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Before that he was doing his paramedic thing someplace called Ex . . . Exeter, I think?”
    “So you’re just visiting?”
    “Yeah. Pa’s about to turn fifty and is having a huge party. Plus Nanna—Pa’s mom—is pretty sick with her heart, so I wanna stick around as long as I can.”
    “Oh, I’m sorry. That must be really rough for your dad.”
    “It is. I say ‘Pa,’ but he’s actually my stepfather. My biological father is some Danish guy, but, after having three sons with my mom, he figured family life wasn’t for him. He bailed when I was five months old. Haven’t seen the loser since.”
    “It’s OK, you don’t have to tell me about it, if you’d rather not.”
    “Nah, it’s no secret. Pa adopted me and my brothers, and we had this amazing childhood. But he and Mom split up, what, three years ago, when I was, like, fifteen. It’s all good though. They’re still friends.”
    So Zeke was eighteen.
    “Sucks when that happens,” I said, thinking of my own parents.
    “Pa wanted to move back to England permanently. Mom didn’t. She’s in love with Hawaii. She got a boyfriend pretty soon after my pa left. She’s a big personality, you know?”
    I nodded, although clearly I didn’t know.
    “So what do you think of Fistral?” Safest to change the subject.
    “What’s not to like? The surf’s clean, so is the beach. I’ve never actually been here before, as Nanna only recently switched nursing homes. Before that she was in, um, Exeter, but she wanted to come back here, as it’s where she lived when she was young, so Pa changed his job to be with her. Had a short gap in my planner, so I thought I’d stick around for my family. Stoked I did.”
    He gave me this really pointed look. Did he mean he was happy because of me? Nah, that was ridiculous. We’d only just met.
    “It’s looked pretty solid for the last week,” I said.
    “Yeah, it’s been great out there. Just the best fun, and I’ve scored plenty.”
    “Yeah?” I said, my heart freezing.
    “Of waves, I mean.”
    I was glad he cleared that up. He was right about the surf. We both turned to look at the beach. The waves were totally clean with no wind chop, and I was actually starting to look forward to an evening surf session. I hadn’t been out for ages. I hadn’twanted to do anything except watch crummy TV, eat Cheerios straight from the box and obsessively listen to the song “Daniel” by Dia Frampton on my iPod.
    Once upon a time nothing had made me happier than surfing. How could I have given up something I loved so much? Just because I was worried about bumping into a stupid boy?
    “Wow, the sky is pretty here,” Zeke said. “One of the great things about living near the sea is that you can really relax your eyes. In the city, your eyes never really look into the distance. They’re always being caught by something in the foreground. But if you come out here at dusk or dawn, you can stand on the cliff and look out and the light is soft enough for you to not get dazzled and you can really look into the distance. Your eyes can just let go and soar.”
    Looking out over the ocean then, with Zeke next to me, felt a lot like soaring.
    “My wetsuits are gonna be way too big for you,” he said, breaking the silence. He was a lot taller than me, and though he had that surfer narrowness around the waist, he also had the typical surfer barrel chest.
    I couldn’t go home to get my own, because as soon as I was through my front door, I’d lose my nerve and not come back.
    “It’s all right,” I said.
    The board-rental shack was about to close, but I ran up to a dreadlocked guy who was hosing down the wetsuits.
    “Hey, Denny, any chance I could grab a suit?”
    “No worries, Iris. Take whatever you want. Just chuck it in the big yellow bucket around the back when you’re finished. Promise you won’t pee in it, huh? No wettie warmers.”
    I laughed. What happened in the ocean stayed in the ocean. Except in the case of