AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’re doing what you love.” Hannah shrugged, moving on to another table. “That counts for something.”
“That’s true.” Alissa studied her notebook, which was quickly running out of blank pages. “Not everyone finds that in life.”
“Yeah. I feel lucky that I love working here with my dad.” Hannah put down the spray bottle and rag, then went to the cash register. “But sometimes, I kind of wish I could go off and explore the world.”
“You always could,” Alissa said. “It’s not too late.”
“You’re right.” Hannah gave her a wistful smile. “Maybe I will sometime soon.”
From the way Hannah said it, that “sometime soon” was far off on the distance. Alissa hoped that Hannah could have some adventures when she felt ready to.
Hannah counted cash at the register for a while and Alissa left her to it. Eventually she went back to tidying up, so Alissa started their conversation again.
“Is this Cutback Surfing Competition a huge deal? It sounds like it’s one of the biggest events around here,” Alissa said, looking down at her list of questions.
“Oh, for sure.” Hannah grinned. “Surfers are a pretty chill bunch.”
“And it’s been going on for decades, right? I’m still doing some research on it.”
“It’s been going on for as long as I can remember. And since my dad was a kid at least.” Hannah perked up and pulled her phone out of the back pocket of her jeans. “I was just going through some old photos and I think I have one of him at the competition as a little kid.”
Hannah swiped through her phone until she found what she was looking for. She showed Alissa a picture of a very young Willis, squinting into the sun and kneeling next to a surfboard.
“Ah, he was so cute!” Alissa said with a grin, passing the phone back. “Do you think he’d let us use that in the article?”
“I can ask.” Hannah tucked her phone back into her pocket. “But yeah, it should be amazing. People come from all over and they’re a lot of fun.”
“I can’t wait to meet people. I never knew anything about surfing up here until I came, so maybe I’ll meet someone who’s in the same boat.” Alissa made a note to seek out a person who came from the farthest spot and interview them.
“You’ll love it. Tons of interesting people.”
“I’m really excited.” Alissa starred a few of the questions she’d written down.
“Make sure to swing by our booth! We’re going to have a ton of surf themed specials.”
“I definitely will.”
Alissa gathered her things and said goodbye to Hannah, energy fizzing through her veins. Hannah was right—she was lucky to have found what she loved and even luckier that she got to do it every day. Plus, her work forThe Outlethad only boosted her creative energy for her novel.
She hoped she could fall asleep tonight. Tomorrow was going to be great.
* * *
Caitlin inhaled the clean, ocean air and let it out in a gust. She had finally made it to Whale Harbor. The town was so small that she had to go from Denver to New York to a smaller local airport. It had been a long time since she’d traveled period, much less in several planes.
Or maybe it felt like a long trip because she had left in the day and arrived in the dark. She walked out of the airport toward the taxi stand, which was one of the few lit up areas around. Back home, it would have been the peak of the dinner rush, but here, everything looked like it was already closing up to go to sleep.
“Hi,” Caitlin said to the older woman at the taxi stand. “I’m looking for a cab into town?”
“Of course, my dear.” The woman hopped out of the booth and waved down a man standing outside of his cab, reading a book. “Did you have a nice trip?”
Caitlin blinked, taken aback by the kind question. The woman sounded like a grandmother asking her grandchild about their vacation, not a stranger.
“It was long, but I’m here,” Caitlin said.
“Glad to hear it!” The woman stepped back. “Here’s your cab—have a nice evening!”
“You too.” Caitlin rolled her bag toward the cab, but the cab driver met her halfway.
