THE GIRL WHO STAYED FOR ONLY ONE SUMMER
Chapter 4
By August, nobody in Greyhaven called Maya a tourist anymore.
June saved her a table.
Walter knew her name.
Lily adored her.
Claire tolerated her.
Ethan had stopped pretending she was temporary.
They developed rituals.
Coffee before work.
Walks after dinner.
Saturday mornings at the farmers’ market.
Late-night drives along the coast.
Sometimes they talked for hours.
Sometimes they drove without saying anything.
Maya took photographs of Ethan when he wasn’t looking.
He discovered this one morning.
“You’re taking pictures of me.”
“No.”
“You are.”
“I’m taking pictures of the harbor.”
“The harbor isn’t behind me.”
She lowered the camera.
“Fine.”
“What do you want with them?”
She shrugged.
“I like remembering.”
Ethan smiled.
“Thought you said remembering wasn’t the same.”
“I changed my mind.”
He took the camera gently from her.
“Can I see?”
She hesitated.
“Maybe.”
He looked.
There were dozens.
Ethan repairing a boat.
Ethan laughing with Walter.
Ethan cooking.
Ethan walking down Harbor Road.
Ethan sleeping in a chair at the diner.
Ethan looking at the ocean.
He stopped.
“You took all these?”
“Most.”
“Why?”
Maya looked at him.
“Because you’re different when you don’t know someone’s watching.”
Ethan handed the camera back.
“That’s unsettling.”
She smiled.
“I know.”
