"Right," Carrie said, her hand tightening around the phone in her pocket. Everybody did need a good wingman, and she had several.
Bethany sat at the kitchen island and smiled when Carrie handed her her favorite mug, the one with the hearts on it. She squeezed the lemon as she looked around the room. "Thanks for letting me stay."
Carrie looked around at the pictures they'd framed and hung, her heart a little heavy. "It looks much better now. Thanks for the help with the decorating."
"You're welcome."
Carrie finished her coffee and set her mug in the sink. "Nope, right in the dishwasher. You can't get away with that if I can't," Bethany said, and they both laughed.
"Right. Want to play a game of Scrabble before your dad gets here? One last one for the road?"
"I can't. I got a text from Dad that said he'd be early. He should be here any minute."
Their eyes met and Bethany held Carrie's gaze for a long moment. "I'm sorry. I would have liked to play."
"Sure. Another time."
"About that..." Bethany began. She her phone down on the counter and looked down at the marble counter. She picked at one of her fingernails a bit before she looked up, her crystal-blue eyes soft. "I was wondering if maybe...well, if you thought it would be okay...oh, jeez. I don't know. Do you think maybe I could come back sometime? I mean, like, more often? This went really well. And I had a lot of fun. And I learned a lot. And...and I'm going to miss you."
Carrie did her best not to cry. At the beginning, they'd gotten off on the wrong foot, and she never, ever imagined in her wildest dreams that this was what Bethany might want. Her heart felt like it was going to burst.
"I would love that. I can't think of anything I'd love more, to be honest."
Bethany crossed the kitchen to wrap her arms around Carrie, and when they separated, Bethany gently wiped a tear from Carrie's cheek. "Don't cry. It's all good. We get to start over."
Carrie noticed that a tear trickled down Bethany's cheek, too, and she wiped it away with a smile. "Thank you. I appreciate you giving me another chance."
Bethany gave her another quick hug and smiled. "I could say the same to you. I wasn't exactly sweetness and light. I'm sorry about that."
"You were fine. Awesome. The best daughter anybody could ever hope for," Carrie said. "Even though I wanted to poke you in the eye a time or two."
They both turned toward the door as a horn honked on the street.
"I wouldn't have blamed you. You want me to invite them in?"
Carrie didn't have to think about that for more than a nanosecond. "Uh, no. I'll wave, thanks. Oh, here's a bag of Nana's muffins and some avocados for you to take. Jen sent them."
"Aw, thank her for me."
"I will."
Bethany opened the door and scooted her suitcases out. Armand hopped up the steps to take her bags and nodded at Carrie. Bethany grabbed her tennis rackets and then turned back. "Can I see your phone for a second?"
Carrie handed it over, wondering what that was about. Bethany punched in some things, smiled and handed it back. "See that app right there? It's a Scrabble app. We can play together, take turns. We can keep in touch more that way. No cheating, though."
Carrie held the phone to her heart and followed Bethany outside. One of the dark windows of the limo opened slowly, and Rob nodded from inside. Carrie returned the nod but smiled and waved at Bethany after Armand loaded the suitcases in the trunk of the limo.
Bethany stopped for a moment, smiled and waved. "And tell your friends everything's okay."
Carrie's eyes grew wide and she glanced at her phone, the texts from earlier front and center. She shook her head and walked down to the sidewalk. She watched the limo until it turned onto Newport Boulevard, heading back up to the mansion on the bay.
She took a deep sigh. She wondered how she'd gone so long not even aware that her heart had been broken. And she smiled at the thought that maybe now it might again become whole. She and her daughter were definitely on the right track.
The limousine had barely turned the corner before Carrie's phone dinged with a text from Bethany.
"I forgot to say I'd love it if you'd come to my tournament next weekend. Bring Dirk. And look on top of the fridge."
Carrie frowned and turned toward the refrigerator. On top of the box with Bethany's stuff was a pretty package with a bow.
She set it on the counter and stared at it a moment before she reached for the orange satin ribbon and pulled the end of it.
She carefully removed the tape and slid off the wrapping paper that was covered with orange flowers.
Her breath caught when she pulled out the gift. Tears spilled before she even got to the mantle, where she gently set the framed drawing, her finger gently running over the words, "Mommy” and "Me."
She walked over to the balcony and opened the slider, taking a deep breath of cool, salty air. Gazing out past the beach, the waves and to the horizon, she finally felt like anything was possible.
Epilogue
The crisp, fall breeze whipped Carrie's hair as she headed to Dirk's house to pick him up. Abby’s and Bethany's schools had a tournament against each other and they'd agreed to go together after Bethany had invited her.
He was waiting on the sidewalk when she pulled up in her convertible.
"Nice ride," he said. "I'd have one myself if I didn't have to cart clients around in that SUV."
"It's fun," she said, speeding off toward Newport Bay High School.
They found the bleachers and took their seats, falling into the rhythm of the hush that fell over the crowd when a ball was in play. It brought back memories of high school for her, and Dirk mentioned that he'd played in school, too.
"No wonder you're so good," she said.
They followed along as Bethany's doubles team beat Abby's, and Carrie smiled when they met at the net and shook hands, but Bethany hugged Abby. She looked over at Dirk and he was smiling, too.
"Thanks for all of your optimism before, when I wasn't sure how all this was going to turn out."
He nodded and smiled. "You're welcome. You know, Abby and I have had our share of issues, and she and her mother have had way more. Mothers and daughters—I don't think it's ever simple, even in the most uneventful of relationships. You guys had a lot more to contend with, in my opinion."
"We really did," Carrie responded, taking a quick look around to see if Rob or Cassidy were anywhere in the stadium. She wasn't one bit surprised to see they weren't.
"Great match, ladies," Dirk said when the girls met them at the side of the bleachers.
Abby smiled at Bethany. “Yeah, great playing, Bethany."
"And you, Abby," Bethany replied, and they fist-bumped with a giggle.
"How about some ice cream?" Dirk asked.
"Coach says I'm free to go if Abby is." Bethany looked at Abby hopefully.
"I can go, too. Hey, why don't we go down to the Fun Zone? Have a frozen banana?"
"Those are my favorite, too," Carrie said, and they jumped in the convertible, pulled on their visors and headed down Newport Boulevard. Carrie glanced in the back seat, not able to keep up with the giggles.
As she turned her eyes to the road ahead, with the beach on her right and the harbor on her left, she shook her head. Dirk was right. You never really knew how things were going to turn out, and she'd never in a million years expected to be this happy.
* * *
I hope you enjoyed Newport Beginnings!
Find out what happens when Faith tries to hold down two jobs—neither of them very well, and Carrie and Jen come to the rescue:
* * *
A Newport Sunrise
* * *
Have you read As Deep As The Ocean yet?
* * *
If you’d like to receive an email when my next book releases, please join my mailing list.
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