AllFreeNovel
Share Us
With that thought, I pulled over and turned off my phone.
No one was going to interfere this time.
Dread pooled in my stomach, dread the likes of which I’d known only once before.
Being in the car was a trigger and the scent of cigarette smoke was strong and caused me to gag.
I wrapped my hands tightly around the wheel to convince my highjacked brain that I was in the driver’s seat, and that I wasn’t going to take us where we didn’t want to go. I was going to buy myself some time and space, time and space I did not have before.
My only thought, my sole purpose, was escape.
While dread took up residence in my stomach, my heart played host to fear.
What if I was as selfish as my mother had proclaimed all these years?
What if Barrett thought I tricked him?
What if he didn’t want the baby?
What if there was something wrong with the baby?
What if I was what was wrong for the baby?
I forced my brain to shut down until I got to my destination. It wasn’t difficult. Over the years I had sharpened the ability to zone out, that I’d learned as a little girl, to a fine point. On top of that, unlike Barrett, driving required all my concentration. As a passenger in his SUV with his large, capable hands on the wheel, I could relax, but he wasn’t here now, and I needed to get us to our destination in one piece.
Two hours later I checked in at the front desk. The chatty woman who took my card was the very same that took my reservation. It was a tiny operation, just her and another girl who worked part-time. She told me she moved to Port Stanley when she got divorced because she wanted a fresh start. She got herself and her daughter a place within walking distance of the beach and gave up her car. She loved her small life away from the hustle and bustle of the big city.
The girl who worked there part-time had a child with special needs and the community had pitched in to get them a service dog a few years back. That sense of community was one of the reasons she had picked this place back when her life fell apart. All this I learned within the space of the ten minutes it took her to check me in and go over the rules with me, an actual printed list of rules she pulled out of a drawer and went through one by one.
She led me to my room, chatting the whole way.
She appraised me. “The sun is not so strong, but you’re fair. If you need sunscreen, let me know. I always keep a bottle at the front desk.”
“Thank you.” That was all I managed to get in before she carried on.
She put the key in the lock and continued. “You’d be surprised how many people forget sunscreen.” She shook her head. “You’d think it would be the first thing packed when you’re going to the beach.”
I nodded, but I was one of those people and it must have shown on my face.
“You don’t have any, do you?”
I pressed my lips together and shook my head. She looked disappointed for half a second before she excused me with a wave of her hand.
“You didn’t even know you were coming until two hours ago, and it is off-season.”
“This is true.” I grasped at her excuse.
“Tell you what.” She stood with one hand on her hip, the other gesturing animatedly between us. “I’m going to grab that bottle for you right now. It’s a lovely day for a walk. And if you don’t mind me saying so, you look like you could use a nice walk on the beach.”
I smiled. “That bad, eh?”
“Naw.” She waved me away again. “You just get good at reading people after working here for a while.
She scooted out to get the sunscreen and brought it back to me. After securing my promise to come into the restaurant in the morning for the included breakfast, she took her leave.
So, this was small-town-living. I was utterly enchanted. I left my bags on the minuscule desk in my room, slid my feet into my flip flops, grabbed my hat, and escaped to the beach.
It was warm but not warm enough to swim. I dipped my toes in the water anyway. I walked on the wet sand as far as I could go. At turns I looked to my feet and picked up the occasional shiny rock that caught my attention, at other times I looked to the seemingly endless horizon where the water touched the sky, thinking about the woman at the front desk.
