Page 4 of Coastal Rewind

Nolan

But I have mimosas ready.

Maeve

You buried the lead, Nol.

Keegan

That isn’t enticing to me.

Luke

Don’t any of you know not to disturb a sleeping Keegan?

Nolan

Eh, you’re the one who has to deal with her.

Luke

I’ll remember you said that, Nol.

Owen

You’re all ridiculous.

Aiden

Nolan definitely wasn’t joking about the mimosas.

Don’t any of you sleep?

Nolan

SHE’S AWAKE.

I’m leaving in thirty and I should get to Malibu in about five hours.

Keegan

We’ll be waiting. Missed you, Ry.

I clicked my phone off and crouched down to fish a fresh pair of leggings and a sports bra from the under bed drawers. I tossed my dirty clothes onto my bed—knowing I was going to have unlimited access to a washer and dryer in only a few hours—and started breaking down my van so it was safe to start driving.

I bought and renovated my camper van about five years ago when my little Subaru finally bit the dust. It had a full-size bed, a small countertop with a tiny sink, and a stall shower with a toilet that was removable. It allowed me the freedom to live anywhere I wanted, but I could tell the old girl was on her last leg. She wasn’t new when I bought her, but something about the life she had lived before spoke to me. Sometimes you just needed a fresh start.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t afford a new van. I just wasn’t sure I had it in me to completely renovate another one. I was exhausted, although I had a hard time admitting that to myself.

When the cabinets were locked and anything breakable was put away, I crawled up to the front seat and buckled my seat belt. It took a solid ten minutes to gain the courage to put my foot on the gas and start the drive toward Los Angeles.

I grew up in Hartford, Connecticut, but once my siblings started the mass migration to California for college, that quickly became the Kelly family home base. I didn’t mind visiting occasionally, but there wasn’t anything for me in California—well, except my family.

Growing up as the oldest—by two minutes, thank you—of six meant that everyone knew everyone’s business. This family held no secrets—except mine. I’d somehow managed to keep my family from prying into my life for twelve years, and now that I was thirty it was time to make the hard decisions and let everyone in.

I’d planned this trip home a few months ago, making sure everyone would be around so I could tell them about the surgery I had scheduled for the fall. I wanted a plan so no one could talk me out of it. It took a long time to accept the truth about my life, and they were going to be processing it for the first time. That always came with a spark of hope, but I’d already grieved.

I had no clue how I was going to spend my last summer living in the unknown, but what I did know was there was an adventure waiting for me.