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She’d run hard, putting distance between herself and the pain she’d felt at Carson’s snarky comments They were nasty and unfair and had hurt her already tender feelings But the running had taken the sting out of the words, and sitting here, winded and her fury spent, Harper had calh to see Carson’s venom for what it was—hurt, jealousy, and fear All emotions she understood

Squeezing her fingers in the warm sand, Harper wondered if the words burned more because they ca Harper had always admired Carson, looked up to her, from the first moment they met

She recalled the first time she’d seen Carson when Harper had arrived at Sea Breeze Harper was six years old, like a tiny doll, small and delicate and all fancy dressed in a s bow in her red and gold hair In contrast, Carson earing a sand-crusted swimsuit and torn cutoff jean shorts She was as brown as a berry, barefoot, and her wild, dark hair was salt dried and sticking out in angles

Harper loved Carson on the spot She looked wild and confident, everything Harper wanted to be What her heroines looked like in her iination Carson had taken Harper’s hand in a protective manner and led the way to the library, where Mamaw had created a bedroom for Harper The moment Harper had walked in and seen all the books, she broke into her first smile

Their friendship had blosso back, Harper saw that it was fate that she’d arrived that particular su so, Dora was letting go of her childhood—ga all the drama associated with teen years Harper had arrived just in time to fill the void that Dora had left

In fact, because of all the adventure books she’d read, Harper was better at their gaination than even Dora Oh, the make-believe she and Carson had played! To down the creek looking for Injun Joe Treasure Island and Mamaw’s stories of their illustrious ancestor the Gentle for buried treasure year after year Tuck Everlasting had them convinced they’d find the pool of i girls living on an island who loved pirates, mermaids, and fairies

Looking back, Harper could see how Carson had helped her blosso like a priirl on a class trip Within a few days of her arrival on Sullivan’s Island it was as if she’d re and allowed herself to be the bright, inquisitive, adventurous girl lurking inside She and Carson were inseparable Their hearts beat with the pulse of the tides

Then the inevitable happened Carson, too, grew older and put away her childhood gaether was mostly whiled away on the beach At sixteen Carson was consu to sit under an umbrella and read The next year Ma to Sea Breeze She’d decided to stay in Los Angeles and get a suh the invitation remained open for Harper, she didn’t want to spend the summer alone Her mother had just purchased the house in the Hamptons, and Harper elected to spend the summer there instead And that had been that

Carson didn’t see Harper again until years later at Dora’s wedding They’d both privately groaned at having to wear the pink, frothy gowns but dutifully did their duty The next time they saw each other was a year later under sadder circuht at their father’s funeral to share ain for Granddad Edward’s funeral All the joy at Sea Breeze seemed to have been shrouded with sadness

That was the last tiether at Sea Breeze until this summer Yet, this summer had proved that time and distance couldn’t break the bond they shared Harper could get ree with their choices, distance herself from them, but they were alith her They were her blood Her family

Noas time for them to close ranks

Harper rose and slapped the sand fro out at the serene sea, the waves rolling gently to shore, one after the other Not many days were left for any of theing over their heads She didn’t want to spend her final days here fighting They were all on shaky ground now Hot-teued She didn’t want one er between them

Harper knehat she had to do Turning toward Sea Breeze, she took off on a run

Carson sat on the dock with her feet dangling in the water, staring idly out at the racing current She felt like a piece of the driftwood floating by, aimless and of no value Her left hand clutched a s Inside was a small bottle of tequila that she’d hidden ahen the sisters and Mae to ban alcohol fro of the summer

Ma Shame on you Carson felt them deeply because she knew she deserved them She was ashamed

Carson knew in her heart that Harper’s enuine and selfless, like the woenerous, more so than anyone else Carson had ever met It was not because Harper had h but held on to it with ato take advantage of them or steal it They were not nice people to be around Harper was that rare person who didn’t act as if she had e If she had any fears or suspicions, they were that people liked her only because of her money, rather than for herself

Carson put her hands to her face She was most ashamed because she knew this was Harper’s eted it with her barbs

She was so good at hurting people After Blake had left her at the coffee shop, she’d wandered around alone for a few hours, in a daze of depression Blake’s parting words resounded in her brain You weren’t the only one to lose a baby Carson squeezed her eyes tight

Why did she always feel everything was her fault? she wondered Why couldn’t Blake see she wasn’t ready to let hi care of herself, taking care of her father Of trusting her instincts