The Skin Beneath by Nairne Holtz

Author:Nairne Holtz [Holtz, Nairne]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781897178393
Amazon: 1897178395
Publisher: Insomniac Press
Published: 2007-11-01T23:00:00+00:00

PART FOUR ANSWERS

Chapter Eighteen

Summer vacation in Nova Scotia. Snap of the screen door as Chloe and Sam busted out of the rented cabin each morning to race down to the beach. Their father read books and commented on the peacefulness of their surroundings, but for seven-year-old Sam the place was full of adventure. Looking out at the horizon, it seemed to her as if the sky was zooming straight into the ocean. Water shimmered with sunlight she could never seem to touch. She leapt into waves strong enough to hold her aloft and push her to shore. On the shore she found treasures buried beneath the sand: shards of glass bleached and softened by the tides, scrambling crabs, blue-black mussels, and prickly green orbs that turned out to be sea urchins. The wind rising from the water carried the smell of salt, which was cut with the sweetness of the wild roses growing everywhere.

Chloe, at thirteen tottering into adolescence, had another interest: a local boy. His name was Jess and he repaired boats. Every day the girls saw him scraping old paint from a yacht. He was wild-animal beautiful with long tawny hair and golden skin covered only by faded, paint-speckled cut-offs. "He's got such a hot bod," Chloe said. When they walked by, he always waved. Sam waved back, but Chloe pretended not to notice him. Down on the shore Sam searched under rocks in tide pools for tiny crabs while Chloe lay on a towel, tanning, reading romances, and discreetly ogling Jess.

During the month they were there, Chloe left notes for Jess signed "your secret admirer." He usually quit work by mid-afternoon, but Chloe waited for nightfall before creeping onto the boat and searching out places where she could cram her notes. To hold them in place against the breeze blowing off the water, Chloe used rocks and shells. Sam usually came with her sister to keep a lookout. She felt like a spy or how she imagined spies felt: exhilarated, part of a pipeline of something greater than she could ever be on her own. She scanned the harbour as if she were expecting German U-boats rather than what she actually saw: the raw red sun falling into the sea.

Chloe's notes were short, piquant: "I think you're cute," "I would like you to take me out on your boat," and once, "You look good in those shorts." She could have spent her days talking to Jess, but instead she preferred to watch him, to imagine having conversations with him. As she walked with Sam along unpaved roads to the corner store to buy Popsicles, Chloe constructed an entire world of her and Jess, his love and tenderness. She would point out some small shingled house painted a crazy colour, pink or green with yellow trim, and say, "We'll live there. We'll get a dog. I'll work in the city while he fixes boats. At night, he'll hold me in front of the fireplace."

The plan was for Chloe to reveal herself to Jess as the "secret admirer" shortly before they left.

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