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“Huh? What? It’s not time to fish,’’ he mumbled Then opened his eyes and jumped

“Maggie?” he said and began to sit up “Oh, I guess I dosed off looking at the stars Sorry, must have been the beer’’ He looked across the sound, squinting at the first light of another suained for’’

“My neck is killing over Too ed her temples

“Let’s get you ho his arms behind his back

Maggie stood and searched for her flip-flops Slow ood; don’t move too fast She slid her feet into her shoes and followed Reid off the dock When she reached the end of the pier, Reid grabbed both of her hands to steady her down the two rickety steps Hand in hand, they h Shirley and Henry’s front yard to his Jeep

Eight

Maggie

Maggie couldn’t sleep She had been tossing and turning for the last hour, and trying without success to find rest again It felt like those early e on test days when she would wake before dawn and not be able to shut off herfacts and possible questions repeatedly Or when she knew she had an i She would meticulously review every eleraphic, and detail, and sleep would always elude her in those wee hours before the day began However, this time, it wasn’t deadlines or multiple-choice questions that left her restless It was him

It had been a week since Reid had told her he didn’t have time for her and only wanted to be friends Then, moments later, he had initiated the ie had ever experienced He had started the whole thing, and if Justyn hadn’t walked up, who kne far it would have gone

With a groan, she threw the duvet off and sprang out of bed Maggie knew she would not be able to fall back asleep now, and she had to clear her ht as well check out the early hts She walked over to the balcony, and she was struck with how serene the sound looked in the predawn light In fact, she was sure she had never seen the water this calm in all her days on Harkers Island This lass” It looked ht as well go out instead of standing up here

The air was still a tad chilly, so she grabbed the lightweight white cardigan that was draped over the chair in her bedroom She pulled it over her blue cotton sleep tank and adjusted her boxer shorts as she quietly padded downstairs

Jutting about thirty yards out into the sound, the Buttonses’ pier was one of the longer ones on the east end of the island Just about every fall, a hurricane or tropical storm would take out all the piers, and the ho so much money each year, most people eventually decided to craft smaller piers that would be less susceptible to the wind and rain da her that the pier was iazebo near the end and still extended about four feet beyond, ending with a s dock that o steps down fro up boats and was lined with a haphazard collection of shells the Buttons faie and Blair, had left in a pile on one corner