Don’t!” He raised his chin in her direction. “I can’t imagine life without you!” He was fifteen. All bluster and bravado. Lucia hoped he was making this up. Gravel slid beneath his shoes, sending pebbles flying onto the craggy boulders below. Waves crashed and splintered around them, kicking up a fine spray. She raced toward him, then stopped as he brought his hands to his chest. “I’d rather die a thousand deaths!” he bellowed. “Than have you leave me behind!” Gusts raked her hair, fanning it around her face, as her skirt flounced in the breeze. “I don’t want to leave!” she cried, her voice cracking. Sea birds called and summer winds swirled around her. “Can’t you see?” He stepped back from the ledge and turned toward her. His face fell as tears streamed from her eyes. “Lucia…” “That would be two deaths for me! Two!” she quaked, her chin trembling. “To lose my home—and you—forever.” He hung his head and kicked some stones. They skittered along the edge of the precipice, some of them tumbling over.
