These were only two of several commonly used to taunt him. He was an easy target because he chose to ignore the mocking and didn’t respond. The names had never really bothered him.
With his heart pounding like a thunderbolt inside his massive chest, Keaton slowly approached the girl.
“Hey, look, it’s the Jolly Green Giant,” one of the teenagers observed.
Keaton ignored him, and smiled. “Hi,” he muttered, staring intently at her. Up close, she was even prettier than she was at a distance. Her eyes were a hazel/green and her thick braid lay across her bare shoulder. She wore a sundress with a pattern of red poppies and her swimsuit underneath it. He wanted in the worst way to reach out and touch her cheek, to make certain she wasn’t a figment of his imagination.
“It’s the Abominable Snowman,” cried another teenage boy in mock horror.
Keaton didn’t recognize him, and assumed he was a tourist.
“No, it’s Sasquatch.”
“It does have big feet.”
“Yeah. He’s Big Foot.”
“Stop it,” the girl said, whirling around and confronting the group of teens with her. She turned to Keaton, smiling back. “Hi,” she returned.
“Come on, Annie,” her brother urged, grabbing her hand. “We need to get back.”
Annie. Her name was Annie. Keaton ran it through his mind, liking the way it echoed there.
She continued to focus on him, her eyes inquisitive, wide, and warm.
“King Kong, you got something to say?” Devon Anderson taunted.
Keaton knew Devon from high school. He was a jerk. It didn’t surprise him that Devon had noticed Annie and tried to get her attention.
“Don’t call him that,” Annie charged angrily, confronting Devon.
“He doesn’t talk.”
“Well, he just did,” she countered, annoyed with Devon and not bothering to hide it. “He said ‘hi,’ in case you didn’t hear.”
“Bet he won’t say anything else,” Devon challenged, glaring at Keaton with a know-it-all look.
Annie waited expectantly, but for the life of him, Keaton couldn’t manage to get out a single word. He wanted to tell her she was pretty and that he’d noticed her running along the beach. It was on the tip of his tongue to mention how much he liked her braid and the color of her hair, but he couldn’t get that out, either.
“See what I mean?” Devon taunted.
“Don’t do that,” she snapped. “That’s mean.”
Her brother jerked at her hand. “Come on, Annie, Mom and Dad are waiting.”
“Sorry,” she told Keaton, her eyes becoming gentle as she spoke. “We have to go. It was nice meeting you.”
Keaton nodded and attempted a smile, wanting to let her know he felt the same.
“We’ll be back next summer,” she said, walking backward, with her brother pulling her along.
A year. He could wait that long. By then, Keaton hoped, he’d find the words to tell her all the things he’d stored up in his head.
Annie, though, never returned.
Keaton waited, year after year, and never forgot the beautiful auburn-haired girl he’d seen on the beach that summer. The picture of Annie running along the sand stayed with him. Countless times he sketched scenes of the beach with her in them, using pencil and charcoal. Pictures no one saw. He carried on lengthy conversations with her in his head—just the thought of her brought him a rare taste of happiness.
Maybe one day, he thought, looking over the ocean as the waves crashed against the shore.
Maybe one day…
CHAPTER 1
Annie Marlow hated to disappoint her parents, but she simply wasn’t going to fly home to Seattle for Thanksgiving. She’d already made the arrangements for Christmas and it was too late to change everything now. She had plans.
Working as a physician assistant, Annie didn’t get many four-day weekends, and Trevor was cooking a turkey and had invited her over for the day. Steph would be there, too, and they were both anxious to meet a cute young doctor who had recently joined the clinic at another site.
What her mother really wanted, Annie realized, was a family photo for the Christmas card her parents routinely sent out each year. For all she cared, they could photoshop her in. There wasn’t any need for her to change her plans, especially now, less than a week before Thanksgiving.
Gabby, her cousin, was flying to Los Angeles to join them. Giving up time with Gabby for a Christmas-card photo? Not happening. Besides, Annie had a new pair of four-inch designer heels and a dress she intended to use for a girls’ night out on the town.