Between the Land and the Sea - By Derrolyn Anderson Page 0,56

rushing past their questioning eyes to my room. I grabbed my purse and keys and ran a brush through my hair. I hurried back past them towards the door.

“Ethan and I are going for a driving lesson,” I tossed out casually. Megan and Cruz exchanged smirks.

Abby came in from the kitchen, drying her hands on a dishtowel, “Dinner’s almost ready...

do you want to invite Ethan?” she asked, looking out the window at his truck parked out front.

“They’re going driving,” Cruz said teasingly. I blushed, and flashed him a mock dirty look.

“Don’t wait for me, I can grab something later.” I made my escape, handing Ethan the keys as we climbed in.

“Where to?” he asked.

I looked up at Megan and Cruz in the window and said, “Let’s just get out of here.” He saw them and smiled.

“They’ve been worried about you all week too.”

He took the Porsche out on the freeway and headed down the coast. He gunned the engine, pressing me back into the seat.

“How come your old auntie has a sweet ride like this?” he asked.

I laughed at his characterization of Evie. He had no idea. “Her late husband collected cars.

This is just the tip of the iceberg,” I said, telling him about the underground garage full of cars. I described some of her Rolls Royces, Ferraris, and other cars I couldn’t name. He let out a low whistle.

“Tell her the old man had great taste. This thing’s in excellent shape.” We continued our drive along the coast, and he seemed to be enjoying the ride. We sped past rich farmland with artichokes and strawberry fields until he took an an exit and turned onto a country lane.

“Where are we?” I asked, as we wound down the remote road and parked.

“C’mon, I’ll show you.” He led me out to a large field, part of it planted with lettuce. It was windswept, with a few gnarled Cypress trees clinging to the edge of a bluff. The view of the coast was magnificent.

“This land is all part of the Khang family farm.” He said, gesturing from the bluff to the hills. “Lue’s selling me the five acres right here between the freeway and the ocean.”

“Wow!” I said, “It’s beautiful out here. What are you going to do with it?” As we walked along the field he told me how he wanted to start a nursery growing native and drought resistant plants. He told me what a good spot this was for growing, and how he was working for Lue to pay for the plot. He was planning to study landscaping design, horticulture and business at the local university.

As he spoke, his eyes lit up. He reminded me of my father when he was onto a particularly interesting line of research. I thought about what Lue Khang had said about Ethan’s “earth spirits” and I couldn’t help smiling.

“What?” he asked, suddenly self-conscious.

“Nothing,” I shook my head, “You just remind me of someone. Now I see what you’re working so hard for.”

We continued our stroll until we arrived at a spot with a perfect view of the sun setting over the sea.

“I’d like to build a house right here someday,” he said, and I could suddenly see it in my mind as if it already stood right before us.

“It’s going to be beautiful,” I said, with an intense spasm of pain right behind my eyes. I pressed my palm to my temple and staggered back a step. Not again… not now.

Ethan turned to me, puzzled. “What did you just say?” he asked. He was looking at me the same way that Cruz and Megan had...

“Nothing,” I said, feeling the blood draining from my face, “I’m just a little dizzy.”

“We haven’t eaten all day,” said Ethan, “Do you want to go get some pizza or something?” I blinked, and forced a shaky smile, “OK, that sounds good.” He took me by the arm to steady me as we walked back to the car. As we drove back up the coast my head was reeling with the knowledge of what I’d done. I had just blurted something out in garbled mermaid language right in front of Ethan. I felt like I was losing control of myself and it scared me. I imagined talking to Lorelei on my surfboard and began to feel a little better.

I could see Ethan’s worried glances over at me in my peripheral vision. I tried to act normally, to beat back the panic and steady my breathing. We drove to a