Summer at the Shore

by Carol Ross

  “That would be great,” Mia said.

  “He’s got a bum paw,” Jay said as Dr. Anthony took a hold of the trap.

  “We’ll get it patched up,” Dr. Anthony said.

  But as Jay watched them head toward the back, he was struck with an odd feeling. A sense of loss mixed with foreboding; a part of him wanted to go with the cat, reassure him again that everything would be fine. Another part of him wanted to grab the trap and take off, find a safe place and give him his freedom. The feeling was so strong the only thing holding him back was the fact that the cat needed medical treatment. Mia must have sensed his unease.

  He felt a squeeze to his arm. “He’ll be all right, Jay. Dr. Anthony will take good care of him.”

  “Okay,” he said, but knew he sounded unconvinced. What was the matter with him?

  * * *

  THIS IS NOT a date. Mia kept telling herself as Jay drove them south along the rugged Oregon coastline. Lush green forest greeted them from the east, while the vast expanse of Pacific Ocean stretched out to the west as far as the eye could see. None of it looked as good as Jay did in his jeans and faded red T-shirt that brought out every bit of the green in his hazel eyes. She needed to quit stealing these glances, but it felt so intimate to be riding in his car. She wondered if he felt it, too, this awareness that seemed to have settled in around her. She distracted herself by taking a good look around. His car was older, but in immaculate condition and a million times cleaner than hers.

  “Your car is really clean.”

  “Ugh, not anymore. Can’t you see the Coastie fur-balls all over? And Laney’s gum wrappers? I thought teenage boys were supposed to be the slobs. Not in this family.”

  In the backseat, Mia heard the jingle of Coastie’s collar as the dog stirred.

  Jay reached an arm behind him to give her a pat. “Sorry, sweet girl, I did say your name, didn’t I? At least you’re not throwing your fur all over the car on purpose.”

  Mia felt herself melt into the seat. Something about big strong guys sweet-talking animals... And Jay in particular. He was like a two-sided figurine—all responsible, stoic, military on one side and sweet, funny, soft on the other. She tried not to think about which side would prevail when it came down to the wire. Instead, she focused on the day stretching out ahead of them.

  She’d already planned on going to Laney’s first beach volleyball tournament, so when Jay had called the night before to see if she and George wanted to go with him and Coastie, it had only made sense for them all to go together.

  Summer tourist season was in full swing, so traffic was a mess. The coastline was dotted with RV parks and campgrounds, so pickups pulling giant travel trailers and motor homes bigger than Mia’s first apartment clogged the two-lane highway along with motorcyclists, bicyclists with apparent death wishes, hikers hefting giant packs and pedestrians of all sorts. She liked how none of it seemed to bother Jay. She remembered more than once her father’s lack of patience—with drivers, doctors, crowds, even daughters.

  They arrived early, but Tiramundi, the little beach town where the tournament was being held, was already overrun with people. Charlotte had warned her, but she’d also said not to be intimidated. Beach volleyball was a big draw up and down the West Coast. Tiramundi had been hosting this tournament for years, and while it drew competitors from all over the country and swelled the town’s numbers exponentially, they had the logistics down to a science. A man wearing a bucket hat and a reflective vest held a sign directing volleyball spectators to the elementary school’s parking lot.

  An attendant there directed Jay into a parking spot. He turned off the car and texted Laney to see if she knew when and where her first match would be. His phone chimed almost immediately.

  “She says ten a.m. on court thirteen.”

  “Perfect timing.”

  They leashed the dogs, grabbed their cooler and a blanket, and headed toward the beach.

  Oregon’s coastline was rugged in places. There were miles where the beach was nothing more than a pile of rocks at the bottom of a sheer cliff. There were spots where rocks jutted out at irregular intervals from the sandy shore and where the most spectacular tide pools formed, trapping various sea creatures during low tides and leaving them on display like nature’s own aquarium. But there were also stretches of soft sandy paradise. The town of Tiramundi was one of these, having been founded on a rise above a wide expanse of fine-grain sand.

  Perfect for beachcombers, kite fliers and volleyball.

  “This is really cool,” Jay said as they approached the array of courts that had been roped off for the occasion. The tournament consisted of teams of two or six spanning several age brackets. Laney was competing in the youngest division, ages thirteen to eighteen, on a team of six.

  Navigating through the crowd was slow as George seemed to form a fan club wherever he went. Mia knew it was the combination of his size, his mellow personality and his seeming interest in every single human he met. She didn’t reveal to the kind and curious people that the latter was largely due to the even slight chance he might come away with a snack.

  “There it is.” Jay pointed. “Court number thirteen.”

  Laney ran up to them, her face an endearing picture of happiness and excitement. “You guys made it!” She looked around. “Where’s Levi?”

  “He’s working for Dr. Anthony today but promises to be at the next one.” He handed her the small cooler he’d brought stocked with cold water, snacks and sports drinks. They visited for a few minutes before a voice near the court announced her impending match.

  She smiled. “I’m so excited. And nervous.”

  “You’re my sister. You’re gonna be awesome.” Jay wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Go get ’em, kiddo.”

  Mia gave her a quick hug and a “good luck.”

  Laney went to her knees and wrapped her arms around George and Coastie. “Group hug from my favorite pups.”

  Later that afternoon, Mia was pretty sure Laney’s dreams of going to college on a volleyball scholarship were going to come true. The girl was an athletic wonder. If anyone hit the ball harder in her age division, Mia didn’t see it.

  Their team wound up a respectable third place. A very strong showing, especially since it was their first tournament playing together.

  An ecstatic Laney opted to ride home with some of her teammates, who were stopping for dinner on the way. Jay and Mia loaded the dogs in the car and took off for Pacific Cove. They rounded a bend that opened out onto a stunning view of the ocean and the rock-dotted coastline below. He pulled over into a turnout designated “scenic viewpoint.”

  “Would it add too much romance to this thing to stop and watch the sunset?”

  This thing? Mia felt her heart flip over inside of her chest. Yes, she thought, because this “thing” was already getting away from her. “Nah,” she answered softly. “We can handle it. Just don’t take your shirt off.” She added a wink and climbed out of the car.

  He joined her. “You wanna hike down to the beach?”

  “Sure.”

  She leashed the dogs and headed for the trail leading to the beach while he rummaged around in the trunk. When he joined her he had a blanket thrown over one arm and a small cooler in the other. Sure was feeling like a date, she thought as they took off walking.

  After they reached the beach, Jay studied the ground and finally spread the blanket out on a low rise. George immediately flopped down and covered half of it. Coastie curled up beside him.

  She and Jay shared a laugh.

  He commented drily, “You know your dog is tired when you take it to the beach and it opts for a nap instead of a roll on a dead fish.”

  “We probably wore them out today. Volleyball watching is exhausting, what with all those people to greet and things to sniff.”

 
Jay sat and patted the blanket next to him. Mia swallowed. Feeling pretty romantic, too. She lowered herself next to him and he immediately leaned back, propping his long arm behind them.

  “You know I grew up a few hours from here, but only came to the beach one time during my childhood.”

  And this was the crux of the problem for them, Mia realized. Because what did she say at this point? He didn’t talk about his childhood and she knew if she asked he would just shut down. And they’d had such a perfect day.

  She went with, “I grew up on so many different beaches I don’t even remember them all.”

  “And yet you decided to settle in a beach town?”

  Mia grinned. “It wasn’t the beaches’ fault my childhood was miserable. That’s one thing I did realize growing up. I do love the ocean.”

  “Your dad was not a nice guy, huh?”

  Mia shot him a startled glance. Had she ever said that? “No, he wasn’t.”

  “He was good to your mom and your brother, but not to you?”

  She shook her head. “Nope. Pretty sure he hated me.”

  A piece of hair had escaped her ponytail to blow across her face. He tucked it behind her ear. His touch was incredibly gentle as he then reached over and picked up her hand. Using his thumb, he caressed the skin of her wrist.

  “Pretty sure that’s impossible. No one could hate you, Mia. Have you ever talked to your mom about this?” His voice was soft and low and sent shivers down her spine.

  She gave her head a little shake. “Not in any meaningful way. It’s a touchy subject between us. I get snarky, she gets defensive. Mom is so wonderful, but when it comes to my dad it’s like she has blinders on.”

  “Ever talk to anyone else about it?”

  She turned her head, rested her chin on her shoulder and batted her eyelashes. “About my daddy issues, you mean?”

  He tilted his head, brows raised.

  Mia chuckled even as she felt a tug of dreaded melancholy. Facing the horizon again, she tried to soak up some of the magic. The sun was a bright orange ball dipping into the water. Wispy tendrils of clouds laced with pink and blue promised a spectacular sunset.

  Finally, she answered, “Yes. A couple years of therapy revealed that I’m all screwed up because of it.” She smiled and tried to lighten the statement. “It’s a good thing we’re doing this distance thing. You wouldn’t want to be tied to a woman like me. So many issues.”

  Beside her, his body shifted and stiffened. He threaded his fingers into hers. She looked over to find his green eyes blazing with an intensity she’d never seen before. Anger, she thought, but why would that make him angry?

  He closed his eyes for a few seconds, and when he opened them he exhaled a long breath. His tone was calm but felt like a cold fog steeling over her skin. “Did someone seriously tell you that?”

  “Jay, no. I was kidding. I did go to therapy. I learned that I didn’t like my dad. I also learned that it’s okay not to like him. Just because you’re related to someone doesn’t mean you have to like them. Like I said, I’m a little messed up because of it, but I’ve learned to deal...” Her explanation hadn’t seemed to help. “Are you all right? What did I say?”

  “Mia.” Her name came out on a painful-sounding sigh. He reached out and cupped her cheek with a gentle hand. “Don’t ever talk that way about yourself, okay? Don’t even joke about it.”

  She stared into his earnest green eyes and was pretty sure she’d promise him whatever he asked of her. “Okay.”

  He tipped her chin and lowered his mouth to cover hers. This kiss was different from the first one. That one had been all heat along with a whirlwind trip of her senses. And while the heat was still there, this one was tenderness and exploration and feelings that he couldn’t seem to say. Her heart clenched inside her chest as she was overcome with the fear that he might not ever be able to say them.

  * * *

  THEY DECIDED TO keep the details of their relationship under wraps. It would be difficult to tell other people when they weren’t even sure where it was going themselves. But they soon discovered that being together without being together was not easy.

  Jay was doing his best to spend as much time with his siblings as possible. In the two weeks that followed the volleyball tournament, they managed to get together to take Levi and Laney bowling. They visited nearby Remington’s seafood festival and took a shopping trip to buy Laney some new volleyball shoes.

  Nora and Mia had them all over for dinner, a fun night that also included a few other friends including Charlotte, Eli and Aubrey. They were all thrilled when Ted, Sara and McKenzie were able to attend as well. McKenzie charmed everyone with her wise-beyond-her-years humor and spirit of adventure. Jay and Levi accompanied her around the beach looking for crabs and collecting shells.

  Another night, they built a fire on the beach, chaperoning five of Laney’s friends along with a seemingly nice group of high school boys. Mia was impressed with how vigilant Jay was in his duty as sentry. She wanted to point out to him that when Laney was out with her friends there was no one watching them, but she kept that comment to herself.

  She was both disappointed and relieved when Flame didn’t show. Laney had mentioned him a couple more times since the day Mia had been introduced to him. Her reservations about the kid had grown and she thought Jay should meet him.

  The kids roasted marshmallows and made s’mores. Jay had managed to finish the stairs leading to the loft, so six girls slept overnight in the space. He texted Mia throughout the evening, good-natured in his complaining about how loud teenage girls could be.

  But they hadn’t had a chance to be alone and Mia was relieved that it seemed to be getting to Jay as much as it was her.

  After a frustrating number of attempts to connect, he called her at work one day. “Hey, what are you doing after work?”

  “Um, I promised George a walk on the beach. Other than that, no plans. Why, what’s up?”

  “Do you guys feel like having company? It just so happens that Levi and Laney both have plans.”

  No surprise that Laney had plans; she had too many plans as far as Mia was concerned—too many questionable, ambiguous plans. In direct opposition to Levi, who didn’t ever seem to have any plans that didn’t entail him working in some capacity.

  “What’s Levi doing?”

  “Helping Dr. Anthony again.”

  Jay cleared his throat. “So, how about if Coastie and I start walking north and you and Georgie head south? We can meet in the middle.”

  “Sounds good,” she said, a sense of longing filling her at his words. If only he meant that in more ways than this one.

  * * *

  “I FEEL LIKE if you painted a sky this blue, no one would believe it was real,” Jay said a couple hours later. He removed his sunglasses to check that the color was really as rich and vibrant as it appeared.

  Beside him, Mia laughed. “I know what you mean. I can’t stop looking at it, either. Since I’ve lived here I’ve gotten up every morning to find that the beach looks different—there’s thick fog, or thin fog, or a haze on the horizon. Or storm clouds or white fluffy clouds, or there’s a mist in the air or it’s pouring down rain. Whatever it is, I love how the weather makes it look different every day, even if it’s only slightly. But I have to admit this, these summer days are super special.”

  Jay couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this kind of contentment. For his entire life, happiness had always been fleeting, rarely here and too soon gone. Which, he supposed, was part of what made it feel so precious. Like this blue sky.

  Reaching out, he took Mia’s hand and led her to large drift log. They sat and the dogs immediately huddled up and began sniffing for treasures.

  “So,” he said, “I was wondering what was going to happen to Duke? I called last wee
k and Charlotte said he was doing really well.”

  Mia blinked a couple times. “Oh, he is. His foot is pretty much healed. Now that he’s feeling better he’s much less angry, tolerable even. He’s going to be put up for adoption.”

  His lips curved up into a tentative smile. “What do you have to do to adopt a cat? I was thinking where I live is far enough from the highway I could let him go there and—”

  Her shoulders fell. “Oh, Jay, I wish you would have asked about him sooner. Dr. Anthony already took him to Portland to a shelter there.”

  Disappointment surged through him, surprising him with its intensity. At least the cat was going to be okay, he told himself. He was healthy now and no longer injured and hungry. He had a chance, and Jay felt good about that.

  “That’s probably better anyway. I don’t know anything about cats. Never had one of those, either.”

  Mia squeezed his hand. “Cats are easy. I wanted a cat so much when I was a kid. My dad hated cats. There’s something wrong with people who don’t like cats, if you ask me.”

  “What was he like, your dad? I know you told me you guys had problems. But it’s so odd knowing your mom to imagine her being with someone who wasn’t just as nice.”

  She peered at him intently and he knew she was trying to decide how to answer. He couldn’t blame her. What right did he have to ask about her family when he wouldn’t talk about his own? He’d understand if she didn’t tell him.

  “My parents were polar opposites. You never would have guessed they would make a good couple. Where Mom is all free-spirited and easygoing, my dad was totally rigid and uptight. His life was all about work and self-discipline. Except where my mom was concerned. With her he was different. And with my brother.”

  Coastie brought a stick and dropped it on his feet. He picked it up and gave it a good throw. George was busy digging a hole in the sand.

  “What was he like with you?”

  “Odd, looking back on it now. It was like I didn’t exist. The only time he spoke to me, which was rare, was to criticize me. I went out of my way to avoid him. Only later, with therapy, did I realize that my overachieving stemmed from that. It was how I gained the recognition and accolades I supposedly wanted from him.”