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“That young man was in here looking for you a little while ago and seemed upset, is all.”
“Oh. No, it’s fine. Everything is fine.”
She whipped her hip, placing her hand on it, and raised an eyebrow. I hadn’t fooled her.
“I promise, I’m fine.” I displayed a big grin for her sake.
She laughed. “Hmm, well, you let me know if you ever need to talk. Men that cute are just a whole lot of trouble, they are,” she tsked as she walked to another table filling coffees.
I giggled. I was going to miss Beverly when I left.
As I nibbled on my muffin, I studied the wallpaper photo on my phone. The wedding photographer had captured a silhouette of Bridger and me overlooking the bluffs after the ceremony. It had started raining soon after everyone left and we had been soaked to the bone. It easily became one of our favorites, and we hung it in our home over the fireplace as a reminder that we could weather any storm together.
But now I was alone, and the storms pummeled me.
The other night on the bluffs, Levi had held me the same way Bridger had held me on our wedding day. It was an interesting coincidence.
I finished my latte and muffin and said goodbye to Beverly on the way out.
“Bye, hon. Oh, my brain these days. I’ve been so busy I completely forgot that your friend was here last night asking about you.”
“My friend?” No one back home besides my neighbor knew I was here.
“Genesis.” She smiled warmly. “I hope you don’t mind, but I told her where you were camped.”
It couldn’t be. “It’s fine. Thanks, Beverly.” I rushed out and jogged the path to my trailer. Sitting there in one of my beach chairs was Genesis. I was so stunned, I stopped just short of my site. She looked up from her phone, and we studied each other, speechless, for a few beats before she stood up and broke the silence.
“Are you just going to stand there admiring how well I carry four decades?” She popped her hair back off her shoulder and posed with her hands curled around her hips.
She looked the same aside from a few wrinkles around her eyes. Her hair was still long and bright blonde and she had held on to her perfect curves.
I took a few hesitant steps closer. “How did you find me?” I asked cautiously.
She dropped her hands to her sides. “When I heard about Bridger, I jumped on a plane. I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. I’m not really a social media person, so I just barely found out.”
“How did you hear?”
“I was being all nostalgic one night, so I searched for Bridger on the internet because I figured I’d find stuff on him since he was pretty famous in the surf world once upon a time.” She paused. “It was all over the surf blogs.” Her voice dropped. “I’m so sorry, Char.”
Right. “How did you find me here, though?”
“I just had this feeling that this was where you would come on his,” she stopped short and then continued, “this was your beach, after all.”
“It was yours, too.” This was where she and Jayden spent most of their days with us.
Her head dropped to the sand. “Yeah,” she said sadly. “This is the first time I’ve been back since he died.” She looked around to the water. “It hasn’t changed much.” She lost herself in a memory for a moment.
“You know I wanted to be there for you when Jayden died.” My voice was stern, shocking me how hurt I still felt after all this time.
“I know,” she said regretfully.
“But I understand now,” I added as the pressure in my chest built up and tears rushed to the surface. “I couldn’t be in our home anymore. I couldn’t see Bridger’s family. I ran.” I looked up to her. “Like you.” I smiled weakly.
“I’m so sorry, Char.” She walked to me and wrapped her arms tightly around my body. “I should have come back sooner.”
I pulled away and cleared my cheeks of tears. “Then why didn’t you? You had twenty years to reach out to me.” My voice hardened. “I looked for your aunt’s farm for years! I tried to findyou, but you left and never looked back.”
Her eyes widened, stunned by my abrasiveness. “I know, Char. I was messed up after Jayden died, and when I finally felt like I could breathe again, years had passed. Every time I went to call you, I couldn’t. I felt guilty for leaving you the way I did and figured you wouldn’t want to hear from me anyway.”
