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Along with the moisture that covered her cheeks, familiar anger settled in her chest, tightening to the point that she found it painful to breathe. With every bit of communication between them while he was on duty, she’d pleaded with Hunter to be careful. She’d begged him not to take any unnecessary risks.
All they had in the world was each other. If she lost Hunter, then she’d be entirely alone in the world. He was all the family she had. All the family she needed. Born as twins, abandoned by their mother, raised by grandparents, Hope and Hunter had always been especially close.
With tears blurring her vision, Hope returned to her bedroom and set the photo of her twin brother on the dresser. Swallowing past the lump in her throat, she turned the frame so she’d see his face first thing every morning, as a reminder that he wouldn’t want her to spend her life grieving.
The pain of her loss, that sense of abandonment, of being completely on her own, was too much. Hope needed to escape. Grabbing her purse, she headed out again, needing fresh air. She drove around aimlessly for a while, then parked at the beach. Being by the ocean had always calmed her, and if ever there was a time she needed to find peace and acceptance, it was now.
The tears on her cheeks had dried in the wind that buffeted against her as she left footprints in the wet sand, prints that were washed away by the incoming tide. Gone: just as her twin was forever gone.
Hoping a latte would help her out of the doldrums, she decided to stop off for one of Willa’s special lattes. The one friend Hope had made since arriving in town had been Willa O’Malley, the owner of Bean There, the small coffee shop close to the beach. She felt a certain kinship with Willa. Most mornings, she stopped by for a latte, preferring a light breakfast before heading to the high school.
As soon as Hope entered the shop, Willa looked up from the counter and greeted her with an engaging smile of welcome. “I don’t usually see you in the afternoons. What can I get you?”
Hope ordered the latte and then took a seat by the window, looking out and looking inward, unable to let go of the sadness that had gripped her heart. It didn’t seem possible she’d be able to move on without Hunter in her life. Even now, nearly two years since his death, he was on her mind every day. She felt his loss as keenly as she had when she’d first gotten the news. Against her will, fresh tears filled her eyes. She reached for a napkin and did her best to discreetly wipe away the moisture.
“Hope?” Willa joined her at the small table. “Is everything all right?”
The lump in her throat prevented her from answering. She nodded, wanting to assure her friend all was well, and then just as quickly shook her head. “I lost someone close to me,” she finally managed to say, although her words were barely audible. “Some days I wonder if I’ll ever get over his loss.”
Sitting down across from Hope, Willa stretched her arm over the table and reached for Hope’s hand. “You won’t, not really, they will always be with you, but I can tell you this, the pain eases with time.” Willa’s voice trembled as she spoke, as if she, too, had suffered a devastating loss.
Hope looked up. To this point, no one in Oceanside knew about Hunter or the reason she’d moved from California to Washington. “Hunter was my brother, my twin…the last of my family.”
“Harper was my sister, so full of fun and life with so much to live for. I miss her dreadfully. The world felt empty without her. For a while I was a mess, but time moves on, and that was what she wanted for me, what she asked of me, and so I did.”
Their fingers tightened around each other’s, as if holding on to the memories of those they’d loved and lost.
A few minutes later another customer stopped in, and Willa left, but not before she leaned down and hugged Hope.
“The pain will always be there, but I promise you that in time, the love you shared will ease the sting and you’ll be able to feel joy again. In the meantime, I’m here whenever you need to talk.”
Hope closed her eyes and took hold of Willa’s words. Little wonder she’d felt an affinity for the barista.
—
Hope returned to the cottage, feeling worlds better than she had when she’d left. She wasn’t back more than a few minutes when there was a knock on her front door.
She knew only a few people in town and wasn’t expecting company. When she answered, she found her landlord, Preston Young, standing on her small porch.
“Hope.” He said her name, as if that explained his visit.
She waited, certain there was a reason he’d stopped by.
“I wanted to let you know that as soon as I have a spare minute, I’ll get around to repairing the railing on this porch and the faucet. I apologize it’s taken me this long.”
“It’s no problem, Mr. Young.”
“Preston, please.”
“All right, Preston.”
“With the two babies and my work at the shelter, I don’t know where the time goes. Mellie’s been after me to find the leak under the kitchen sink, and heaven knows I’m no plumber.”
Hope felt sorry for the husband, who clearly had his hands full.
“We’re desperately in need of volunteers at the shelter,” he added, running a hand down his face, as if the weight of it was a burden he didn’t need.
As soon as the words left his mouth, he froze and looked directly at her, as if seeing her for the first time.
