As she neared me, I rose, took a deep breath, and stepped down the beach toward her. “Good evening,” I called gently, hoping like hell I wasn’t going to annoy her.
She startled a little, like she’d been lost in her thoughts.
Great, scare her to death, moron.
She looked at me with those deep-blue eyes and smiled. “Hello,” she said in a voice as soothing as the deep.
Chapter 3: Kate
The painter. Although he was smiling, his awkward stance told me he was nervous. Perhaps me nearly jumping out of my skin had set him on edge. I smiled back at him.
The painter had shown up in Chancellor a little over a month earlier. I’d noticed him one morning as I was headed out to open my shop. My small, A-frame cottage sitting along the beach has wide windows that look out at the water. I’d seen him trudging along with a canvas, easel, and painting kit. It was rare to see anyone walk along the rocky beach outside my house. Pebbly and narrow, it wasn’t an ideal place for sun bathing. Almost everyone went to the small, man-made sandy beach at Chancellor Park. I noticed him again and again. Every morning, he would head out with a canvas. Every night, when I went out on my evening walk, he’d be there once again. I tried not to bother him, but I’d snuck a peek of his work. He always painted the fiery sunsets. And in the morning, he would paint the lake and the pastel hues of the sunrise. Sunrises on Lake Erie were not vivid, but they always cast an opalescent sheen on the water. The result was a cloudy mixture of color like the inside of an abalone shell. Beautiful. From what I had seen, the artist’s paintings were glorious…almost as glorious as him.
Our exchanges had been little more than polite nods and smiles. I was too hesitant to engage him further even though he was undeniably handsome. He was trim like a cyclist or surfer, his head shaved to a shadow of dark hair, which was usually covered with a cap. He often wore a scarf or a jacket zipped to the top. I guessed him to be a southerner, not acclimatized to Pennsylvania weather. His clear blue eyes were so lovely, but it was his smile that was without compare. It made something dangerous light up in me, something I hadn’t felt in a very long time. Despite the danger, I liked the feeling.
“Sorry,” I said. “I was a million miles away.”
He moved down the beach toward me. I crossed the distance to meet him, hoping I could evoke that smile again. I was relieved he’d finally spoken. We’d had our little routine going on for a month now. I was starting to think that maybe, after all these years, I’d started to lose my mermaid glamour. Most men can’t resist the allure that lives inside my skin. In the past, it made living among the humans almost unbearable. But lately, I didn’t mind the attention. It felt like my last hurrah. As for the painter, though I would never take anything beyond a simple conversation, it annoyed me that my charms didn’t seem to affect him.
“I…I found something I thought you would like,” he said hesitantly, holding out his hand. In his palm was a piece of red beach glass. The awkward cut made it look like a jagged heart. It was stunning.
Without thinking, I gently took him by the hand and looked at the glass. I lifted it to admire it in the dimming sunlight.
“Beautiful,” I said. “Red is so rare. Where did you find it?”
“On the beach near your boardwalk. Sorry, I know that came out weird. I’m not a stalker or anything. I just happened to notice you outside your house a couple of times.”
I smiled reassuringly at him. The last thing he looked like was a stalker. “I must have walked right past it,” I said, staring down at the glass. Slowly, I became aware of the fact that I was still holding onto his hand. His skin was ice cold.
“Oh, my gosh, you’re freezing. I was just heading back home now. Would you like a coffee? Tea maybe?” What was I doing? Had I lost my mind? I let go of his hand, but then he stuck his hand out to me.
“I’m Cooper,” he said.
I smiled. Introductions first, you lusty mermaid. “Kate,” I said, shaking his hand. Katherine, Kathy, now Kate. It always changed with the fashion of the day. If I stuck around another hundred years, I’d have to go with Katie or Kat. When I’d first come ashore to live among the humans, Katherine was the closest name they had to my real name, Katlilium.
“Thank you for the offer, Kate, but I need to get back,” he said with a soft smile, letting go of my hand.
“Oh, okay,” I replied, feeling stupid. What was I thinking?
Cooper seemed just as embarrassed as I did. He turned and started packing up his things. Great, now I’d scared him off. Maybe he was married or something. I never even thought to check for a wedding ring. I was getting rusty at this game. That was a good thing. It was a game I had no business playing. I was too old for random flirtations, and had no business falling for anyone with my end so near. Stupid. Feeling awkward, I looked for some way to break the silence.
“May I?” I asked, gesturing to the painting.
“Of course,” he replied. He folded his arms across his chest and looked at the painting. “The purple was really something tonight, wasn’t it?”
“It reminded me of fuchsias. You’ve captured it flawlessly.” He’d mixed the layers perfectly, even catching the colors reflected along the dark waves and the hint of night sky just at the edge.
“I’m just an amateur,” he replied. “But I missed these sunsets.” He picked up the canvas, careful not to bump the paint, folded the easel, which he stuck under his arm, then lifted his paint box. We turned and started down the beach.
“Missed? Are you from here?”
He nodded. “My grandma raised me. She’s passed on now, but I grew up here. I just came back a month or so ago.”
“Oh,” I replied, trying to choke down the million or more questions that wanted to come next. “I’m sorry about your grandmother.”
“Yeah, lost her about five years ago. Alberta Pearl? Maybe you knew her?”
I nodded. I did know her, when she was about six. “She lived in the little house on Juniper Lane?”
Cooper nodded. “That’s the place.”
That explained why he was always on my stretch of the beach. There was a walking path through the woods from the end of Juniper Lane to the shore. I smiled at him. “I knew her. Delightful girl,” I replied.
In the fifties, she used to come into my soda shop. She always asked for an extra cherry on her sundae. Cheeky little thing with dark hair and clear blue eyes, she was one of my favorite children in town. Like always, I wasn’t able to stay in Chancellor too long. People would start to notice how well-kept I was. I’d moved when Alberta was still little and had only been back for the last year myself. When my tenants moved out of the building I owned downtown, I’d decided enough time had passed. All those who could remember me were dead, including little Alberta Pearl. I loved Chancellor. It was the town closest to my home below the waves. I was glad to be back.
“You have a shop downtown, right? The little boutique?” Cooper asked.
I nodded. “The Glass Mermaid.”
“That’s it. I noticed the sign. I liked your mermaid.”
I grinned. If he only knew. “Thank you. I make jewelry,” I said then motioned to the red beach glass, “with the glass.”
Cooper smiled again. “I’ll stop by and have a look.”
Having just been turned down for coffee, I wasn’t sure what to say. “Sure,” I replied.
We reached the boardwalk leading to my house.