was just looking for someone. I thought you might’ve seen him. I’m Lucy, by the way.”
“Anna,” I said, shaking the hand she offered. “And I didn’t. Sorry.”
“No worries, Anna.” She was still smiling as she turned away again.
I was sure I’d seen her red bikini on television, and she had the supermodel body to wear it. For a moment I wondered if they might be as-yet unknown celebrities, here for a secret, incognito weekend before going public and becoming superstars. Only, why would they pick this spot?
More likely they were from Crystal Beach or Hammond Island—one of the ritzy gated communities lining the coast to the east. Only, it still didn’t make sense for them to be here. Those places had their own guarded beaches, safe from the commoners like me.
The guy spoke again in his smooth, deep voice. “Let’s go. He’s not coming.”
“You’re being annoying, Jack,” she said, leaning back on her elbows and getting comfortable. “It’s only been five minutes. He hasn’t had a chance.”
“I can’t believe you’re doing this again.”
She waved at the turquoise water. “Cool off and give him a few more minutes.”
It was impossible not to stare as Jack walked down to the shore. His unbuttoned shirt blew in the breeze showing off his lined torso, and his board shorts hung loosely around his waist. The water rushed around his legs and my heart beat a little faster as I imagined the impossible—me standing beside him, him putting his arm around me, maybe pulling me in for a hug. I actually shivered at the thought.
I didn’t have a ton of experience with guys, but I knew what a hug felt like. And in a place where most people lived in swimsuits half the year, I was familiar with the sensation of skin against skin.
Suddenly he turned back. I squeezed my eyes shut, embarrassed, even though I knew he couldn’t see me watching him behind my dark sunglasses. When I peeked again, he was back on the towel, feet shoved in the sand, seeming angry.
“So is B.J. short for ‘bad joke’?”
Lucy shook her golden hair back. “Something must’ve happened.”
“Good. This was a setup for trouble. Again.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You do,” Jack said. “And it won’t get you what you want.”
She sat up and smiled, blinking innocently. “I want to find the cute lifeguard I met at Scoops yesterday.”
“You want things to be different with Dad.” Jack’s voice was low and even.
“Dad can go straight to hell.”
“Yes, that’s exactly the message you send.”
Jack exhaled and smoothed the sand under his hands. I was flat-out eavesdropping, no getting around it, but their conversation fascinated me. Not to mention, he was in perfect view.
“Besides,” Lucy sighed, her voice a little sad. “I can’t change the reason Dad hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you—”
“Or pretends I don’t exist.” She slid her long hair back and held it in a ponytail for a moment before dropping it. “But you know what? I’m glad I look like Mom. She was a beauty queen. You got a few of her genes yourself.”
Jack stood and grabbed his towel. “This conversation is stupid. And I’m leaving.”
“Whatever. It’s hot.” She pulled her long cover-up over her head, and hot or not, she looked fresh, like she hadn’t been in the sun at all.
My eyes followed them back to the parking lot where Jack threw their stuff into the back of steel-grey Jeep. Two doors slammed and they sped off, heading east, in the direction of Hammond Island. And that, I assumed, was the end of it.
For a few moments, everything felt quieter. Even the sun seemed a bit dimmer with their departure. I stood and walked to the water’s edge. The smell of salt and fresh fish always hung in the air here, and sometimes dolphins could be spotted swimming around, playing just off the coastline. If I were going to be abandoned, at least it was in a pretty place. The noise of the breaking waves comforted me, and I pulled off my hat so my light-brown hair could blow free. It would be huge and horrible in less than ten seconds, but I didn’t care.
The further east you traveled, along the Florida coastline, the water grew more and more turquoise, the sand more sugary-white. Maybe for my next escape I’d drive to Nana’s place in Navarre and spend the night. Today I’d just wanted to be alone.
I had a plan for the year, at least. With my new position reporting for the school newsblog, my college applications were set. SAT scores would be in soon, and hopefully by this time next year I’d be entering Northwestern, the top journalism school in the country.
That just left 365 days to endure.
I exhaled, and as I stood staring far out at the horizon, I wished something exciting would happen to me. Just once. Something to take my mind off the monotony or at least make my life a little more interesting.
No chance of that in this tiny town of less than ten thousand full-time residents.
A lifeguard had arrived when I walked back to gather my stuff. All the public beaches had them, and they were usually savage-tanned college guys perched in the tall-wooden booths under the beach warning flags. Yellow today. Moderate hazard.
I watched him scan the sunbathers. He was dark with a perfect body—a requirement for life guarding here, it seemed. At this time of year he had to be a local, but I didn’t know him.
“Hey,” I called up.
He looked down at me, eyebrows pulled together. “Whatcha need, kid?”
Some joke. He couldn’t have been more than nineteen, and I’d be eighteen in a few months.
“Are you B.J.?”
“Who wants to know?”
“A girl…” I started, and then wondered what I was even doing. “I just thought I recognized you.”
He looked at me like I’d had too much sun. Maybe I had. I shrugged and walked away, thinking they should’ve waited. Not that it mattered to me.
Beach escape had ended. It was time to face my life back on shore.
Chapter 2
Fairview High School had about six hundred students total, and as I stood observing my fellow seniors squealing and embracing each other, again I felt the sting of loneliness. Not having Gabi here was like watching one of those rock band reunions without the original lead singer. Just wrong.