Charlotte waded into the surf, splashing Les. Tumbler and Emma splashed each other a few feet away.

"Hey!" Les laughed, splashing her back.

Charlotte laughed, trying to shield her face and splash him more.

"Let me show you how it's done, Les," Spot chuckled. He waded over to Charlotte and picked her up over his shoulder.

Charlotte squealed and pounded her fists on his back. "Put me down!" she laughed.

"What?" said Spot.

"Put me down!"

"I can't hear you!"

Charlotte cried out in laughing frustration and lightly pounded his back again.

David sighed from his spot on the beach, watching the scene unfold. He hated the beach. He hated the sand, the crabs, the saltwater when it got in your mouth; but most of all, he hated seeing Charlotte so happy with Spot.

"You okay, David?" Adelaide asked, nudging him. "You look a little blue."

"Nothing," said David, looking down at the sand.

Adelaide glanced out to where Charlotte and Spot were splashing each other. "You mean a lot to her, you know," said Adelaide.

"Yeah?" David abstractedly drew circles in the sand.

Adelaide nodded. "You're her best friend," she said. "She knows things have changed between you two and she knows it's her fault. It hurts her too. But she loves Spot. They go way back. She doesn't know how to reconcile the two."

"She could stop being with the guy who's going to break her heart, that would help," said David.

"You don't know that."

"He did it once to her. What's to say he won't do it again?"

Adelaide was silent as she watched Charlotte, Spot, and Les play in the water. She would be the first to admit that Spot had his faults - his many, many faults - but deep down she believed he wanted to do the right thing. He just did it out of order.

"What if it does?" Adelaide asked.

David looked at her for a beat and then out toward Charlotte.

"If he breaks her heart again, are you going to tell her it's her own fault, you told her so, and leave her be in her misery?"

David slowly shook his head.

"And what if they end up getting married?"

David took a deep breath, not wanting to think of the possibility. "Well, as long as he's faithful...and she's happy…" he shrugged.

Adelaide smiled softly and patted his arm. "She's lucky to have you as a friend," she said.

David gave a small smile before he furrowed his brow. "Wait, how do you know all that?"

"All what?"

"You know, about how Charlotte feels and all that."

Adelaide rolled her eyes. "Girls talk. She lives three blocks from my lodging house."

"Really?" asked David.

Adelaide nodded. "Emma and I have been over to dinner at her house a few times."

"Huh…really?"

Adelaide just laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Jeez, you'd think ice cream was goin' out of style," said Skittery as he walked up behind them, sitting down next to Adelaide. He handed her a small cup with a scoop and had onto one.

"In a couple weeks it will," Adelaide chuckled. "I doubt ice cream moves very well in the fall."

"You sure you don't want any, David?" Skittery asked, holding a third cup up.

"I'm fine." David continued his circles in the sand.

Skittery looked at Adelaide, nudged her, and jutted his chin toward David. Adelaide just gave him an I'll-tell-you-later head shake.

Tumbler and Emma came racing toward them, sand flying around his feet.

"Whoa, easy there," said Skittery. "Or your ice cream will become sand cream."

"Aw, thanks, Skitts!" Tumbler grinned, taking the cup from Skittery.

"Thank you, Skittery," Emma grinned.

The two of them sat together and shared the ice cream.

Skittery sat behind Adelaide. Adelaide scooted back so she could lean back against Skittery. They passed the ice cream cup back and forth, each taking a bite. Adelaide could relate to both David and Charlotte. She knew how Spot could worm is way into other people's relationships, just by being him. She was grateful she and Skittery had managed to fall back into their old, easy relationship.

Adelaide watched Charlotte wring out her hair and walk towards them. She plopped herself down next to David, catching her breath.

"You seem like you're having fun," said David.

"I am," she grinned, wringing out her hair. "You should come join us."

"I'm not one for water."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "There's no sharks, if that's what you're worried about. There's no riptide." David just shrugged.

Charlotte watched him for a few moments. She hated seeing him like that. She knew he was like that because Spot was around. All she wanted was to be happy with her best friend and her boyfriend. That was never going to happen.

"So what did your aunt and uncle have to say?" David asked, looking over at her.

Charlotte shrugged. "Not much. They're on your side, though. They're not thrilled that I'm with Spot, but they're going to let me make my own mistakes."

"Did they say that?"

"No."

"Then what makes you call this a mistake?"

"Everyone's thinking it."

"Do you think it's a mistake?"

Charlotte looked at him. "If I thought it was a mistake, would I be doing it?" she raised her voice, causing the others to look in their direction.

David was taken aback.

"Charlotte, I didn't mean…"

"Is this how it's going to be all the time now? Every time I see you, you're going to question my choices? Because if that's the case, then we don't have to see each other."

"Charlotte..."

Charlotte just shook her head and walked away. David sighed and bowed his head.

When he looked up, he saw Spot walking toward Charlotte, but she brushed him off and walked past him. Spot watched her walk away before walking toward David.

"That's my cue," Adelaide sighed, standing up. She handed her ice cream cup to Skittery and walked toward Charlotte, brushing the sand off her skirt.

She passed Spot as he headed toward David.

"What's going on?" Spot asked. David detected the protective tone in his voice.

"It's nothing," said David.

"That," Spot pointed toward Charlotte venting to Adelaide, "is not nothing. Every time she sees you now, she leaves upset."

Then it happened. It had only happened once before, during the strike, when he'd been forced to find his courage and lead the strike when Jack left. He got his burst of confidence and turned to Spot.

"I hate that she went back to you!" Spot blinked at David. "That girl has been my friend for three years, and I hate that right when I get the courage to start courting her, she starts running around with you. I hate being the jilted one, yet still having to be around you two. I hate sitting around watching her fall for you and waiting for you to hurt her again. If you could see how hurt she was when she found out about your other girl…" David shook his head and sighed. "But for some reason she is head over heels for you…"

"Look, I know you don't like me," said Spot. "But Charlotte does. And if you care about her as much as you say you do, you'll let her be happy with me."

David was taken aback at Spot's sudden sharp tone. "I worry about her," said David.

Spot sighed. "I know it may be hard for you to believe, but I do care about her."


"Can you believe the nerve of him?" Charlotte paced under the dock as Adelaide listened. "I don't understand why everyone is so against me being with Spot!"

"I don't think they're against it so much as maybe they're...concerned," said Adelaide.

"Well, he expresses his 'concern' every time he sees me and it's getting old. Look, if I'm making a mistake, then I'm making a mistake. That's nobody else's business."

Adelaide sighed softly. "Charlotte, no one ever suggested you're making a mistake." Charlotte stopped pacing and looked at her. "Do you think maybe you're lashing out at him because you think you're making a mistake?"

Charlotte let her eyes wander over the beach until they landed on Spot talking to David. She swallowed. The thought had crossed her mind. The thought crossed her mind every time she was with Spot. She loved being with him and she loved the way he made her feel - but every time, the first hurt flashed through her mind. The guilt of what she did to David came back.

Charlotte swallowed the lump in her throat. "Sometimes I'm scared that I am," she said quietly.

Adelaide put her arm around Charlotte.

"I really care about him," she said. "And I know he cares about me. I know it. But there's always that nagging thought...what if there's someone else? On the days he doesn't come over to walk me home from school, I find myself thinking, 'is he with another girl?' or 'did someone else catch his eye?'" She turned towards Adelaide. "You know him best—"

"I don't know about that…"

"Is he seeing someone else?"

"Charlotte, I hardly see him anymore. If he's not with you, then he's in Brooklyn, and I'm with Skittery and Tumbler and Emma. I wouldn't know." Charlotte groaned and put her head in her hands. "But," Adelaide added quickly, "I do know that he has never acted this way towards a girl…at least as long as I've known him…which really isn't that long."

"Really?" Charlotte looked at Adelaide.

Adelaide nodded as Spot walked over to them.

"You okay?" he asked Charlotte.

She nodded as Adelaide quietly excused herself. Spot pulled Charlotte into his arms and she rested her cheek against his shoulder. Spot glanced up to make sure they were out of earshot of everyone.

"You know you're my one and only, right?" he whispered into her ear. Charlotte nodded. "And I don't have to come around so much if it's gonna cause problems…"

Charlotte shook her head and looked up at him. "No. I like having you around."

Spot smirked. "I like bein' around."