Summer by the Sea (33 page)

Faith decided to follow her mom’s lead and get ready for the day. For all she knew, her mother had planned something fantastic. “Casey, I’ll let you know when the shower’s free,” she said, gathering her cup and spoon and walking over to the sink. Casey, clearly thinking the same thing as Faith, had perked up about as much as she could, nodding, her face set in a hopeful expression. Poor Casey needed something to take her mind off of everything.

Her mom’s expression had changed over the last few hours. She seemed antsy, edgy, like she wanted to go and do something but didn’t at the same time. Faith had suggested the beach, but Mom had claimed she’d already had too much sun, and she wanted to stay in. She’d even whispered that they should all stay in for Nan’s sake. What had started as excitement was turning to anxiety as her mom puttered around, clearly trying to fill the time.

“I told Jake that we’d make him dinner tonight,” she said, smiling for their benefit. “I know you didn’t want to cook for him, but I think he’d like it, and it would give me a chance to cook. I love cooking, you know, and I haven’t really had much of a chance. I’d like to try my hand at some seafood dishes.”

Both Casey and Faith agreed, more so just to keep the conversation going. Faith was worried to see Jake again. She liked him so much, but they just couldn’t make things work between them. Faith was also on the edge of her seat, waiting to find out what their mom had planned. Whatever it was, it seemed pretty important, because she’d never seen her mother look this anxious. She kept looking at the door and checking her phone. Isabella was playing with her dolls in the floor by Nan’s feet.

Then, there was a knock at the door. Faith hadn’t expected a visitor, but she could see her mom’s body slump in relief. What was going on? Her mother got up, opened the door just a crack, and then, with a smile like Faith had never seen before, she swung the door open wide. Casey gasped and Faith’s jaw nearly hit the floor.

“Daddy!” Isabella dropped her toys and went tearing over to Scott, jumping into his arms. The little girl who had missed her daddy so much last night put her head in the bend between his neck and shoulder, her back hiccupping in quiet sobs. So this was her mom’s big secret. It was the very last thing Faith would have ever thought would happen.

“Hey, baby,” he said, dropping his suitcase in the doorway and wrapping his arms around her. He looked over at Casey tentatively, meeting her gaze.

When Faith looked at her sister, Casey’s relief was palpable. Her eyes were glassy with emotion, her smile trembling in uncertainty. This strong, beautiful woman who could command a courtroom was looking at her husband with so much vulnerability on her face that Faith’s conclusion was solidified: Casey was head over heels in love with this man. He could make the most secure, resilient woman she knew become defenseless. Because Casey loved him. Faith hadn’t ever loved him like that because she hadn’t been able to experience having his love in return. Scott was Casey’s whole world, and there were no two people better for each other, and it seemed like things might finally be looking up for them.

“I wanted to respond to your texts and calls,” he said, still holding Isabella. She’d stopped crying and had turned her head, resting it on his shoulder. He was rubbing her back, his eyes on his wife. “So I figured I’d stop by…” He smiled, and Casey stood up.

“And?” Casey stood and walked over to him until she was only inches from him, the space between them full of unsaid words.

“That was all I needed to hear.”

“Really?” she said, relief on her face.

“We have a lot to talk about,” he said. “But if you’ll try, I will too.”

Casey put her hands on his face, leaned over her daughter, and kissed his lips, tears falling down her cheeks.

“You about killed me, taking so long,” her mom said once everyone had settled down, and they all laughed.

“I got stuck in traffic on the way in. Sorry.” He bounced Isabella in his arms. He looked over at Faith. “Hey, Faith,” he said with a big smile.

She smiled back with and gave a little wave. It had been so long.

“It’s good to see you,” he said.

“You too.” And it was good. It was
so
good to see him again.

As Faith looked at Scott, she was taken with how much more mature he looked, how different. It had certainly been a while. His eyes were the same, and his smile, but his face had aged, his haircut a little shorter. What made her the happiest was the fact that she was able to enjoy him and to enjoy his family.
Her
family. Having him there with them was like finding that missing puzzle piece.

They’d all spent the day together, Scott had explained that the minute he’d gotten Casey’s text, he’d changed his plans, texted their mother from the airport, and headed straight there. He was going to spend the next week with them, and Faith couldn’t be happier for her sister. Isabella barely got a breath between the stories she was telling her daddy. She told him about the shells she’d found, about making sandcastles, about Jake’s party and her necklace. Faith was full of joy, hearing it all because she knew that Isabella was making memories just like she had as a girl. And now she got to make new memories with her dad.

Faith stood alone out on the porch, taking in the view. This beach had felt the patter of her little feet as she ran across the hot sand as a baby, it had cradled her when she’d fallen, the ocean knocking her wildly as a girl, and it had seen her grow into a young woman. Now, she looked out at it, feeling sad. In only a week, they’d pack up, leave this place, and someone new would find her beach. Maybe, if they were lucky, they’d get a chance to rent the cottage occasionally, although the cottages booked up so quickly, it would be tricky to get this very one. And, if Jake had his way, the villages would look nothing like her memories when she returned. As she looked at the beach—
her
beach—she wanted to stay there forever. She wanted Isabella to know it like she had. No wonder Nan had dragged them all here. It took seeing it as an adult to really understand the importance of it. Faith hadn’t realized as a kid how lucky she’d been to have that beach house, nor could she have imagined how many memories were lying out there in that sand.

She leaned over the railing to see if Scott had gotten the grill set up. He’d brought it in the back of his SUV—it was only a small grill, but the smell of the burning charcoal wafted up toward her, reminding her of all those barefoot days when they’d cooked seafood at the old cottage. Her mom would set the picnic table up for dinners, the paper plates and napkins having to be weighted down with rocks to keep them from blowing away. She and Casey had cleaned and painted about fifteen rocks, and their mom would always pack them. She wondered what had happened to them. Where had they gone? Now, with no picnic table at the new cottage, they’d planned to eat inside, but Faith had stayed on the porch. She wanted to have every minute she could with her view of the beach, and she didn’t want to miss a single one by sitting inside. She watched the sky turn from orange to pink, the sun casting long shadows on the sand. It was a perfect night. Jake was due to arrive any minute, however. How would he fit in? Would things be perfect between the two of them tonight too, or would their differences get in the way again? She worried as she waited for him to arrive.

“Hey there,” she heard his familiar voice and turned around. Jake was heading up the steps. He walked up beside her and looked out at the ocean. “It’s nice tonight.”

Faith tried to keep her emotions in check, but now when she was with him, even a comment like that made her want to grab him by the shoulders and ask why they couldn’t see eye to eye. It would make things so much easier. She wanted to understand him.

“Do you really think it’s nice tonight?” Did he really think it was nice to be with her or just nice outside?

“Yes,” he said, that tiny wrinkle forming between his eyes.

“Don’t you want to have more nights like this?” Being around Jake still made her pulse speed up, her hands becoming jittery. She’d learned a lot about herself this week. She’d learned that it was easy for her to fall for someone, but that she had to step back and look at the situation carefully before acting.

“Of course.”

“How can you when you’re sandwiched in a row of high-rises?”

She watched him closing up right before her eyes, and she exhaled in surrender. She hadn’t meant it to come out like that. She didn’t want to argue with him or debate his work decisions. She didn’t want tonight to be ruined by their differing views. She’d taken a risk with Jake by being vocal about her opinions, and he’d made his wishes clear.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t want to spend tonight trying to change your mind. I’ll let it go for tonight. I promise.”

Surprisingly, he looked at her with fondness in his eyes. He didn’t look at anyone else that way. She wanted to cut to the chase, to just ask him outright what he thought about her.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.

“No reason.” His expression was serious but the affection was still in his eyes.

“Well, I like it when you look at me like that.”

He smiled but didn’t offer any response. She wondered what he thought about her admission.

“So Casey’s husband is here?” he asked, his eyebrows going up in curiosity. “That’s a surprise.”

“Yeah,” she said. “It’s a good thing.”

“I know. Given what she told me when we were out, she misses him.”

“She told you that?”

“Yep. She misses him a lot. I should go down and help Scott,” he said, looking down at Scott grilling below. Her mother had prepared a feast for him to grill.

“Why are you so relaxed around strangers?” she asked with a grin. He’d never even met Scott, yet he was going to go down and help him cook.

He smiled at her, and she felt her limbs go weak. “Strangers are just people. We’re all similar in many ways. I enjoy finding those similarities.”

“It seems so easy for you.”

“It’s like chipping away old paint. Sometimes, you find a color you never knew was there. People put up what they want others to see, but if you strip away that façade, you find unexpected pieces of their personalities sometimes.”

“I’d never thought of it that way.”

He smiled again, that almost doting look showing in his eyes. “See? You just chipped away my paint. You found out why I like to meet new people.”

She wished she’d have had a chance to see how many more pieces of paint she’d have been able to chip away, had things gone differently between them.

“Do y’all mind helping me set the table?” her mom called from inside.

“I’d be happy to,” Jake said, opening the door wider so that Faith could enter first. She walked under his arm and went inside.

At moments like this Jake was so personable and modest that she forgot all about the lifestyle he had. She could only imagine what he’d paid for the dishes she’d eaten off of at his house, yet here he was, setting the table with paper plates and napkins, not a care in the world. She loved that about him. But it wasn’t enough.

After helping her mom, Jake excused himself to go downstairs and cook with Scott. When Faith went back out to the porch to sit with Nan, she could hear them making small talk down below. Jake laughed at something Scott said, and it sent a plume of happiness through her.

Nan looked out toward the ocean. “I couldn’t have asked for a more lovely evening.”

“The weather is nice,” Faith agreed.

“Mmm. I’m not talking entirely about the weather. It’s fantastic to have everyone here. I’m so glad you girls are together again.”

“Thanks to you,” Faith said with a smile.

“It’s hard work keeping this family together. “

Nan could always keep everyone together. What was her secret?

“When did you know that my grandfather was The One?” Faith asked her.

“Where’s this coming from?” she said, her words coming out in an affectionate laugh.

“You seem to know just how to keep us all together, and I just wondered how you made it work so well.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I suppose that it was the understanding that it won’t all be perfect. So the imperfections were what made it great.” She turned her rocker to face Faith. “He burned toast,” she said. “I don’t know how he did it, but he did. It made the whole house smell. I can still remember the swirling smoke floating up around the lamps. It was awful. All he’d had to do was ask, and I’d have made it for him. Instead, John insisted on putting bread in the pan and then busying himself with something. I tried to tell him to stand there with it, but he never did. And then, he’d leave for work and I’d have to smell that smoke all day.” She laughed and then became serious. “I’d give anything to smell his burned toast.”