The sun was warm but not oppressive, gulls traced lazy arcs overhead, and the gentle rhythm of the tide began to blur away every stressful conversation of the week. For the first half hour, it was perfect. Then came the scrape of a cooler being dragged across the sand.
Claire looked up to see a woman arriving with a young boy in tow, seven, maybe eight, his bare feet leaving uneven trails as he hopped from one to the other in barely contained excitement. To Claire’s dismay, they stopped only a few feet away, despite the open space all around.