beach about an hour when Paul showed up carrying a big bag.
“What are you up to?” she asked. “I didn’t know you were going to be around today.”
“I hope that’s okay. How are you?” His smile reminded her of better days.
She raised her hand over her eyes, straining against the sun. “We’re good.”
“Mister Paul!”
Hailey and Jesse danced around him. “What do you have?” Jesse tugged on his hand. “Is it for me?”
“Jesse! Manners, please.” She gave him her serious look.
“Please?” Jesse uttered.
“Still not buying it, but I’m working on it,” she said to Paul.
“I should’ve called first, but this was kind of a last-minute idea. I was in Kitty Hawk for something yesterday and found this kite. It made me think of Hailey and Jesse.”
“Us?” Hailey pressed her hands together and her face brightened.
“I knew it!” Jesse smacked Paul’s hand in a very low high five.
“It’s a surprise for both of you.” He dropped to his knees. “Want to know why?”
“Yes.”
“Because there are two monkeys on it. Like you two.”
“We’re not monkeys.” Jesse pursed his lips. “Nope.”
“You seem like silly monkeys to me.”
“No, I’m a boy.” Jesse cocked his hip out, propping his hand on it. “And she’s a sister.”
“Hmm. Do you like to climb?” Paul began the inquisition.
“Yep.”
“And laugh?”
“Uh-huh.”
“And most importantly, do you like bananas?”
“Mmm.” They both licked their lips. “We love bananas.”
“Well, there you go. And lucky, too, because I brought you frozen bananas for a snack, along with this super-special acrobatic surprise.”
“Frozen?”
“They are so yummy!” Paul doled out the frozen bananas. “First, one for Mommy. Then Hailey, because ladies first.”
“And Jesse!”
“And Jesse. There you go.” Paul crumpled the bag and tossed it into the bigger bag, then pulled out a long something or other.
“What on earth is that?” Amanda asked.
“This bright-green—”
“Green’s my favorite color!” Hailey screamed. “If it’s not pink.”
“…kite has two monkeys eating bananas on it, and look, their tails hang super long from each side of it. We are going to fly this in the air.”
The kids’ eyes widened, but they looked to Amanda for confirmation.
“When your dad and I were young, we used to fly kites on the beach.”
“How do you make a kite fly?” Hailey asked.
“I’ll show you.”
They gnawed on the frozen bananas while Paul wound up the kite string. He had a fancy plastic contraption way nicer than the stick Amanda had used when she was a kid in the neighborhood park trying to fly a diamond-shaped paper kite.
By the time Paul had rigged up the huge kite, the kids had devoured the bananas and run down to the water to rinse away the stickiness. This wasn’t your average dollar-store kite. It was as wide as Amanda was long.
As Hailey and Jesse ran up, Paul turned to her. “I hope you’re ready to be impressed.”
She rolled her eyes. He and Jack had always been in a race to one-up each other, only now Paul seemed to be mastering it alone. He took off his shirt and dropped it to the sheet, then lifted the kite into the air and started running. “Come on, kids. You have to run with me or it won’t take off!”
The very air around him seemed electrified. She found herself fixated on his bare chest. The enthusiasm with which he lived pulled at her senses. Would she ever feel that way again?
The kids ran at breakneck speed to catch up with him, although he was just taking long, languid strides. It took him no time to get the kite in the air, and as it lifted higher and higher, the squeals coming from Hailey and Jesse did too.
She jumped to her feet, clapping. The kite with the playful monkeys soared above them.
“I’m impressed!” Amanda shouted.
Paul and the kids made their way back and forth along their little stretch of beach. Occasionally, he’d tug on the strings and make the kite swing through the air, even accomplishing a pretty artful loop the loop at one point, which she had a feeling was complete and utter luck. Not that he’d admit it.
“You must have been pretty sure you’d get that kite up in the air to bring along that much string.”
“I did spring for the premier line reel. Go big or go home.”
No surprise there. “Once a Marine, always a Marine,” Amanda said, but there were the intangible things about a Marine that had always impressed her the most: their uprightness of character and sound moral compass.
“Yeah, worse things to be.” He winked and handed the kite