Page 44 of The Magic of Sea Glass
“So is that a yes?” asked Mary.
“Yes. I’ll be down in a minute. Thank you, Mary.”
The woman made her way to the door. “I’m glad to hear it. See you in a minute.”
She let Mary out and then paced back into her suite, her mind whirring with whether or not she should’ve just stayed in and continued working, given what she had to do. But as she tidied up her bed, still considering, a flicker of light through the double doors caught her eye. She peered out to see Milton running around Brody’s legs, kicking up sand, while Brody threw logs on the fire and set up chairs around it.
Contentment swam through her. She hadn’t felt happy in so long, and this was just the cusp of it, but there was definitely a lightness to living on the seashore. Turning away from the view to get ready, her attention fell upon the little assortment of sea glass that she’d collected. Each piece had its own story from her time there. She picked up the yellow one, the pale color of it reminding her of happiness now every time she saw it. She rubbed the glass, hoping to hold on to the calm she felt in that moment and not let it slip through her fingers.
After a quick fix in the mirror, Lauren went downstairs, left through the back door of the inn and grabbed a cocktail off the table, the summer air wrapping her in its warm embrace. The wind tickled her skin on the way down the wooden walkway leading to the shore. A small crowd had gathered on the beach in front of her; a few teenagers were roasting marshmallows on skewers over the bonfire. The flames danced in the coastal wind.
When she got to the end of the walk, Milton was the first to greet her. She stepped onto the sand, its surface still warm from the long summer day, and patted his head. “Hey, boy. It’s good to see you again.” He trotted along beside her, his tail wagging on their way over to the group.
“Glad to see you’ve come out,” Brody said, striding over toward her. “And with a drink, no less. I’m proud of you.” He gave her a wink.
That happiness she felt in her suite buzzed through her.
“Careful with alcohol around Brody,” Stephanie teased from across the bonfire.
Lauren walked over to Stephanie, who was sitting in Mitchell’s lap, her long legs draped over the arm of the Adirondack chair.
“It didn’t end well with me last time,” Stephanie said. “Good thing I’ve brought my voice of reason tonight.” She snuggled up next to her fiancé.
“I can’t let her out of my sight for two seconds,” Mitchell said. “Which is fine by me.” He leaned over and gave her a kiss.
Mitchell’s display of affection for Stephanie was a completely normal response, but tonight, it unexpectedly hit Lauren right in that raw spot. Suddenly, she wanted to escape back to her room and continue her work.
She turned away, pretending to be distracted by a couple of elderly men next to the fire, and took a long sip from her cocktail, the strawberry sweetness of it doing nothing to extinguish the feeling of emptiness that assaulted her without warning. She waved to Mary and tried to put on a smile.
Brody looked Lauren’s way, then walked over to her. “Take a walk with me?” he asked into her ear, as if he could sense her mood.
She nodded.
“We’ll be right back,” Brody said to everyone as he led Lauren down to the water.
Milton followed behind them, waddling happily across the sand.
“You okay?” he asked once they were out of earshot from the group.
“Yes,” she said. She wasn’t lying. She told herself that, in general, she wasn’t falling into a million pieces or crying herself to sleep. So, yes, she was totally normal.
The surf splashed over her toes in bubbling foam.
Brody kept his gaze on her, clearly not convinced. “What are you thinking about, then?”
She stopped and faced him. “Nothing,” she said.
Brody pursed his lips.
“Look, I thought I could do it, but sometimes, I still struggle to have light conversation and joke and tease like everyone else because, in the back of my mind, life is so much heavier and bigger and more terrifying than that.”
“What’s terrifying?”
“The fact that I’m only in my thirties and I don’t have a path in life anymore. No real career of my own. Nowhere to call home. That’s a little frightening.”
“It’s all in how you look at it,” he countered.
She stared at him, not understanding his suggestion. She couldn’t just switch her thoughts and view the issue a different way.
