One Summer

by Jenny Hale

  “What is it?”

  Alice shook her head, swallowing and blinking obsessively to get herself together, feeling absolutely humiliated. When she regained focus, those eyes were right in front of her. He took her hand, leading her into the shade under a nearby tree. They sat together on a bench there, her breathing shallow as she tried to get herself in check.

  Alice leaned forward, hanging her head and trying to breathe more deeply, the coffee spot on her shirt blurring in front of her as her head started to spin. Was she having a panic attack? “I don’t know why I’m crying,” she finally said. She might as well come clean; she’d made a complete mess of things already. He probably thought she was a crazy person, which was fine. Maybe he’d stop looking at her, adorable and hunky, and she could forget this whole meeting. “I think I’m just a little overwhelmed.”

  “Why?” Jack’s voice urged her to explain, that one word so soft it made her want to have his comforting arms around her. She was definitely losing it.

  “I just moved here,” she said, to offer an answer to his question, but she didn’t provide any more than that because right now all she wanted was to get herself together.

  “Oh?”

  The breeze rustled the leaves of the trees, providing the only reprieve from the heat. A runaway strand of hair wound its way across her cheek as she squeezed her eyes to keep the tears in. Maybe she hadn’t let herself grieve enough for the loss of her relationship or her grandfather. Perhaps she’d made the move too soon.

  “I don’t know if I made the right decision moving here,” Alice admitted.

  When Jack didn’t speak, she looked up and met his gaze. She noticed how relaxed he seemed, how nothing—not even a random woman losing her handbag and then bizarrely breaking into tears and telling him her personal thoughts—ruffled him. His shoulders were comfortable, his face peaceful. She felt like it was just the two of them on the entire planet at that moment.

  “All we can do in life is try,” Jack said. “If it’s the wrong decision, what’s the worst that could happen?”

  Alice didn’t know. What was the worst that could happen? She thought about Henry. He’d eventually make friends here, become comfortable. But what if the business failed and she had to pull him away from yet another group of kids that he’d grown fond of?

  “Want me to tell you?” Jack’s head was turned to the side, his face so honest. “If you make the wrong decision, you just have to try a little harder to turn it into the right one. It’ll be awesome if you decide it’ll be awesome.”

  She let it sink in, her heartbeat slowing slightly, her shoulders beginning to relax. And, the more she thought about it, the more she realized he might be right. In that moment, this complete stranger had made her feel good about herself, about her choices, and before this instance, the only person who’d ever been able to do that was Gramps. Right in front of her, for the first time, was someone who had made her question her fears and see a different side to her choices. She’d never had another man talk her through things so easily before.

  The two of them sat together on the bench until her tears were gone. And in the silence, she was so happy to have him there. What surprised her most was the thought that the outcome of those fears would’ve been very different without his words.

  Jack broke through the silence with a slap on his thighs before he stood up. “We need to find your bag,” he said, smiling down at her.

  Alice stood up beside him and, together, they walked to the car.

  “Where to?” he asked, opening her door for her.

  As she tried to remember the last place she’d been, she wasn’t as troubled by the missing bag, because with Jack, she felt like everything would be okay.

  Chapter Six

  “Wow, that was so nice of a complete stranger to do that,” Sasha said as she hugged her new mug. She set it down to help unpack the groceries, retrieving the gummy snacks that Henry had asked for and placing them on the kitchen counter before rooting around in the grocery sacks again. “You bought wine, right?” she said, her voice muffled inside the bag. “Oh!” Sasha yanked out the champagne Alice had gotten and set it on the counter, beaming at her friend. She held up her mug. “This ought to be just the right size!” Then she set it next to the bottle with a wink at Alice.

  Alice laughed, glad to see her friend in a lighter mood. She’d told her the whole story about how Jack had driven her around to find her handbag, and how she’d ended up locating it in the last shop she’d been in. Once she’d found it, she could remember perfectly how it had happened: she’d put all her bags down to unfold a beach towel so she could see the whole picture printed on it. It was a giant cocktail with little fruits embroidered on either end. She’d folded it back up and set it on the shelf, and when she’d picked up her bags, she must have missed her handbag by accident. Luckily, it was still where she’d left it, completely untouched.

  “Wish we could thank him,” Sasha said, as Alice peeked out the window at Henry, who was walking Einstein in the sand just outside. “It would be nice to get to know a few people. And that would be an easy opportunity.”

  “I know.” Alice did like Jack. He’d been so kind to her. He might be a good friend to have in the area as they got up and running. “I’d cook him dinner, but we really aren’t ready for visitors quite yet.” She looked around at the empty space, some of Gramps’s things still in the corner, their bags spread along one wall. “Maybe if we run into him again, we could ask him to have drinks or something.”

  “That’s a great idea!” Sasha picked up her phone and opened her texts. “But we don’t have to wait. Is this his number you texted on earlier?”

  Willing the cloud of excitement from her head as she looked at the string of numbers on Sasha’s phone, she said with a smile, “Yes.”

  * * *

  Alice trotted down the narrow staircase of the bike shop. She’d been getting her swim attire on: the new cover-up she’d gotten for the summer that matched the spaghetti straps of her swimsuit. On her way to answer the knock she’d heard, she noticed the back screen door was open, the breeze rattling it on its hinges. Sasha and Henry were already out on the beach, Henry splashing happily in the waves.

  Sasha had offered to take him out again, doting on him and being overly sentimental, and while it was a very kind gesture, it was also a reminder that Alice needed to have some alone time to talk to Sasha. They’d decided to take it slowly to let Henry get settled, so they didn’t have a whole lot planned for the redesign of the shop just yet, and it would be a good moment to find out what was bothering her.

  Alice smiled, able to hear her son giggling from inside. Mentally reminding herself to fix the wobbly latch, she pulled it shut and focused on her original task. Through the display window she could see a woman who, to her surprise, was squatting down next to Einstein, rubbing his cheeks, a makeshift leash made of rope attached to his collar.

  “I thought this might be your dog,” she said through the front screen, as Alice opened the door to greet her.

  The woman smiled. She was holding a large camera and her flip-flops scratched with her movements as they ground the sand against the weathered wood of the porch. There was no escaping sand on Beach Road; it was everywhere, trailing along the sides of the street, meandering through the wild gaillardias that grew along the edges of the walks, blowing up onto the porches, and drifting into parking areas.

  “I’m Melly St. James.” Her soft accent sounded as southern as the warm butter on Alice’s mother’s biscuits. “Everyone calls me Melly.”

  “Alice Emerson.”

  “I live in the cottage across the street.”

  The woman raised a delicate hand toward a small bungalow. It was quaint and beachy, just like she was. Alice delighted in her friendly demeanor. There was something slightly wise lurking under her lovely smile; Melly had the kind of face that made her seem like she had years of experiences bigger than any Alice had known. She was wearing a flowing skirt, her hair p
ulled back loosely, wisps falling around her face and onto her bare shoulders, her silky tank top matching her skirt.

  “I saw him when you all arrived. He was wandering around in my backyard, so I figured I’d bring him over.” She twisted her camera around so Alice could view the small screen. “I caught a quick snap of him first. I’d be happy to print it for you.” She clicked a few buttons and held the camera out toward Alice.

  “Wow, are you a professional photographer?” The photo looked like something out of a glossy magazine—Einstein was sitting among the tall beach grasses as if he’d been perfectly trained to do so, his chin up, his deep brown eyes directly on the camera, the sun coming in at an angle behind him.

  Melly chuckled humbly. “No. It’s just something I do as a hobby.” She handed her end of the rope leash to Alice. “It took me forever to get this on him.”

  “I’m so sorry, he must have gotten out the back door.” Alice patted her thighs, and Einstein came to her, his tail wagging furiously. “Thank you so much for bringing him back. We’d have been beside ourselves if we’d lost him.” Alice gestured inside. “Would you like to come in?”

  “I wouldn’t want to impose,” Melly said, but her obvious curiosity as she looked past Alice into the shop told Alice otherwise. “I’m sure you’ve got a lot to do, having just come into town. I only moved here myself in the last month. I’m still unpacking too so I totally get the chaos.” She laughed quietly.

  Alice let Einstein inside, slipped off the rope from his collar, and shut the door behind her to give her a moment to talk, stepping onto the porch. She was happy to meet another person new to the area. “Where are you from?”

  “Not too far—South Carolina. How about you?”

  “Virginia.” The sun was still strong, the heat warming her skin despite the sea breeze. “I really don’t mind if you’d like to come in. Please do. It’s not that chaotic. I think I might even have… fruit gummies and whole milk to offer you.”

  Melly smiled. “Was that your son I saw when you all pulled in? The one walking your dog?”

  “Yes.” Alice ushered Melly inside and through the open area where she and Sasha had set up a small table and chairs, so they could sit downstairs and drink their morning coffee with the screen door and windows open to let in the breeze.

  Melly’s gaze traveled up the empty walls, along the cloudy front window where Gramps used to put his newest bikes, down the gritty, dirty floor, and then back to Alice. “What happened to the bike shop that used to be here?” She looked over at Alice. “I’d thought there was a man who lived on the top floor.”

  Alice was afraid to say too much for fear she’d burst into tears over losing Gramps. She’d been emotionally shaky since she’d gotten here and she didn’t trust herself to go into detail. “My best friend Sasha and I own the property now, and we’re opening an ice cream shop in its place. It’s just us and my son Henry.”

  Melly frowned for a second, taking this in. Then she smiled at Alice, who was glad that Melly hadn’t pressed her.

  Einstein flopped down on the floor with his bone.

  Alice grabbed the rag she’d gotten out and wiped the old wooden counters. Perhaps it was a nervous gesture, or having someone in the shop when it was exposed like this made her a little nervous. She didn’t want any judgments to be made about Gramps’s shop because, when he’d had it, it had been lovely. “He’s outside at the moment with Sasha. I’ve got a few chairs in the back on the patio if you’d like to join me. I’ll grab us some iced tea.”

  Melly nodded and continued to look around, her eyes moving up to the ceiling and then back down, her interest clear. “I love old buildings,” she said. “This was one of the original fishing shacks on the beach, right? It’s been around for so long, I’ll bet it qualifies for the historical properties distinction. Mind if I take a few photos? I’d be more than happy to share them with you.”

  “Not at all.”

  While Alice prepared two iced teas, Melly walked around, snapping photos of the window overlooking the ocean, the old front door, the counter where Alice had sat as a girl while waiting for Gramps to pack his fishing equipment. When Melly slowed in her photo taking, Alice opened the back door, and a wide beam of sunshine cut across the floor, showing the age of the boards. She noticed Melly taking one more photo of that.

  The squawk of seagulls and the static sound of the relentlessly crashing waves poured into the room. It was remarkably difficult to talk about Gramps’s bike shop and share the space with a stranger without getting a lump in her throat. She’d thought she would’ve been fine having such a simple question about the original owner of the shop come her way, but the emotions that she’d experienced when she’d come back before came flooding in again without warning. She turned her focus to her memory of Jack and his calming voice, letting his words slide through her consciousness. All we can do in life is try. She just needed to try—day by day, if that was what it took. And then eventually the idea of Gramps’s empty bike shop wouldn’t seem as though her world had ended, like it did right now when she let herself look around.

  “Follow me,” Alice said, leading the way outside.

  They walked out onto the patio and Melly took a seat, crossing her long legs, her flip-flop dangling from her foot. She set her camera down on the small table between the chairs as Alice handed her one of Gramps’s Mason jars full of tea, the cold of the ice cubes causing the glass to cloud in the humidity.

  “So,” Melly said, “an ice cream shop?” With a grin, she added, “I used to work at a frozen yogurt shop in high school. I was known for making the biggest cones without the ice cream falling off. I even have a certificate.” She giggled.

  “Oh, that’s funny! I decided it might be a good business move to open an ice cream shop here,” Alice said, willing courage into her voice. “Who doesn’t love ice cream, right? My son adores it.”

  Alice noticed contemplation in Melly’s smile and the kindness in her eyes. She already felt better just having met her. It would be so nice to have a good neighbor.

  Alice popped back in to grab Einstein. When she returned, Melly had taken her tea and scooted her chair to the edge of the patio, her eyes on Sasha and Henry—they were riding the waves on boogie boards. Alice safely leashed Einstein outside and he plopped down next to his bowl of water, shaded by the building. Henry caught a wave, the board under his belly sending him sailing forward as he bumped along through the choppy surf. He slid up onto the beach, his hair darkened to a golden color by the seawater. He caught Alice’s eye and waved.

  “I’ll be down in a little bit!” Alice called, warmed by the sight. Henry was a great kid. So great that she often wondered what she’d done to be so lucky. It was as if, from the moment he was born, he just knew that they were a team. He looked to her for guidance, he listened when she talked to him, and he had a good heart. Her friends back home would tell her frazzled stories about how their kids would stomp up the stairs or talk back to them and Alice would smile and nod politely, but in the back of her mind, she’d think about how grateful she was that she couldn’t relate. Henry was her little rock, her whole world.

  “He looks just like you,” Melly said with a smile. She took a deep breath and turned to Alice. “So, this ice cream shop… Does it have a name yet? Where will I be eating my delicious banana splits?”

  “I’ve thought of a name, but I’ve only just mentioned it to Sasha. We’re taking our time with this. I know we don’t have forever, but we want to get it right. She’s been researching the market and analyzing the best inventory while I’ve been focusing on interior design and aesthetics. I was thinking we’d call it ‘Seaside Sprinkles’.” Just saying the name out loud gave her a punch of happiness.

  “Oh, I love that!” Melly said, her excitement genuine and clear. The ice clinked in her glass as she held it up toward the sun. “This tea is really good,” she said.

  “I’ll tell Sasha; she made it. Or maybe you can.” Sasha surfaced at the top of
the dune, and headed over to the patio. She was wrapped in a towel, her dark hair in wet strands down her back.

  “Hello,” Sasha said as she approached.

  “This is Melly St. James. She lives across the street.”

  Sasha beamed at her. “It’s so good to meet a neighbor! I’m Sasha Miller.”

  “Hi!” Henry came up behind Sasha, dragging his boogie board on the string that was strapped to his wrist, his skin covered in beads of water, sand sticking to his feet and ankles. He moved around Sasha to give Alice a hug.

  Einstein sat up, his tail wagging furiously at the sight of his boy.

  “You’re all wet!” Alice giggled, as he wrapped his dripping arms around her.

  “Did you see me? I rode a big wave!” His attention was still on Alice as he squatted down and rubbed Einstein’s cheeks. Einstein started licking the salt off his arms, the puppy barely able to keep still with the excitement of having Henry in the vicinity.

  “I saw some of it! You’ll have to show me all your skills in a little while. This is Melly.”

  “Hello,” Melly said, leaning forward to greet him. “I saw you out there too—you were great, a real pro!” There was something so soothing about how she greeted him, as if she’d worked with children before. It seemed to come naturally for her. “What do you think is the most difficult part of boogie boarding?” she asked him.

  “I think it’s knowing when to get down on your board. Too early and the wave goes whoosh,” Henry said, flailing his arms in the air. Einstein stood up to reach him, and Henry bent back over to pet his head. “Too late and there’s no water left, and let me tell you, you’ll feel all that sand on your belly. Ouch.” He nodded knowledgeably, his eyes round, making them all laugh.

  “Why don’t we come down to the water and watch you now?” Alice said, standing up to get Einstein, her iced tea in the other hand. “I think we can unpack the umbrella and the folding beach chairs pretty easily, can’t we, Sasha?”