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“Look, the rivalry you two had years ago was a teenage girl thing. You are both mature, successful women now. The past is in the past, right?” Whitney said.
Unfortunately, Sarah wasn’t so sure. That certainly wasn’t the case with Wes.
…
As Wes packed up his surfing gear an hour later, Marissa approached on the beach. The summer sun had her freckles darkening on her pale skin, and the sight always made him smile. She had Kelly’s coloring and was prone to burns, hence the thick white glob of sunblock on her nose. “Hey, all done?” she asked.
“Yeah, how was the book?”
“It was good. I finished it, but now I have to wait a whole month until the next one comes out,” she said with a sigh.
Wes laughed. “A whole month, huh?” He couldn’t remember the last time he’d finished one full book, let alone this never-ending sci-fi series Marissa was obsessed with.
“Thanks for not forcing me to surf,” she said, eyeing him suspiciously behind blue-rimmed sunglasses.
“I was too tired to save you from pretending to drown multiple times today,” he said teasingly. “Ready to go?”
“Actually, I was wondering if we could maybe take a walk along the boardwalk, since we’re down here anyway?” she asked.
Wes hesitated, checking his watch. He really should get to the B&B, but maybe his guys could handle it that day without him, allow him to avoid coming face-to-face with Sarah just yet.
And he hadn’t really spent a whole lot of time alone with Marissa so far that summer vacation, and she was leaving for Girl Guides camp soon. If she wasn’t in a hurry to get back in front of her computer, Wes would take advantage of it.
“Sure, that sounds fun,” he said, collecting his gear and heading toward the parking lot, where he put everything in the bed of the truck. Then they headed down the path to the boardwalk on the south beach. It was rockier here than the north beach near the B&B and the waves were bigger—a hot spot for expert surfers, but not kid-friendly for swimming. But it was the hipper, trendier part of Blue Moon Bay with great shops and expensive restaurants with outdoor patios.
Nothing had the same calming effect as the sights, sounds, and smells of the coast. Here in Blue Moon Bay, the pace was slower. No one was in a hurry, no one was demanding anything or expecting anything, and walking along the boardwalk, Wes tried to let all the stress he was under fall away as well. At least temporarily. “What do you want to do first?” he asked Marissa.
“Ice cream, and then how about a sandcastle-building competition on the beach like we used to?” she said.
When Kelly was still alive, family sandcastle competitions were a weekly event in the summer months. Marissa and Kelly would team up and beat him every time. His builds were always structurally sound, but they won on points for creativity with their unique additions like moats and gargoyle statues. “Deal, but I’ll warn you—I’ve been brushing up on my castle-building skills.”
She smiled, but then she was quiet as they headed toward the ice cream shop.
“Hey, you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah, I’m good.” She paused. “I know it sounds weird, but I can feel Mom here. More so than anywhere else. This was her favorite place to go during the summer.” She hesitated. “Do you believe in ghosts?”
Wes thought before responding. “I believe that people have a unique energy that ties them to everything around them and that it exists even once a person is gone. Does that make sense?”
Marissa nodded. “Energy, yeah, I like that. I feel Mom’s energy here.”
“Well, she had a lot of it.” Kelly had been one of the most vibrant, magnetic people Wes had ever known. He’d been drawn to her like everyone else who met her. She was kind and compassionate and had a way of making others feel good just being around her.
Life with Kelly had been nice, easy, and relaxed. They worked well together. He’d loved her and he’d loved the life they’d been building together. Letting her go had been difficult, but he hadn’t had a choice, and time had a way of helping him realize the necessity of moving on. Having Marissa in his life certainly made that easier. Striving to be the best version of himself was easy when someone was looking up to him, depending on him.
The chill of air-conditioning and the smell of chocolate syrup hit him as they entered the ice cream shop. The place was packed…mostly teenagers on summer break loitering to talk to their unlucky friends forced to get a job, working behind the counter that summer. Wes had done his own fair share of ice cream scooping as a teen.
“What flavor are you craving today?” he asked, peering into the glass case. The store boasted thirty-two different flavors, and this month’s featured one was a tiger tail twist. Orange mango with a black licorice swirl. “That looks interesting.”
The fifteen-year-old ice cream scooper sighed. “That’s one way to describe it.”
Obviously not a best seller.
Marissa wrinkled her nose. “I don’t like black licorice. I think I’ll stick to my vanilla, chocolate, strawberry triple scoop.”
“Triple scoop, huh?”
“Yeah, I’m a kid; I don’t have to watch my diet like you do,” Marissa teased.
