. . .
After eating lunch and after devouring most of the pizza and putting the leftovers in a box, Thomas and Daniel left the restaurant. Then they walked towards Santos Café, where they had been a few hours earlier. Their truck was in sight so Thomas decided they would stop and pick up the dogs, Harley and Layla, first before heading to the café. They left their extra pizza in truck and grabbed some dog treats and were on their way. Once they got to the café Thomas and Daniel talked outside for a minute, trying to figure out what they were going to get. Daniel took both dogs that were being well behaved for the moment, and sat at bench in a grassy area on the left side of the coffee shop. He walked towards the door and held it open for a woman who was coming out. He was looking the other way towards his son as the she walked out and behind him, then he went in.
As Thomas walked inside there was a smell in the air, it mixed with the coffee and baked goods smells that were normal for Santos Café. It was a perfume scent and was familiar to him but he could not place why for some reason. He stopped in his tracks and looked behind him and back out the door looking to see where it may have come from, but no one was there. He walked up to the counter and placed his order for a large coffee and hot chocolate, the perfume smell still in his nose until it wore away.
. . .
As Stephanie was walked out of the small café a large man in black coat held the door for her as she went out and into the fresh air. She stopped for a brief second as a tingle went down her spine for some unknown reason. She checked the time on her phone then headed down a path that went to the left of the coffee shop she just left. Next to the café, there was an open area with small trees, flowers and benches and grass. As she walked down the stone path between the buildings, she passed a small boy sitting on a bench with two large dogs sitting beside him. The boy had a hat on and was very focused on them as she walked by. The dogs tried smelling her as she walked by; the older dog in particular seemed very interested in her.
Stephanie said “nice dogs, kid” as she went by and lightly brushed her fingers tips on the top of the older dogs head.
The boy said “thanks miss” as Stephanie kept walking away. After she was ten feet away or so she heard the boy say, “Harley get over here old girl, she doesn’t want to be your friend.”
When Stephanie heard this, she spun around as she walked and nearly dropped the coffee she just bought. She looked at the young boy who was pulling the older dog back towards him. Stephanie looked down at the black, brown and white dog then looked up at the boy who was staring at her.
“I’m sorry miss she is just nosey for an old dog. She thinks everyone should be her friend,” the boy said smiling. As he looked up at the strange woman, he cocked his head and seemed to be studying her.
“No okay, don’t worry about it” Stephanie said nervously as she and the young boy made eye contact. She froze in panic; in front of her was Thomas’ son Daniel. She did not know what to do or say if anything at all. She instantly recognized Thomas’ dog Harley who also seemed to remember Stephanie even though it had been years. The dog’s head was tilted to the side and her tail was wagging, she also began to wine a little bit.
The small boy who Stephanie knew to be Daniel was still staring at her and then said in a squeaky little boy voice “lady do I know you from somewhere, you sure look like someone I’ve seen before.”
Stephanie looked around for Thomas and wondered silently if he could see her and then said, “No I don’t think so I’m not from here, have a nice day” then she turned and hurried away between the buildings to her left and went back up another sidewalk to Hemlock Street and ducked into a doorway.
She was breathing hard and her heart felt like it was going to explode inside her chest. She had a sip of coffee to calm down and took some deep breaths; she could not believe she just ran into Thomas’ own son.
. . .
A few minutes after he went inside, Thomas walked out of the coffee shop and headed around the building to where his son and their two dogs were sitting. His son was looking the other way when Thomas walked up and petted Layla’s head. Harley’s attention seemed to be in the same direction as Daniel.
“Hey Kiddo what did I miss, what are we looking at” Thomas asked smiling as he handed his son his hot chocolate and grabbed Layla’s leash.
“Oh nothing really, I think Harley just scared some lady though” the boy answered then adding “she wouldn’t stop smelling this her when she walked by us, she was nice about it though”
“Well that’s nice; most people in this town are used to dogs. But sometimes the people from out of state aren’t as happy about the dogs being around here. Well are you all set to go to the beach and check out some wave action kiddo,” Thomas asked.
“I sure am, and I think the girls are too” the said smiling as he hopped up.
A minute later Thomas and his son were heading back to the main streets of Cannon Beach. They crossed Hemlock Street and headed towards the ocean. They already could smell the salt in air and hear the massive oceans waves pounding the shore from two blocks away.
As they walked, Daniel looked up at his dad and asked, “Hey Dad, what’s that one thing where you see someone and you think you have seen them before but you can’t remember where or how?”
“I don’t really know buddy, maybe fate I guess…or something like that,” Thomas answered as he wondered what brought up the question.
Twenty Three
The wind was whipping up the ocean and sending massive waves onto the shore at Cannon Beach. The main part of the storm still was a little ways off shore but that would change in a few hours. A cement sea wall lined the beach and generally protected the town from being flooded by the ocean. The waves were, at least for the moment, not reaching anywhere near the sea wall, but large waves and rolls of water still came over the sand. There was still plenty of time to walk down the beach and plenty of room to walk without getting wet…unless you were a dog.
As Thomas and his son meandered slowly, down the beach they laughed as Layla and Harley ran around chasing each other through the salty water. Thomas would periodically throw a large stick into water for the dogs to chase. Harley was experienced with the ocean and was always careful to not let a big wave hit her. She would wait until a larger wave crashed on land and then go after the stick. Layla the younger of the two dogs though would barrel into the ocean, waves, froth and all. Then she would have to fight with the ocean as she made her way back to higher ground stick in hand and tail wagging away. As they walked, Daniel scanned the sand for anything that would wash up – the boy was always on the lookout for treasures from the sea. The two dogs eventually got tired of fighting with the ocean and grew content with just walking next to Thomas and Daniel off their leashes. There were not many people in town as far as tourists were concerned and that left beach somewhat empty. There were only a few other people on the beach who were most likely locals and most had at least one dog with them. The wind was beginning to blow harder and harder and the gusts got longer and longer as the minutes went on. The storm was coming in from the southwest and that meant Thomas and his son were walking right into the wind. Neither Thomas nor Daniel cared though about the wind or the blowing sand. This was their thing and their life and walking the beach in bad weather was one of the parts of their lives they loved the most.
After walking for a while, they decided to sit on a washed up log higher up on the beach away from the water and rest for a while. Harley and Layla found a place on the sand to lie down in on the other side of the log and tried to get out of the blowing sand. One of things Thomas and Daniel did not do much while they were walking on days like this was talk. The beach and ocean meant a lot to them for different reasons. Moreover, for some reason on days like this when they would walk on the beaches their own thoughts filled their minds. Daniel had been taking pictures the whole time as well as Thomas, the boy was eager to send them to his grandpa in Michigan. As Thomas sat on the log, he looked down
at his son who was looking out over the ocean at the crashing waves. He wondered what the boy was thinking about as he smiled and watched nature’s show.
As for Thomas and his thoughts, his mind was a jumbled mess. He thought about Daniel mother Sarah, and how much he missed her. Then the thoughts moved onto the unknown situation with Tracie. Then for some reason, which he did not know or understand, he began thinking about Stephanie; the woman that drove him back out to Oregon. He wondered how she was and what she was doing with her life. He had often thought of her over the years and always wondered what could have been. The only time he stopped thinking about her since he had returned to Oregon was when Sarah was still alive. Stephanie came up in conversations with Derrick on occasion and he would get annoyed when Thomas talked about her too much. Thomas knew that Derrick kept in touch on occasion with Stephanie as they were also friends. However, Derrick was disgusted with how callously Stephanie kicked Thomas aside all those years ago and never forgave her for it. In Derrick’s own words Stephanie “became just someone he knows but no longer a friend”. Nevertheless, as Thomas sat next to his son and with his dogs he could not help thinking about the woman he had once loved. His memories drifted back to that beach in Sarasota Florida where he and Stephanie went all those years ago on vacation. He also remembered what happened when they got back from Florida, which is how he ended up back in Oregon, and in the life, he now had. After sitting on the log silently for a while getting blown at by the wind, sand and ocean spray, Thomas, his son and their dogs all began walking further south down the beach. They were near Haystack Rock and Daniel really wanted to get up close to it.
. . .
After staying in the doorway until Thomas, his son and dogs were out of sight she ventured back down the street. Her mind was being stretched in a hundred different ways. In one way she was scared shitless and in another she was immensely happy and that is what confused her the most. Walking up on Thomas’ son Daniel and his dogs was a surprise and something she never intended to happen. Moreover, after she ran away and hid in that doorway and watched Thomas and his son walk away she saw how handsome he looked in person. Standing in that doorway Stephanie also realized that the man that held the door for her at the coffee shop was Thomas himself. Stephanie had no idea what she would have done if he had realized it was her. Stephanie assumed that Thomas and son were going to the beach with their dogs and after walking lost in fog down Hemlock Street she decided to head back to her car and then back to her cottage. She had to come back into town later for groceries and to have dinner and drinks with Ann and her husband anyway. 15 minutes later, she was in her rental car and pulling into the driveway at the cottage. After bringing her bags inside, Stephanie decided to sit on the deck and drink her coffee and relax for a little bit before she took a short nap and got ready for dinner. As she sat on the beach Adirondack chair she pulled out her cell phone to call Karen.
. . .
The farther down the beach they walked, Thomas noticed that the waves were getting bigger and higher. The wind had picked up to the point that it was a consistent blow, however he loved the way it howled as it blew in between the old buildings. Thomas and Daniel had been watching the waves hit the west side of haystack rock ever since they got onto the beach. In addition, the closer they got to the huge monolith rock they realized just how large the waves were that were crashing against it. When the waves hit they sounded like thunder from a storm and sent frothy white water high up against the rock and spray into the air. Thomas knew this was supposed to be a big storm but even he was surprised at how big waves had gotten already. As they walked closer and closer to the large rock and eventually in front of it they started seeing more “treasure” that had washed up onto the beach. Thomas had put Layla back on to her leash for her own good. A little ways down the beach after leaving the log, she got a little over anxious going after a stick and was nearly sucked out into the ocean by a receding wave. The poor dog was rolling in the surf and had swallowed salt water until Thomas ran into surf, and grabbed her. This venture had left his pants wet to the knees and his boots soaked. This sort of thing had happened a few times before near their own cottage. Thomas knew eventually Layla would learn to be careful in the ocean waves just as Harley had learned years before. Harley was still off her leash but stayed at the side of Daniel the whole time.
Standing now directly in front of the huge rock Thomas and his son looked up at the birds near the top that were circling and fighting with the wind. The beach had cleared out quite a bit since the wind, waves and rain had picked up, the storm was getting ever close to shore. Thomas looked over at his son who was watching the wave’s crash again as the boy rubbed Harleys head.
“So what are you thinking about buddy?” Thomas asked noticing his son was somewhat quiet.
“Well lots of things I suppose Dad” the boy answered.
“Like what, or is it personal?” Thomas asked since he was curious.
“Well I’m thinking about the storm and how cool it was and how much Grandpa would like it. And I’m thinking about Mom and stuff,” the boy answered quietly.
“I bet old pop would love this buddy, someday we will show him this. But what about your mom?” Thomas asked.
“Well did she ever tell you how I was born?” the boy asked.
“Yeah she did, you were born in big storm just like the one that were about to get. I remember her telling me that the power went out at her work at the art gallery she used to work at. And the ambulance people had to deliver you right there because you were ready to come right then.”
“Mom was pretty brave for doing that huh Dad, I mean she must have been really scared,” the boy said quietly with a deep sigh.
“Yeah I would imagine so, at least I think so” Thomas replied then kneeling down to look his son in the eye then adding “Danny your mom was one of the bravest women I have ever known in my whole life, what’s the matter buddy” he asked squinting his eyes and studying his sons face. He knew there was more that Daniel was not saying and he always thought it was important for his son to speak his mind no matter what.
“It’s not a big deal Dad but…well when we were walking down the beach I remembered that mom and I came here for the day a week before her accident. We had a lot of fun; we went swimming in the ocean even though it was a little cold. She helped me find lots of shells and we just goofed off and had fun ya know. I just wish I could have told her goodbye I suppose and tell her I love her one last time, we never got to say goodbye,”
Thomas smiled at his son, he knew things like this were going to happen the older he got and remembered things more clearly. He thought about what to say that would ease his sons mind. After a moment of thought he grabbed his sons small hands, looked into the boys eyes, smiled and said “well, I remember that day you went to the beach with your mom. That night she kept me up very late wanting to talk about it, she went on and on about the whole day with you. And do you know what she told me buddy,”
“What Dad?” the boy asked as he started to breath heavy and tears began to show in his eyes.
“She told me that you were her whole world and that she loved you more than anyone or anything. She would tell me about that day at beach a lot when it was just you and her. She would say it was going to be one of her best memories of her whole life,” Thomas said.
“Did she really say that Dad?” Daniel asked as tears began falling more down his little cheek.
“She sure did buddy, she loved you and always will,” Thomas said not lying about one word to his son.
“I miss her so much Dad,” Daniel said back as the tears started flowing and he threw himself into his father’s arms.
“I miss her too buddy, every day, every damn day” Thomas said as he wrapped his strong arms around his son and held the crying boy close to him. Thomas also started tearing up a little bit also, his own breathing became heavy.
Layla and Harley must have noticed something was going on or wrong with Thomas and Danie
l. Harley rested her head on Thomas leg and Layla rested her head on Daniel’s tiny thigh. Thomas was content with holding his son as long as the boy needed to be, despite the slight rain and blowing wind.
As Thomas held his crying son in his arms, he glanced to his left at the houses that sat in a group near the beach. On a deck a few houses up, and about a hundred yards away or so, he saw a woman watching them. Her long hair was blowing in the wind and she seemed to be watching him and his son. He watched her for a minute he was sure he did not know her but for some reason a feeling of familiarity was inside of him.
. . .
Stephanie had been sitting on the deck of her rented cottage for a little while now. She was talking on the phone to Karen and telling her what had happened in town with Thomas and his son Daniel outside of the coffee shop. At least she was until she saw a man and a boy walking on the beach in front of haystack rock followed closely by two dogs.
Mid conversation, she quickly said, “Karen I got to go”, literally dropped her phone onto the wooden deck, and just stared in disbelief.
Running Northwest Page 26