The date had been a dream, a fragile, silver-tipped miracle that felt like the first page of a different life. They walked down the creaking stairs together, her hand steady in his, and stepped out into the salt-damp evening. The air was cool and clean, carrying the low murmur of waves and the faint, metallic tang of low tide. The beach stretched ahead, nearly empty: only a few distant dog-walkers silhouetted against the horizon and the occasional cry of gulls wheeling overhead. The sky had gone bruised lavender, the sea restless under the last of the light.
Kael slipped off his shoes first, toes curling into the cool sand. He knelt in front of Maxine without a word, gentle fingers undoing the straps of her sandals, lifting each foot in turn so she could step free, his touch careful, reve
