by Jenny Hale
“Make this old woman feel like she’s making an impression on you even if she isn’t.” She winked at her. “Humor me.”
Faith huffed out a chuckle and shook her head as she stood up and straightened her clothes. Then, with a grin in Nan’s direction, she walked to the door and went outside.
When she rounded the corner of the porch, leading to the long stretch that faced the ocean, she found Jake squatting down near a window, a putty knife in his hand. He was filling in an empty space around a window frame. She noticed the slight golden stubble on his face, almost reddish in the sunlight, and the way the lines on his forehead pulled downward in concentration. He wiped the knife on the paper towel and stood up to greet her.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hey.” He pulled up one of the rockers and offered her a seat.
She sat down, and he joined her in the other chair. The air was warm on her skin. She looked at the ocean, the sun blazing out over the beach. She put her bare feet up on the rung of the rocker and leaned forward to take in more of the view. A woman was out walking her dog, the surf coming up on its paws. The dog didn’t seem to mind as it walked along beside the woman, its tail wagging furiously. Two boys were throwing a Frisbee, and a plane flew overhead, a banner trailing behind it, advertising an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet. She squinted to make out Casey down below, Isabella in her pink swimsuit, building a sandcastle. She smiled to herself.
“Were you going to ask me something?”
“Oh.” She looked back at Jake, wondering how to phrase her question. “I had a lot of fun yesterday on the boat,” she said, scrambling for words. He smiled, and he seemed genuinely glad to hear it. “I was just wondering…” she broke eye contact in an effort to get out what she wanted to say, “why you would invite a complete stranger to sail with you. It seems like an awfully big thank-you for asking you to breakfast.”
He let out a little cough of laugher. “It’s really nothing,” he said, flashing that smile that sent her heart pattering. “I enjoy meeting new folks, and you and your family seem like great people.”
She wanted to ask him why she was so ‘great’ in particular, but he’d already stood up and was putting the rocking chair back in its place. His answer had been polite and acceptable, but she wondered if there was a reason he was holding back.
“I think your grandmother wanted to talk to me about some suggestions for the cottage,” he said.
“Wait,” she said, standing to stop him. He turned around. “You could tell when my stomach hurt yesterday.” His brows creased in the middle, showing his attempt to make sense of where that comment was going. “You could just tell, right?” He nodded, still unsure, clearly of her point. “Well, I can just tell that there’s another reason you asked us to go sailing. I can’t imagine that you go around being this nice to people all day long. It would be exhausting.” She smiled to show her humor. “What is it that made you offer? Tell me.” She took a step closer to him, her heart beating so fast she worried he could feel it in the air around them, but it was worth asking.
He smiled, his face gentle. “I like your family in particular,” he admitted. “I don’t know why—maybe it’s your Nan’s frankness; it reminds me of my father. Or, maybe it’s little Isabella; I’ve never had any kids, and I love kids. Or maybe…” He stopped.
Maybe what? She was willing him to finish. She’d never met another human being who could cause this kind of intensity in her. She was not going to let him move until he finished that sentence. Maybe he liked being around her. That’s what she wanted to hear. “Maybe what,” she finally verbalized when she realized he wasn’t going to say anything more.
He cleared his throat. “It’s good getting to know you.”
“Me?” It was a question but she stated it rather than asking because she wanted to hear it aloud to make sure she was right. He said it felt good to be around her.
“Yeah,” he said softly. “You keep a lot of who you are on the inside, and it’s fun to see if I can figure you out.” His amusement came out as a little puff of air, and he shook his head. Before she could add anything else, he said, “Now, I must see what your grandmother has to say about improvements.”
“Oh, goodness. Don’t feel like you have to listen to her. She’s very opinionated,” she said, but she was still processing the conversation they’d just had. She wanted to know more about why he enjoyed finding out about her so much. Why did he even care?
He laughed again, making the flutters return. “I don’t mind.”
She followed him inside. Nan had been right. Talking to Jake was easy. A little too easy. And with that buzzy feeling zinging around inside her, Faith decided to get ready for the beach and join her sister and Isabella. It was a gorgeous day. Best she take full advantage of it. Her fondness for Jake worried her a little, and she’d rather think about something lighter than falling for a guy she hardly knew and who lived a state away. While Jake was chatting with Nan, Faith grabbed the box of photos and took them into her bedroom. She set them down on the bedspread, the bright white wicker of the footboard contrasting with the battered brown edges of the box. She rifled through her suitcase and pulled out her swimsuit.
“Hey there,” her mother said from the doorway. “Oh, what is that?” She began walking toward the bed, eyeing the box.
“Nan brought me her photos.” Her mother opened the box and peered inside.
“Ha!” she pulled out a photo and turned it around for Faith to view. Faith couldn’t help herself; she started giggling. “Remember when you two were dressed up as scarecrows?” she said, looking at the picture and shaking her head, her chest still rising and falling with quiet laughter. “The straw kept falling out of your outfit and, as we walked, I had to tuck it back in. By the time we finished trick-or-treating, you were ‘The Skinny Scarecrow’ and Casey was ‘The Fat One’.” Then her face sobered. “Oh, sometimes I miss those days. They were tough, but boy were they fun.” She put the photo back into the box. “Where’re you headed?”
“Casey and Isabella are out on the beach. I’m going to join them.”
Her mom smiled. It wasn’t her usual smile; it was a proud, motherly smile. It was clear that she was glad her girls were together again. On the outside, that’s what it looked like, but on the inside both girls still had a lot to get through if they wanted to be happy like they had been. Faith was doing her best to put the past behind her, but her issues with Casey would never really go away until they’d talked them through. But that would have to wait.
“Wanna go?” Faith asked, setting her swimsuit on the bed and digging around in her suitcase for her cover-up. She looked up to see her mother’s response.
“I’ll join you in a bit,” she said. “I’ll stay up with Nan for a little while. I hate leaving her all by herself in the cottage.”
“Want me to stay too?”
“No, you go ahead and join Casey. I get to talk to your sister more than you do. Enjoy the time.” Then, with an animated look on her face—her eyebrows bouncing upward—she said, “I brought the picnic basket! Maybe I can make everyone a picnic lunch and we can eat it on the beach.”
Of course she’d brought a picnic basket. Faith was just glad to have a beach bag, but her mom was prepared for every occasion. She probably had a red and white checked tablecloth to sit on, Faith thought with amusement. Her mother’s preparation was an indication of her excitement, and it was endearing. She loved her mother so much and was torn between staying there with her and going down to see Casey and Isabella. But then, as she thought more about it, she realized that her mother would probably rather she go and see Casey. They had more reason to spend time together.
She tried to focus on the fact that, even though things weren’t perfect between them, Faith had come a long way emotionally. What was left now was the fear that the trust she’d put in her sister had been broken.
After everything that had happened, after the feelings of complete despair, after working through the
reality that Scott was going to be her brother-in-law, and finally coming to terms with the whole thing and moving on, it seemed he wasn’t even going to be part of the family anymore. Certainly, he was Isabella’s father, but with his divorce from Casey imminent, she surely wouldn’t see him anymore. It was funny how life played out sometimes.
SEVEN
“May I bury your feet?” Isabella asked, as Faith got comfortable in her beach chair.
“Of course.” Faith wiggled her toes, her sparkly pedicure shimmering in the bright sunlight. Isabella was on her knees, and the bottom of her pink swimsuit was sandy all the way up to the ruffle around her waist. With her tiny fingers, she dug around Faith’s feet, and she could feel the cool sand from underneath the surface against her skin.
Faith looked out at the rolling ocean. On the far left, a sailboat bobbed along, and Faith thought about yesterday. She’d really enjoyed herself. There was something almost magical about being out on the ocean like that, with nothing but blue as far as she could see, the quiet chatter of the crew as they maneuvered the sail, the wind in her hair. And being with Jake.
“I had fun yesterday,” Casey said, following her thoughts, and Faith wondered if she, too, was thinking about Jake.
Isabella had finished burying Faith’s feet, the sand now up to her ankles. The little girl ran down to the water, squatting on the sand to pick up a shell as the water rushed in around her.
“Me too.”
“Jake was so great with Isabella. She looked so scared when we first arrived, but he knew just what to say,” Casey said. “I don’t know if I could have come up with something like that, and I’m her mother.”
Faith remembered Jake saying how much he liked children and even said he’d enjoyed Isabella. She knew what he probably thought of Isabella, but she also wondered what Jake thought of Casey. Did he think Casey was a single mom? Had she made an impression on him? Faith didn’t like thinking about it because when she did, it made her remember what had gone wrong between them. When she was around Jake, having Casey present made her slightly uncomfortable and she didn’t want to feel like that. She wished they could go back to a time before things had gotten strained between them. She missed the sister who used to lie on her bed with her listening to the radio, the girl who offered her Nancy Drew novels when she was finished with them, the girl who spent all those nights with her outside when the weather was warm like it was now.
Again, she tumbled into her memories. As kids, she and Casey had been inseparable. When she was ten, it was Casey who’d convinced her to hike through the woods to the stream she’d found behind their house just as the sun was slipping below the horizon. Faith would reach out to grab her hand, nervous, as her sister tiptoed across the wet rocks to the other side where a tree had fallen in a storm. Faith was terrified that they’d slip, especially after a good rain when the water was higher, rushing around the rocks, making her a little dizzy as the flow of it zipped past her bare feet. When they got to the other side, Casey would open the jar she’d brought in her backpack, and they’d catch lightning bugs. They were like little stars floating around them in the dark woods. Faith missed those times.
She turned to look at Casey, trying to see past her designer sunglasses. Her face was older, more weathered, but she’d worked hard to keep it youthful, and, if she allowed her vision to blur, Faith could still see that little girl.
“I wonder what Jake’s doing up there with Nan,” Casey said, shielding her eyes with her hand and craning her neck to view the cottage.
“I think Nan’s giving him pointers on the construction of the cottage,” Faith giggled.
“She always has to give her two cents. God love her.”
“She’s great, isn’t she?”
“Yeah. I’m so glad she decided to do this. You know, I worry about her and her health, yet at the same time she’s doing something like this: planning a trip to the beach.” Casey shook her head. “I don’t like to think about what things will be like without her. She’s the glue for us, you know? She keeps us all together.” Casey tilted her head toward the cottage. “We should probably save Jake, though.”
“Nah. After seeing how he handled Isabella yesterday on the boat, I don’t think he’ll need any help.”
Both Casey and Faith looked out at Isabella as she stood at the water’s edge, filling a bright orange bucket with wet sand. From a distance, she looked just like her mother. It made Faith want to run back to the cottage and dig out a photo of Casey at five years old to see the similarities.
“He’s easy to talk to, considering we just met him,” Casey said. She sure was bringing Jake up a lot.
“I know.” He’d been so sweet to Faith, bringing her ginger ale to settle her stomach and taking her to the front of the boat. From what she’d seen of him, though, he was like that all the time, with everyone. He’d helped Isabella over her worries, he listened to Nan’s ramblings about things she didn’t know, he joined them for breakfast. No wonder there’d been a crowd around him at Dune Burger when she’d first arrived.
“It’s odd that he’s single, isn’t it?” Casey said.
“Maybe he isn’t,” Faith said with a shrug. She kicked the sand off her feet.
“I’d date him if I were a single woman,” Casey laughed, looking over at Faith, a deviously happy look on her face.
Faith worried about this statement. What if Casey felt the need to get on with her life? She wouldn’t… “Yeah, I suppose I would too.”
“See if you can get him to offer!”
“What… A date?”
“Yeah!”
When it came to being alluring and exciting, Casey was better that she was. But, on the other hand, there was something about the way Jake had looked at her that made her feel hopeful. And Faith knew that she was capable of having a good time. “He seems like the kind of guy who would easily go out on a date. He’d do it just to be nice,” Faith said.
A seagull flew overhead, causing a shadow to trail across the sand. Isabella brought her bucket up to dry ground and dumped it upside down, patting the bottom to pack the wet sand onto its foundation. Faith thought about what it would be like to be on a date with Jake. What would it feel like to be that close to him? Where would he take her? Would they stroll along the beach together or have a nice dinner? It had been a while since she’d been out on a date and she felt rusty, out of practice, her imagination having difficulty coming up with creative ideas. She was willing to bet that Jake would have a ton of ideas.
“I’m actually excited about going fishing with Jake” Casey said.
The initial excitement drained out of her just a little. She’d forgotten that Jake had already asked Casey to go fishing. Granted, it was to appease Isabella, but if he’d not wanted to see her mother, he could’ve easily gotten out of that situation. They weren’t even fishing that day on the boat. He didn’t have to offer at all. Casey was starting with the upper hand.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” Faith said, trying to stay positive. “You’ve had a lot on your plate, and you need a good break. I know what you and Scott are dealing with must be hard,” she said, a flock of seagulls flying overhead. “Do you think you will be able to reconcile?”
Casey shook her head and looked out at the ocean. Faith noticed her blinking quite a bit behind her sunglasses, and she felt guilty for bringing up a sore subject. They really hadn’t talked about it, though.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I shouldn’t have brought it up. I’m just curious. It’s a big step, changing a family dynamic like that. Are you sure?”
“No, I’m not sure. I thought everything was fine between us. It blindsided me.”
“Was he… Did he… There wasn’t another woman or anything, was there?”
“No.” Casey picked at a loose thread on the corner of her beach towel. “I asked him.” She was quiet for a while. The only sounds were the crashing waves and Isabella’s laughter as she chased a sandpiper across the sand before it fle
w away. “He said he was alone all the time.” She adjusted her glasses, but Faith wondered if it was a nervous gesture. Casey hadn’t ever really failed at anything. This had to be hard. “He said that it was pointless to live together because he could be alone in his own place without the constant reminder of being alone every time I came home.”
“You all didn’t spend time together when you were home?” This idea seemed so odd to Faith because she knew how her sister loved being around people. She imagined Casey rushing home to see Scott and Isabella, bursting through the door and dropping her bag right there to reach out her arms and hug them. That would be like her. So why hadn’t she been like that?
“My work demands require so much of my time, but Faith, I love my job. I’ve worked hard to get where I am. When I came home, and work was finished, I sat with Isabella and did what she wanted me to do. Scott was in his office or, if it was late at night, in our bedroom, watching TV. When I finally got ready to go to bed, he was already asleep, and, honestly, I was exhausted myself. We just didn’t talk to each other anymore.” Casey became quiet again, and this time, Faith could see the gentle rising and falling of her chest as she sat beside her. Casey brushed away a tear that escaped from under her glasses. Her voice broke as she said, “What he didn’t realize was that I still loved him. Even though I didn’t say it. I still do.” She cleared her throat. “We’ve been separated for a year now, and it still feels like yesterday when he left.”
Faith knew what it was like to put work first, and now, she here was proof that doing that ruined relationships. Even Casey, who’d always seemed to get everything easily had let work get in the way of her family, and now she had to face the consequences. “I’m trying to have a fun time while I’m here, but life keeps getting in the way,” Faith admitted. “We all need a break. Remember when we used to come here to the cottage as kids? Nothing mattered for that week because we were going to eat Mom’s homemade trail mix, stay outside until our skin hurt from too much sun and turn in after playing board games so late that we could hardly see straight. That was it. That was the expectation for the whole week.” Faith fell silent. She missed those times with her sister. And she worried for Casey.