Content area
Full text
It was the first Friday in May and in Oceanside, Virginia, since the early 1970s, that had been "May Day." While May Day was celebrated in many other cultures, especially in Europe, as the beginning of spring, Oceanside's Director of Tourism had come up with celebrating it in the city to kick off the summer tourist season a few weeks earlier than the other seaside cities; Oceanside's competition. So, on the first Friday of each May, all city offices were closed, the beaches were officially open and a grand parade was held down Coastal Highway ending in the huge carnival-like celebration in the city's inlet parking area. All of the seasonal shops along the boardwalk opened and the city came alive for another summer season.
The police and fire departments had lots of extra manpower on duty and the beaches were staffed to maximum capacity. There were lifeguards and police officers galore out patrolling the sand and making sure those in the water stayed safe. ATVs were commonly seen during the off-season, but not as many of them drove the sand during the summer season. The liability-conscious lawyers advised against having too many out. On May Day, though, every ATV in the city's fleet was out and about, either with a lifeguard team on it or with a police beach patrol officer on it. JP was on one such ATV wearing her comfortable beach patrol uniform (shorts and polo shirts), her body armor making her sweat and her ball cap keeping the sun out of her eyes. On the boardwalk there were officers patrolling in teams on foot and bicycle. On the streets there were officer teams in patrol cars and, just in case, the city's SWAT team was on stand-by in the gymnasium of Southern High School.
JP tried to keep her mind focused as she patrolled - and she surely had to focus so that she didn't run over any of the tourists who seemed to have simply oozed up out of the sand - but she kept thinking about Max and wasn't bothered by it a bit. She was still confused about her fear and hesitation as far as being involved with a police officer, but she didn't doubt her love...