He raised his eyes, meeting hers.

“What’s up?” Jennifer asked, taking a seat next to him.

“They didn’t have the charm I wanted. Looks like I’ll have to get it online.”

Steve glanced at the bag in Jennifer’s hand and stood. “It looks like you were successful,” he said, and escorted her out to the car. He opened the door for her and rounded to his side, hoping she wouldn’t catch the bundle of nerves eating at his stomach.

Jennifer’s head tilted and her eyebrows drew together as she regarded him.

“What?” he said, backing the car out of the parking spot.

Jennifer laughed lightly. “You’re too funny sometimes.”

“What?” He smiled over at her. Oh shit, she knows.

“You really don’t have a clue what that smile does to women, do you?”

A measure of relief struck him and Steve rolled his eyes. “I could care less what it does to others. I’m just interested in what it does to you.” He grinned, his dimples showing clearly in his cheeks.

“It makes me want to rip your clothes off and do naughty things to you.”

Steve chuckled. “That’s an interesting reaction,” he said and sent a sideways glance in her direction. “I’ll have to take you up on that when we get to the beach.”

Jennifer blushed and shifted in the seat. “Do you have any music we can listen to?”

Steve reached behind her seat, pulling out a case of CDs and handing them to her.

Jennifer flipped through and found a Nickleback CD. She popped it in and Far Away came crooning out of the speakers and Steve joined in, singing along as they drove through the winding roads down towards Portsmouth.

“You can hold a tune pretty well,” she commented between choruses.

He shrugged. “Maybe a little, but it’s nothing compared to your voice,” he said. Her voice was pure and sultry at the same time. “Good choice of song.” He reached over and took her hand, squeezing it before he returned his attention to the road.

With his surprise tabled for another week, his mind drifted back to the case and her most recent vision. He glanced in her direction, relishing the melody of her voice filling the car and decided to wait until they were closer to their destination before he would broach the subject. She deserved some relaxation, especially after the asthma attack.

They continued the drive in silence, listening to the music. When the signs for Portsmouth appeared, he turned the volume down. “Tell me about the vision.”

Her hand clenched in his grasp and she said, “Were there two teenagers on the missing persons list?”

“No,” Steve answered as they pulled onto the short stretch of highway leading to the Piscataqua River Bridge that would take them into Maine.

Jennifer paused, watching the sailboats on the water below. “Can we not talk about that right now?”

Steve sighed and nodded. “For now,” he said and squeezed her hand. He pulled off before the tolls and took Route 1A toward York Beach.

Jennifer grinned at the small quaint town of York and when Steve pulled out of the residential area into the view of Long Sands Beach, Jennifer gasped in awe. The two-mile strip seemed endless.

Steve parked and shifted to neutral, cutting the engine. He slipped off his sneakers and socks and opened the ashtray, counting out quarters to feed the parking meter. Jennifer stepped onto the sidewalk, barefoot and still in awe of the view. Her eyes locked on the Nubble Light House standing at the far corner of the point. “Wow.”

“You’ve never been here?”

“No.” Jennifer allowed him to lead her onto the beach. “It’s pretty.”

“It’s one of my favorite places. I love sitting on the rocks at high tide, listening to the waves sift through the pebbles when they pull back into the ocean. It’s soothing.” He walked down to the water line, holding her hand.

The quiet intimacy they shared cast a peaceful serene glow on Jennifer’s cheeks. “I love you,” she whispered.

Steve smiled and squeezed her hand gently, letting silence fall between them. “I loved Peg but it was nothing like this.” He let out a light laugh. “We certainly have chemistry.” He glanced over at her. “But it is much more than that.” He kissed her hand as they passed in front of a beachside restaurant. “Being with you always felt right, even ten years ago when we were just kids.” He stopped and turned so he stood in front of her, bringing his hand to her cheek. “I loved waking with you in my arms and I can’t imagine a future without you in it,” he finished and kissed her. He took her hand and began to walk again without waiting for a response.

She just walked alongside him, silent, her hand clasped in his. “I can’t either,” she said.

Steve grinned and let the silence fill the space between them as they strolled, listening to the ocean lap the shore, enjoying the warm breeze that enveloped them with the salty smell of the sea.

“Are you hungry yet?” he asked when they changed directions, heading back toward the car.

“Getting there.”

“You like lobster?”

“Who doesn’t?”

“I’ll take you to the place that serves the best lobster rolls in town,” he said and once they settled into the car, he drove farther down 1A to the center of York Beach, parking in front of a small street-side seafood place. He smiled and brought her inside. The place was small with old plastic booths and a few random tables with chairs, the smell of cooked lobsters hung in the air.

With two cups of lobster bisque and two lobster rolls in hand, he grabbed napkins and spoons and led her back to the car. Navigating the one-way roads, he looped through the center of town and crossed to the peninsula that led to the Nubble Light House. Luck worked in their favor and he caught a front parking spot. He hopped out of the car with the meal and climbed down the massive rocks, finding a sheltered dry spot to sit.

Jennifer followed and took a seat next to him.

Steve handed her a cup, spoon and lobster roll and took his out, sliding the bag and napkins under his thigh so they wouldn’t blow away.

“This is so peaceful.” Jennifer took her first spoonful of soup. “And this is so good.” She looked over at him.

“I told you they had the best seafood.”

“But the place is a dive.”

“No, it’s not. It’s a seafood market. They recently expanded to include a little cooking besides just boiling lobster for their clients.” He smiled and took a bite of the lobster roll.

Jennifer set the soup aside and unwrapped hers. She made a little noise of pleasure as she took her first bite.

Steve finished his in three bites. He cracked open his soup and took a spoonful as they watched the waves crash into the rocks.

When they finished eating, Steve threw the trash away and cuddled next to her, watching the endless ebb of the tide.

“Tell me about the vision,” he said softly in her ear, bringing her back to the reality of what was going on in a little town less than a hundred miles away. She tensed up and he tightened his grip around her, kissing her neck.

“A couple of teenagers. Girl and boy, and they were, um, preoccupied with each other. They never saw it come out of the water. I did.”

“What is it?”

Jennifer shook her head. “Something evil,” she said, “with red eyes that glow brighter than embers of a fire.”

Steve kissed her shoulder and put his forehead against it. “Do you think this thing in your vision is a manifestation of your imagination because you can’t come to terms with a person doing the things you’re seeing?”

The question surprised Jennifer, but because it came from Steve, she gave it the thought and consideration he deserved. Her dreams were one thing, but that thing in her closet was another. She shivered. “No. It isn’t human,” she said with certainty.

“If it isn’t human, how do I stop it?”

“I don’t think anything can stop it.”

“If it can be hurt, it can be killed.”