Page 61 of Do It With Me

She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. Bree and the doctor slid in behind us, and Sara took the window seat, her face pressed to the glass like she was an excited kid on a field trip. “Are we almost there? I think I can smell the ocean.”

“You and me both,” I said, and it was true. Salt and sunshine had been thick in the air as soon as the airplane doors had opened.

Sara grinned at me like she and I shared a secret because we’d both caught the scent. I settled in and grinned back at her, grateful for the opportunity to get to know her even a little bit.

The drive was only about half an hour and Ellora’s hand brushed mine on the seat between us for the entire trip, neither of us ever moving away. When we pulled up to the stretch of private beach I’d arranged, she blinked hard, like she couldn’t quite believe it.

“Holden…” she trailed off, awed and disbelieving as she looked out at the tent that had been set up for us.

A soft white canopy with gauzy sides drifting in the breeze, a few big cushioned sofas and lounge chairs beneath it. Tables held pitchers of iced drinks, fresh fruit, and every beach snack imaginable. Servers stood by, ready to bring whatever we wanted.

“This is incredible,” she finally managed, her head shaking before she swallowed hard and brought tear-filled eyes up to mine. “You didn’t have to go this far.”

“I know,” I said again, stepping out of the car and offering her my hand. “I wanted to. We came all the way here. I figured we might as well make it worth the trip.”

Sara took my hand when I offered it to her after I’d helped Ellora out, and once she was standing on the curb, she just stopped. For a second, I thought maybe it was all too much, but then she lifted her hands to her mouth, her eyes wide and wet.

“Oh, Ella,” she whispered, reaching for her daughter. “We made it.”

Ellora froze. “Mom?”

Her mother turned to her, the fog in her eyes clearing like clouds breaking apart. “You used to love the beach. You always wanted to build the biggest sandcastle, remember?”

Ellora nodded, her voice breaking as she took her mom’s hand. “I remember, Mommy.”

“I want to go see the water,” she said, already shuffling toward the shore.

Bree caught up to walk with her and the doctor followed, but Ellora hung back for a second. She turned to me, tears spilling over her cheeks, but she smiled through them. “She recognized me. She actually knows who I am right now.”

I smiled and brushed her tears away with my thumbs. “Sand, sea, and sunshine, huh? Sometimes, that’s the best medicine there is.”

She threw her arms around me, and for a moment, the sound of the waves and her soft, relieved laughter felt like the only things that mattered. I held her close, but it was only a few seconds before her mother called her name and Ellora let go.

I helped my driver and the servers carry our things from the car to the tent while Ellora, Bree, and Sara stood by the water, the waves lapping at their toes. We spent about an hour on the sand before Ellora ran up to me. Her red hair was a bronze curtain sailing out behind her and a wide grin beamed on her face.

“We’re going swimming,” she said excitedly, pulling off the sundress she’d changed into after we’d arrived to reveal a bikini that nearly made me swallow my tongue. “Come with us!”

I didn’t hesitate, setting my drink down on the table beside me and rising to pull off my shirt. Already wearing swimming trunks myself, I took her hand and jogged across the hot sand with her, laughing. We splashed into the water side by side like two kids who had cut class to come down to the beach instead.

The water was warm, the kind of blue that almost didn’t look real. Ellora and her mom were elated, Bree had kicked off her shoes and waded in up to her knees, laughing as Sara splashed her, and the doctor stood farther up the beach, the perfect picture of professional discomfort. It was a day for the books.

As Sara and Bree laughed, Ellora and I drifted a little farther out, just far enough that the water lapped at our hips. She tilted her face to the sky, her hair slicked back and her eyes closed.

“She looks happy,” I said quietly, watching her mom laugh again. “I’m glad this is going well. I was a little nervous after the way Dr. Feldman reacted yesterday.”

She opened her eyes and turned to me as she smiled faintly. “Yeah. I can’t remember the last time she looked this peaceful, but I was worried too. I guess she really just needed the beach, though.”

I nodded and we went a little farther out. I flopped onto my back and she did the same thing. For a minute, we floated side by side, the swells gently pushing us closer together. “You did this for her. For us. I’ll never forget it, Holden. Seriously. Thank you.”

“I think I needed it, too,” I admitted, the sun warm on my skin and all my worries and responsibilities a million miles away. “I never do stuff like this and I honestly can’t tell you why. It’s amazing. I mean, this is living, right?”

“Right.” I saw her paddling closer to me, her arms wrapping around my neck as I straightened out of my float. “You really are something else, Holden Langton.”

“A good something else?”

“The best kind,” she said, smiling before pressing her body to mine and pulling me closer to lay a soft, lingering kiss on my lips. “The very, very best kind.”

When our mouths met again, the kiss wasn’t frantic or wild. It was slow and deep, and when she finally pulled back, she stayed close, her forehead resting against mine. “Thank you for giving me this day.”