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I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of it, how much it reminded me of driving around with her after school back in those days when we didn’t have a care in the world.
“You’re still driving Sue Ellen?” I asked, coming to a stop next to the car and letting the bag I was carrying drop to the ground.
“Of course!” she said. Clarissa leaned her butt on the hood then hopped onto it, smiling broadly and spreading out her arms as if she were posing for a pinup picture. “You think I’d ever give the old girl up?”
I laughed at the sight as she slid off the hood and came over to me, scooping my bag off the ground as she went around to the back of Sue Ellen and opened the trunk. After tossing the bag in and shutting the lid, she turned her attention back to me.
“You’re traveling light for someone who just moved home,” she said as we climbed into the car.
Clarissa turned on the engine, Dreams by Fleetwood Mac blasting from the speakers for a moment before she quickly turned the volume down.
“Everything else is getting shipped,” I said. I sighed as Clarissa pulled out of the parking space and started out of the lot. “Not like I’ve got much to my name. God, I can’t believe I’m starting over like this.”
She put her hand on my shoulder and gave me a squeeze.
“I know this isn’t the direction you planned on your life going. But look!” She swept her hand in front of her, to the town of Charmed Bay spread out before us. As we reached the top of the bluff, we could see the whole place, the crisscross of streets, the parks, the big, cliffside mansions overlooking the sea. “You’re back home, you’re going to be staying with your best friend, and you don’t have a thing to worry about.”
“Aside from figuring out what I want to do with my life. Oh, and not to mention dealing with my mom.”
Clarissa swept her hand through the air, dismissing it all as if I hadn’t said a thing worth giving a second thought to.
“You’ll get it all sorted out in time. But for now, all you need to think about is relaxing, breathing in the fresh ocean air, and getting ready for the holidays.” She moved around and snapped her fingers as if dancing to an invisible beat.
“Ugh, the holidays, with everything going on, I completely forgot about them,” I moaned.
“But you always loved Christmas,” Clarissa said.
“I did, yes, but that was before my life imploded.” Still, I forced a small smile onto my lips, not sure of it all. Without thinking, I slipped my phone out of my pocket and checked the group text that I had with the Wolf brothers. The four of us didn’t talk every day or anything like that, but we’d had the chat going for a few years now. I scrolled up, the most recent messages all about me coming back to town, the ones above that all inside jokes and emojis.
“So, here’s what I’m thinking.” She pulled onto the small road that led to her cliffside apartment complex. “First, we get in and settled and have a little something to drink. You tell me all about Adam, get it all off your chest. And then, when you’re ready, we head into town and grab some burgers and custard from Red Kettle Diner.”
That brought a smile to my face. The Red Kettle Diner, famous all up and down the coast for their triple-smash burgers and frozen custard, had been one of our favorite places to hang during high school.
“Then, after that, we do whatever we want! Correction – you do whatever you want.”
She pulled in front of the four-unit apartment complex that she’d called home for the last few years, turning off the engine.
“Because right now, you’re here to start a new chapter in your life. And it’s going to be the best one yet.”
With one more toothy smile, she threw open the door. Salty sea air rushed into the car, and I didn’t waste any time getting out. Clarissa hurried around Sue Ellen and opened the trunk, taking out my bag and hurrying over to her front door.
As she did, I leaned back against the side of the car and looked out onto the ocean, the view from the edge of the cliff spectacular. The beach was down a few hundred feet below, the Pacific Ocean stretching out into infinity.
Clarissa was right about one thing – my life sure as hell wasn’t where I’d planned it to be. However, in spite of it all, in spite of the uncertainty, I couldn’t help but feel hopeful. Excited, even.
The feeling got even more intense as I found myself thinking of a certain three brothers. I smiled as I gazed out onto the ocean.
The holidays were going to be very interesting.
