herself: a young woman in the rain, holding a secret under her ribs, believing the night had taken everything from her.
But the tide had not taken everything.
It had cleared the ground.
Noah gave up on the wall and laughed when a wave swallowed one tower. Ivy laughed too, then grabbed Mara’s hand and pulled her into the foam.
“Help us build another one,” she said.
Mara looked down at her daughter, then at her son, then at the horizon burning gold beyond them.
“All right,” she said.
Together, they knelt in the wet sand and began again.
