Page 202 of Distant Shores
I dropped my head back against the wall. “I will be.”
Liem pulled up on a shiny Vespa scooter a few moments later, and Cody offered me his hand, easilypulling me up. He stayed close as I limped outside, then shoved a helmet on my head when we got to the scooter.
Watch me crash this thing right into the side of the Locc.
With a soft smile from Liem and a clap on the shoulder from Cody, I was off. Thankfully, I’d grown up driving all kinds of vehicles across the acres of Pops’s property, so by the time I’d made the short trek to Camellia Lane, I had the hang of it.
Just as the front door closed behind me, my phone buzzed in my pocket.
Ireland
I’m at the pier. The one we went to on your birthday.
I sighed in relief, then typed out a response as I went to my room and grabbed my old crutch.
Stay right there.
Please.
Thank you, universe.
Squinting against the descending sun, I pep talked myself all the way to the pier, my crutch propped between my legs as I wound through the influx of tourists here for the holiday weekend.
Nearly thirty years of existence had led me to this moment.
And I really needed not to crash. Or fall.
I pulled into the tiny gravel bank that served as a parking lot, heart rate ticking up when I realized I was the only one here.
Had she boarded the entire way?
I took off the helmet and hung it on the handle beforerunning my hands through my hair, halfheartedly trying to tame it. Then I closed my eyes and dropped my head back, taking a moment to listen to the crashing waves and the calls of the shorebirds.
She was here.
I felt it. Knew it in my bones.
Something splattered my cheek, and for a wild second I remembered melting snow in winter-swept woods, but I shook the memory off and hurriedly wiped away the raindrop from my cheek.
The verywarmraindrop.
Swinging off the Vespa with the help of the crutch, I walked to the pier, forcing my breaths to steady.
Four steps up, and there she was. Her back was to me as she faced the horizon, hair and dress blowing in the soft breeze. She was barefoot, with her head tipped back.
Seven more across the boards, and I could count the rain drops dotting her dress.
Had we felt raindrops on our skin at the same time? Did hers bring demons too?
I moved faster then, my uneven steps creating a lopsided cadence on the boards. When I was close enough for the breeze to bring me her lavender scent, the rain cleared as quickly as it had come.
She didn’t look my way when I stepped up to her side and propped my crutch on the railing, mirroring the position of her board on the other side. Her face remained a mask of contemplation as I unbuttoned my shirt, shucked it off my shoulders, and pressed it to the exposed skin of her back, wiping away the rain as best I could.
It wasn’t until I lifted the shirt away that she moved, reaching back and grabbing for the fabric, keeping me from taking it away.
There was a pause the length of a heartbeat before shetugged. Understanding her unspoken command, I draped the shirt over her shoulders, and she burrowed into it, pushing her cheek into her shoulder and taking a deep inhale.
For a good while, we just watched the water together, our forearms propped on the railing. The waves, the retreating tide, the arcs of saltwater cutting into the miles of beach. I snuck glances at her often, and the soft smile that bloomed on her face told me she knew it.
