Page 8 of Dreaming at Seaside
Chapter Three
BELLA, AMY, LEANNA, and Jenna were used to the shock of cold that often trailed sunset like a shadow on Cape Cod beaches. They hunkered down around the bonfire on beach chairs with thick sweatshirts and blankets across their laps. Layers of deep purples and dark blue surrounded the white globe of the moon, hovering above the ocean. Soon the sky would darken and the stars would become visible, but for the next thirty minutes, Bella had a dusky view of the surf fishermen lined up on the beach, hoping for one final bite from a bluefish that had somehow avoided becoming prey to the seals that had claimed the New England surf. It struck her how different her life would be if she lived on the Cape full-time. Would she make the time to sit on the beach on chilly March evenings or walk by the edge of the water in a parka, midwinter?
“Are you bummed that Kurt stayed with Jamie tonight?” Bella asked Leanna. Jamie Reed was another Seaside resident. His grandmother, Vera, owned the cottage next to Leanna’s, and Jamie had grown up spending summers with Bella and the girls.
“Oh, goodness no. But Amy’s gonna be mad, because when Tony found out that Kurt was staying, I heard him tell Kurt he’d stay, too.” Leanna pulled her blanket up in front of her face. “Don’t kill the messenger.”
Amy rolled her eyes. “You guys act like something between me and Tony is even a possibility. I told you. I tried to sail that ship and he turned me down. I’m not a glutton for punishment.”
“Oh, please. You know perfectly well that if he asked you out you’d jump at the chance.” Jenna bumped Amy with her shoulder.
“Of course. I’m realistic, not stupid,” Amy said. “But I won’t make the mistake of coming on to him again.”
Jenna nudged a rock with her toe, then leaned forward to pick it up.
“Here we go,” Amy said. Jenna had been a rock collector for as long as Bella could remember. Each summer she zeroed in on a different type of rock. This summer her fascination was on heart-shaped rocks.
Jenna shot to her feet with her hands on her hips. “Who’s coming with me to look for rocks?” She bounced on her toes like an excited kid.
“I thought you had a self-imposed moratorium on rock collecting,” Bella reminded her. “Last summer you said yourcottage runneth over, and that you weren’t going to be collecting for a while.” Runneth over might be an understatement. Every flat surface in Jen’s cottage was adorned with rocks, including various corners of the hardwood floor and the rails of her deck.
Jenna lowered her eyes and twisted from side to side with her hands clasped behind her back. “I know. But I’ll only take them if they’re absolutely perfect.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and her eyes widened with mischief. “And you know how picky I am.” She pulled Bella to her feet, then bounced up and down again. “Please, please, please? Just until it’s dark?”
Bella rolled her eyes. “Fine. But you owe me big-time.”
Jenna threw herself into Bella’s arms. “Yay!”
“You’re such a fool.” Bella laughed and laid her blanket over Amy’s lap. “Here you go, princess. Don’t drink all the wine without me.”
The wet sand was cold beneath Bella’s bare feet. She didn’t mind walking with Jenna, and she didn’t even care that Jenna owned more rocks than any mountain this side of Utah. She couldn’t put her finger on why, but she was edgy tonight. She’d told her friends she was giving herself until Monday to start working on the program for the school. She’d also told them that she wasn’t interested in super sexy Caden Grant in that blue uniform that hugged his broad chest and exposed well-muscled forearms and eyes that seemed to look right through her. But the jobandCaden were all she could think about.
Jenna looped her arm through Bella’s. “Thanks for walking with me. I know I won’t find any good rocks, but I still like to look.”
“I know you do.” She loved everything about Jenna, from her obsessive-compulsive need for organization to her flip-flop fetish and her love of rocks. Jenna was always happy. Even when something pissed her off, she had the ability to spin a situation in her mind so her good mood wasn’t sucked away.
Jen picked up a rock and washed it off in the surf. She ran her fingers over the rounded edges, then scrunched her nose and tossed it into the ocean.
“Are you nervous about your whole job, house situation?” she asked, bending down to inspect another rock.
“Nervous? You might say that. I’m excited and maybe a little scared, but not really. What’s the worst that can happen?”
“You could end up jobless and living in your cottage.” Jenna smiled up at her. “Guess that’s not really so bad, is it? But it’s just not like you to pick up and start over. That’s more Leanna’s thing. She’s always been part gypsy like that, but you’re stable Mable.” Jenna tossed the unimpressive rock into the water.
“I know.” Jenna knew her so well. She’d nailed the reason Bella was feeling edgy before Bella even realized it. “It’s totally not like me, but dating Jay wasn’t like me, either. I never date guys I work with. I know better than that—or at least I thought I knew better than that. It can only lead to complications with peers and supervisors. Everyone knows that. I’ve been mulling this over in my mind since spring break, and this is what I came up with. I’m almost thirty, and I worked so hard to get where I was in the school system, and it’s been great, but Iamstable Mable. So even if it weren’t great, I’d have stayed for years.”
“So, what are you saying?” Jenna stopped walking and gave Bella her full attention.
“Well, as I said, ever since Leanna made her dreams come true, I’ve been thinking about making mine come true. I think I dated Jay to force myself to make a change.”
“Like a subconscious nudge?” The moon rose higher into the sky, glistening off the water behind Jenna.
“More like a conscious and trying-to-ignore it nudge,” Bella said. “The whole time I dated Jay, I wasn’t connected to him. When I found out he had lied about being divorced and was just separated, I broke it off without thinking twice. And you know what? I knew that second that I was going to quit my job. What does that say about me?”
Jenna leaned her head against Bella’s arm and walked farther down the beach. “It says you’re normal, like the rest of us. That you followed your heart, which, I might remind you, is exactly what you told Leanna to do when she met Kurt.”
“Do you think it’s still called following your heart when you make a career and life change, or is that following your mind?” Bella was having a hard time separating the two when it came to the Cape. Everything about the Cape filled her with happiness, from the morning crows to the smell of the salty air, making her heart very much involved with her decision. But this decision was also made with her mind. She wanted a challenge, and the work-study program offered that.
“I think it’s both.”
