Chapter 3: The Departure to the Outer Bank
By three o'clock in the afternoon, the beach house was completely silent.
The guests had scattered like gulls before a squall, taking their coolers and luxury convertibles down the highway toward Nags Head. Chloe had left in an Uber, blocking Robert’s phone number before the car reached the main road.
Victoria sat at the cherrywood desk in the second-floor study, reviewing the financial reports of *The Cape Perkins Marine Restoration Guild*—a non-profit trust her late father had established forty years earlier to protect two thousand acres of barrier island maritime forest and oyster reefs.
Robert walked into the study with his head low, wearing a clean t-shirt and jeans. He set a brass key ring onto the edge of the desk.
""I’m sorry, Mom,"" Robert muttered, his voice cracking with humiliation. ""I didn't mean to disrespect you. I just wanted people to think... I wanted to feel like I was somebody.""
Victoria looked up from her documents. She did not yell, nor did she lecture him with bitter spite. Her eyes held the sorrow of a mother who had watched her only child mistake the reflection of wealth for the substance of life.
""You thought being somebody meant spending money you didn't earn to impress people who don't care if you drown, Robert,"" Victoria said softly.
""I’ll go back to Raleigh,"" Robert whispered. ""I’ll find a sublet near campus.""
""You won't go back to Raleigh,"" Victoria replied, closing her laptop. ""Your apartment lease in the city was terminated yesterday. I paid the penalty.""
Robert looked up, panicked. ""What? Where am I supposed to live?""
Victoria stood up, pointing out the panoramic window toward the northern spit of the island, where the dense, wind-swept maritime forest of live oaks and loblolly pines met the churning sound waters.
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""You’re going to the Ocracoke station,"" Victoria said. ""Captain Thorne needs hands to rebuild the oyster breakwaters before hurricane season. You will earn eight dollars an hour, sleep on a bunk in the boat shed, and learn what a man’s hands are actually for.""
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