The Tide Pool Guide – Part 2: Minus Tide

The minus tide came on the first Saturday in June.

Linda was on the beach at four-thirty, in the dark, with a headlamp and a thermos. The sea had retreated farther than she'd ever seen it: a vast wet plain of shimmering rock and sand stretching out toward the horizon. The sky was pale grey, streaked with rose. A cold wind smelled of salt and kelp.

Gordon waited at the edge of the shore, grinning like a child.

"The far rocks," he said. "We can reach them. We'll have an hour."

They walked out together, picking their way across the glistening reef. Pools gleamed everywhere: green, orange, violet. Sea stars clung to the stones in clusters. Anemones opened their soft green petals. A little octopus slid between two rocks and vanished.

"There," whispered Gordon.

At the bottom of a deep pool, among purple coralline, lay a creature like a living flower: a giant green anemone, wide as a dinner plate, its tentacles waving slowly in the clear water.

"Oh," breathed Linda.

"I haven't seen one that size in thirty years."

"It's beautiful."

"It's very old."

They knelt side by side on the wet rock, looking down. The first sun lit the sea behind them. The light fell gold across the pools.

"Can I ask you something?" said Linda.

"Yes."

"May I kiss you, Gordon?"

He turned his head slowly. His eyes were damp, clear, startled. "Yes," he said. "And if you say stop, you must let me correct you for the rest of our lives."

"That isn't a punishment."

"I hoped not."

She kissed him, gently, her hand against his salt-wet beard. He kissed her back, warm and tender, with the shy delight of a man discovering something rare. The tide pool shimmered. The sun climbed. Waves began to creep back in over the sand, far off.

When they parted, both of them were smiling.

"Green?" he asked.

"Green," said Linda. "Very green."

They walked in together as the tide returned, hand in hand, and left the anemone to open its petals in the new light.

More mature romance stories: Autumn in Quebec · The Quilting Circle · The Silver Ballroom