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“It’s cold.” He chuckled, stepping up beside her.
She narrowed her eyes playfully and took his hand. They turned, strolling along the wet sand, the waves lapping their feet as they adjusted to the water.
“This is incredible,” Sam said when they’d walked about halfway down the beach.
“Is it everything you’d hoped for?”
Sam nodded and leaned up on her tiptoes, kissing him softly.
“Thank you,” she said, resting her head on his chest. Aero wound his arms around her, holding her close.
“Are you hungry?” Aero asked, and Sam nodded.
“Come on, we’ll find something to eat.” He took her hand and guided her back up the beach toward the strip.
The waves lapped the shore, and a few seagulls squawked behind them as Aero and Sam settled on the sand. It was dark, all traces of the pink and purple sky gone, a velvety black sky greeting them above the horizon. The sea breeze shifted the clouds around, casting shadows and making the stars twinkle.
“So,” Sam started, stroking Aero’s forearm softly despite the growing pit in her stomach.
Aero sighed, turning to look at her. “Sammy, I wanna tell you everything. I do. It’s just…”
She gazed up at him with soft hazel eyes, waiting.
“I’m afraid once you know, you’ll run,” Aero said softly, honestly, the truth hurting his heart.
“Aero, I’m not going anywhere,” Sam promised, squeezing his hand. “Besides, you have my return plane ticket.”
He chuckled and leaned down, kissing her softly. “You’re an amazing woman. I don’t deserve you.”
“Stop it, Aero. That’s just not true,” Sam said, leaning her head on his shoulder.
“Okay,” he said, steeling himself. Aero wasn’t sure he was ready, but he knew he would never really be ready, so he started talking. He’d put forth such an effort in the last few months to start processing the tragedies that marred his life and to develop the skills needed to cope with them, rather than just exist in his own black cloud of trauma. Now, he hoped those skills would carry him through until he’d told Sam everything.
“I told you about how I met Sarah and we got married,” Aero began.
Sam nodded.
“There was more,” he rasped, Nora’s little face swimming into his mind. He paused, taking a deep breath and noting the sharp sound of a seagull’s cry in the distance before continuing.
Sam sat stock still, listening.
“We had a baby,” Aero said, the words raw. “Her name was Nora.”
Tears pricked Sam’s eyes. She’d known this, of course, but the pain in Aero’s voice made her chest ache. It made Nora real—a little girl whose Daddy loved her—rather than just a photo of a cute child. Sam held his hand tighter.
“She was incredible. Blonde, beautiful. She had my eyes,” Aero said almost wistfully. “I loved her.”
“Of course you did. What happened to her, Aero?”
“She died,” he said, the words an anguished whisper. Aero wanted so badly to run, his adrenaline kicking up and making his muscles shake. He wanted to escape the conversation and stop it from happening, but he couldn’t. The words had been spoken, and he had to finish.
Sam whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Digging his toes into the sand and feeling the chill of the grains on his feet, Aero whispered, “It was an accident.”
“What kind of accident?” Sam didn’t want to push him, but they’d come this far, literally, and she needed answers.
Aero tensed, tears burning his eyes. “When Nora was three, she was sick. Just a cold or the flu or something—nothing too serious. She cried and cried, but finally fell asleep.”
