...

We fell into a predictable arrangement once we arrived in Galveston. Girls on beach chairs, lathered up with sunscreen and trying to prematurely age our skin in the name of beauty; guys down by the water, inventing new ways of playing Frisbee. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath; I love the smell of salt water, and today that earthy aroma was joined by the smell of charcoal, burgers, and that unmistakeably summery and cocunuty scent of sunscreen. Laughter drifted across the wet, salty breeze, and the sound of the surf began to lull me into a stupor.

Eventually, my rumbling stomach responded loudly to the burgers on the grill, causing me to finally open my eyes and check on their progress. As I stood up and stretched, I took in the picture: Tod manning the grill; Kathleen arguing with him about a movie they’d seen last week; Grant and Maria listening with their arms wrapped around each other, despite of the heat; Peter and Phil standing close by, listening to a story told animatedly by a tall blonde guy

Wait a second.

I walked over to the group.

“You’re new,” I said with a smile. “I’m Gia.”

“Grace of God.”

“Excuse me?!” his comment startled me, but he just laughed, deep grooves appearing around his green eyes.

“It’s what your name means,” he explained. “Grace of God. It was my grandmother’s name.”

“Oh,” I said, trying to look like I wasn't thinking 'weird' -- which I was. “But you don’t look Italian.”

“My grandfather was German. "

Phil finally stepped into what was turning into a very odd first conversation. “This is John,” he said. “We met him down by the water; he’s been camping out for a few days.”

“Cool,” I said. “Where are you from?”

It wasn’t a hard question, I thought, but he took his time answering.

“Nowhere really. I grew up in New York state. But now, I’m not really from anywhere.”

“So what do you do?”

“Little bit of a lot of things. I’ve built houses, painted houses, cleaned boats, mowed lawns, waited tables, loaded moving trucks, demolished buildings. I was just telling these guys about the time I house sat for three months Alaska.”

“What?!”

He laughed again. It was a nice laugh. Made you want to laugh along. “This couple was getting ready to go visit family in the lower 48 and were going to be gone for three months. I was eating breakfast a diner and heard them talking about it to the cook. They said they hadn’t been able to find anyone to watch their house, and were worried about wild animals or squatters if the place appeared too abandoned. I offered to live there while they were gone.”
“And you didn’t know them,” I said in disbelief.

“I guess I have a trusting face,” he replied. “Plus, they figured I couldn’t do anything worse than the wild animals or squatters. This way, if it worked out they came out ahead, if it didn’t they weren’t any worse off.”

I shook my head. “Unbelievable.”

“It really was.” Yeah. That wasn’t what I’d meant.

“Burgers are ready,” Tod called, holding up a full plate. I took the opportunity of activity to study John a bit more. His hair was long and bleached, pulled back into a ponytail; his skin was bronzed and weathered, and his body had that lean but strong look -- like a long-distance runner, or this cross-country skier I dated once. I watched him laughing and joking with Maria and Grant as they loaded their buns, and marveled at how at ease he seemed with a group of total strangers.