his hand into hers as they walked. “I’ll see you tonight. After work.”
“No, you won’t,” Josie said. “You’ll be asleep right after dinner. Ray, this job is too much.”
“I just have to get used to it. It’s a long day out in the heat. Jo, it’s only on the weekends.”
She tugged at his hand, pulling him closer to her. “The weekends are the only time I get to see you. How long are you going to be working this job?”
“School is almost out, Jo. Then I’ll be able to work during the week.”
“I thought we were going to lifeguard together at the community center this summer,” she said. “Like last summer. We’d see each other every day.”
Ray let go of her hand and slung his arm around her shoulders, pulling her tight to his side. Sweat soaked into her linen dress, but she didn’t push him away. “I make more at this job, Jo.”
They came to an intersection, stopping at the Do Not Walk sign. Josie’s gaze dropped to her feet. “Since when do you need to make more than you did last summer? Is something wrong? Is everything okay with your mom?”
“Oh, Jo,” Ray sighed. He pulled her out of the way of other pedestrians as the sign changed to Walk. They stood on the curb together and Ray turned her to face him. “I was going to surprise you, but the real reason I took this job is for you.”
Josie looked into his eyes. “For me? I’d rather see you. Next year we both leave for college. I want to take advantage of the time we have now.”
He pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her, locking hands across her lower back. Now the front of her dress would be soaked, but she didn’t care. “Remember how you said you wanted to go to the beach?”
“Ray! What are you saying?”
“If I work this job for two months, I’ll have enough to take you to the beach for a whole week and enough to put away for college and help my mom with bills. I was going to surprise you with the trip at the end of the summer. I already talked to your grandmother. She’s going to help me plan the vacation.”
Josie couldn’t stop the grin from spreading across her face. She pulled him in closer, her cheek against his damp neck. “Ray!” she squealed. “I can’t believe it! A whole week? Are you sure?”
“Yes. I already worked it out with your Gram, and my mom said it was fine too. It’s going to be so much fun. A little getaway before senior year starts.”
Josie practically skipped through the intersection when the light changed again, the Walk sign blinking on. She held tightly to Ray’s hand, feeling a sense of euphoria she almost never experienced. Up until she turned fourteen and went to live with Lisette, her life had been filled with trauma and abuse. Any vacation was out of the question. She was lucky if she ate on a daily basis. Once her grandmother got custody of her, she’d tried to provide Josie with as many fun adventures as possible. It was Lisette who had first taken Josie on a trip to the beach the summer after her freshman year. Josie had instantly fallen in love with the small seaside town of Ocean City, New Jersey, and the ocean. Lisette had managed to take her back there for a few overnight trips, but she had always wanted to spend a whole week there. Now it was within reach, and she’d be going with Ray. She felt like she was floating.
“This place is good,” Ray said, stopping in front of a glass storefront that said Jessie Mae’s Ice Cream.
He could have suggested ground glass in that moment, and Josie would have agreed. Inside the quaint little shop, the air was frigid. Tiny tables for two lined the walls. A countertop extended almost into the center of the room. On either side of it were glass cases with various flavors of ice cream inside them. They stepped up to where a sign said: Order Here. Josie tore her eyes away from Ray to order and immediately, the rush of happiness she’d felt outside drained from her feet into the tile beneath her.
Beverly scowled at her from behind the cash register. A small hat in the shape of a cherry was pinned to the top of her head. Her luscious brown curls were pulled back into a ponytail. Her