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“I’m looking for a job.” She hesitated, as though knowing he was going to ask. “But I suppose you want to know why I’m looking in Strawberry Sands, when there’s plenty of other places I could be working.”
“I guess. Just... Strawberry Sands isn’t exactly a hot destination spot for most people. In fact, most people don’t even know about it.”
“I was here once when I was seventeen. I think I remember you. Did you ride horses along the beach?”
He wasn’t expecting that and looked over at her with renewed interest. “My family owns a horse leasing and riding stable. We lease horses to tourists, particularly in the summer. So yeah, I could have been riding my horse along the beach. Did I know you?”
There was one summer where he only had eyes for Eva. Hopefully that wasn’t the summer that she remembered him from. It was the one summer he’d like to forget. The memories weren’t sweet, more like sour milk. They made him feel guilty and gave him a general sense of unease, because he knew that he let his family down.
“We never talked. I just admired your horse. It was pretty.” Jubilee looked out the windshield, like the scenery had changed, which it hadn’t. It would be another few miles until they were able to see Lake Michigan, but he understood that. Maybe she was eagerly awaiting the view. He certainly enjoyed it. And the sunset on the lake was absolutely stunning. As long as he lived there, he’d never gotten tired of watching it, and he often stopped what he was doing to spend a few minutes enjoying the play of colors across the sky, to imagine God smiling and feeling content and happy at the enjoyment that His creation got out of the beauty He provided for them.
“My daughter is still in school but should be coming up to spend the summer with me in another week or so. She might be about your oldest daughter’s age.”
“I am ten,” Scarlett piped up, letting him know that she’d been listening to what they were saying. He should have known, since Nora always paid attention to any conversations he was having with his family.
“And I’m eight. She’s older than me.” Penelope stated the obvious, which made Jubilee smile.
It made Matt smile as well, and they shared a little wordless humor across the seat.
“You just have one daughter?” she asked, showing interest in him for the first time. He wasn’t sure why he liked it, but he did.
“Yeah. I’m not married.” He didn’t usually go around telling everyone everything that he’d ever done in his life, but Jubilee just nodded her head, didn’t really say anything, and he continued, naturally, like he was talking to a friend, which was weird. “I don’t know what story you have, but there was a summer I ended up doing things I shouldn’t have, and I’ve regretted it ever since, although I don’t regret my daughter. She’s every bit as amazing as I’m sure you think your kids are, and I look forward to spending the summer with her every year.”
“I think we probably all have things we regret,” Jubilee said softly, but she didn’t elaborate. Which almost made Matt ask about her regrets, although he didn’t. Maybe if he prompted her, she would say more, but he didn’t want her to have to say more than she wanted to, especially with her daughters sitting right there.
“My whole family was pretty disappointed in me. I’m the oldest, and my mom was really depending on me to set a good example. My dad left when we were little.”
“That’s too bad. I was actually raised by my aunt. She’s gone now.”
That’s what he thought. That she didn’t have much of a homelife. His dad had stuck around long enough for him to acquire six children. Which probably wasn’t exactly what his mother wanted, but considering that Matt had five younger siblings and he appreciated each one of them, he was grateful to his dad for that much.
“I don’t want to pry, so you don’t have to answer me if you don’t want, but what about the girls’ dad?” he asked, his voice pitched low.
He had grown up without one, and most of the time, he was okay with that, because he knew what kind of man his dad was. A liar and a cheater. He figured he was probably better off without him, but there was still a void.
She glanced behind them where her girls sat, hanging on their every word. “We’ve been living with his mother, but a couple of days ago, she invited him and his girlfriend over for supper. I decided at that point that it would be a good time for us to head to the lake for a while.”
He could read between the lines there. And see that her ex had probably cheated, and she had moved in with his mother, but his mother was firmly on the side of her son, even if her son had blown up his marriage and ruined three other people’s lives in the process.
Blood ran deep.
