Page 64 of Changing Tides

She only shrugs in response, and I worry I’ve hit a nerve.

“Okay. If you don’t mind, I’ll carry them over to your house when the rain stops and you can do it. Please let me know what it costs though. I don’t want you paying for it.”

“I will,” she grins. “I’ll root out duplicates and bad photos before I send it off too, to minimize the cost.” She scoots closer to me and climbs in my lap, giving me a soft peck on the lips.

I smile into her mouth. “Thank you.” I wrap her in a squeeze. “This means a lot to me.”

She pulls back and cups my face in her hand. “I know,” she whispers. “Now, let’s get moving.” She hops off my lap and moves to the box she had been looking at before dinner. She reaches in and pulls out the wooden box.

I clear my throat to push back the sadness that is enveloping me. “That’s Leah’s treasure box,” I tell her, with a nostalgic smile that doesn’t meet my eyes. “She used to collect shells and Cape May diamonds and other treasures she found and keep them in that box.”

Sophie runs her fingers over the top of the box. The wood has a fine seashell border engraved on it and if I remember correctly, Eddie made it for her. “May I?” Sophie asks, treading lightly.

I nod my head but stay where I’m sitting. I am not sure if I can stand to look inside. Sophie gingerly opens the lid and rakes her fingers through the box’s artifacts. She smiles holding up a mini conch shell to me and then holds it to her ear. “I hear the ocean,” she says with a giggle. She holds up to her eye a larger Cape May diamond that is almost clear and peers through it. “I see you,” she teases. She continues going through the box and showing me what she finds for a few moments and then she gasps, holding up a necklace on a chain that is either made of black rope or is just so tarnished it looks black. The stone is held by a metal charm that is in the shape of a mermaid tail. “I swear I had one just like this,” she smiles. “You have to save this whole box for Lucy. She will love having her mom’s treasures.”

I nod in agreement, flashing back to that day in my mind. I remember the necklace well because my dad didn’t want to buy it. He said she had enough Cape May diamonds; she didn’t need one on a necklace. But we were with a few friends and their kids, and the other kids were all buying something in the gift shop. My parents used to tell us that gift shop purchases were for vacationers to remember the beach. But we were locals, so we didn’t need to buy anything because we’d always have the beach. Leah somehow got the pouty puppy dog lip and convinced him in a matter of minutes. I didn’t get anything that day, but I didn’t mind. I was happy just wrestling and throwing the football on the beach with my friends.

“Liam?” Sophie interrupts my thoughts. “You okay?”

I shake my head and give her a nostalgic smile. “I was just lost in a memory.”

Sophie nods. Just then, as if the heavens wanted to bring us back to the present, the lights and appliances turn back on and the house goes from nearly silent to loud enough to wake Lucy. We run around the house shutting off lights and the TV and blowing out an excessive amount of candles before she wakes up, meeting back at the bottom of the steps.

“Well, that’s probably my cue to go,” she says regretfully, gesturing to the front door.

I furrow my brow and step closer to her. “I don’t want you to go,” I rasp, embracing her and nuzzling her neck. “Stay with me tonight.”

She takes no convincing.

35

SOPHIE

I’ve been in Cape May for ten weeks and I know this is where I’m meant to be. I came here broken and afraid of what was next for me. I feared I would never have a family and as it turns out, I have found family right here in a place that has meant so much to me my whole life. I was lost but I’m not anymore. If I were my own patient, I would have told myself to trust the unfolding of my life. To take the time to just exist and when the dust settles, you’ll find you aren’t broken, you are expanding, growing into who you are meant to be.

Liam and I have been seeing each other every day for the past three weeks. Yoga is back on! I won’t be cliche and call it a love like I’ve never known before, but it might be. We haven’t said those three words yet and I don’t expect Liam to be able to say them any time soon. Every time I feel it, I have to stop myself from blurting it out to him. Sometimes I catch him looking at me and I think,he definitely loves me. But you don’t go forty years unable to say I love you to someone and then magically you can. The chemistry between us is magnetic. When we’re together, I feel like we are two people combining to become a single soul. Thatiscliche, but I can’t help believing it. Things are really good. So good that when James is calling me this morning, no lump forms in my throat. I don’t have any anxiety, and I don’t wish him ill will. I do notice that I need to change his photo on my contact list because we areso not marriedanymore.

Liam is sitting next to me. We’re drinking smoothies at a little cafe table outside our favorite spot. Lucy is in the stroller sharing sips of Liam’s when my phone starts buzzing. We both look at James’ name for a moment. I don’t move to answer it until Liam nudges me with his foot.

“Are you going to answer that?” He tips his chin toward my phone, his blue eyes insistent.God he is handsome.

“Okay. If you’re sure you don’t mind.” I pick up my phone just before it goes to voice mail. “Hey, James,” I say coolly.

“Put it on speaker,” Liam mouths to me and I roll my eyes, but I do it because he asked.

“Hey, Sophie,” James says tentatively. “I have some news.”

“Okay…” I trail off, waiting for him to fill in the blank.

“We got an offer on the house. Ten thousand dollars over the asking price. I sent it to your inbox. If you like the stipulations, we can close really soon.” He sounds hopeful.

I meet Liam’s gaze and he silently claps his hands and mouths, “Yay!”

“How soon?” I ask. “I mean, the usual closing is like thirty days, isn’t it?”

James exhales. “That’s the thing. I’m not living there. The house has been empty and the buyers are asking if we could do it sooner.”

“Wow.Well, how soon?” I ask. “Let me open the email, hold on.”

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