Hide and Seek

My phony aunt took a long time dying.

We went to the beach almost every day. It was always the same place.

We always stole our lunches. In one way or another, there was always

the nude flirting.

Despite my resolve to be patient, my frustration level ran high. I

began to wonder if Casey wasn't just another cold-assed tease. But

there was something about her that was different from the others I'd

met, a kind of questioning, a searching, a steady appraisal of me that

seemed to carry a more serious intent than anything I was used to.

So I stuck around.

VI

On the way back home one day I took them down the coast road toward

Lubec. You could see the old house way off to the left, slouched

against the cliffs in the dim half-light of dusk. Casey was driving

and Steven sat in the back with me.

"That's the house," I told him. "The one I talked about."

"The Crouch place?"

"Yeah."

He turned around to have a look. By then we'd almost passed it. I was

watching Casey's hair tossing in the wind. There is something about a

handsome woman in a sports car that is, one of the best things summer

has to offer.

He turned back around and saw me watching her. I caught his

expression: a slight frown. He'd been quiet with me lately. I knew

there was jealousy there. But at the same time I felt a kind of

tacit