Page 106 of Memories By the Shore
Fuck.
In a blur, she rises from my lap and gives me her back.
The echo of a slamming door is the last sound I hear before I drift into oblivion.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Then
Avery
It’s been a week since I found Jasper at the beach house. I haven’t heard from him either. It’s better this way. My heart is broken, and I can’t wait to leave this town. The summer whirlwind I’ve experienced is enough to send any healthy person into a spiral of sadness.
“How are you feeling?” Helen asks, standing at my door.
Pulling my lips to the side, I fight against the quivering of my chin. I’ve cried for seven days straight. I let myself mourn. It’s time to take my control back.
“As to be expected, you know?” I say, sitting on the edge of my bed.
Helen shuffles over, moving a stack of clean clothes, ready to be packed, to the opposite side of the bed. “I am just so sorry you’re going through this.”
She has been more of a mom to me the last couple of months than my birth mother was during my childhood.
I lean into her just as she wraps both arms around me in asweet embrace. “Me too.”
She sniffs a few times. “I’m definitely going to miss you.”
“I’m going to miss you too,” I say, hugging her side.
We hold each other for a silent beat before she slowly pulls away. Clutching both of my shoulders at a distance, she smiles through the sadness. “I know it will be difficult, but it is the right choice for you. It’s what you’ve wanted.”
“I’m a mixed bag of emotions,” I admit. “But yes, it’s what I need to do.”
“And to think, we almost withdrew you from the college last week,” she comments with relief.
“Yeah.” My heart clenches as I try to push off regret and the images of what might have been. “I guess I need to trust the timing of my life.”
“Everything happens for a reason, Avery, even if it causes heartache,” she adds.
I stand, then walk around to the other side of the bed to continue packing the last few things. “Seems like it.”
“Have you spoken to Jasper?” she asks timidly.
I shake my head and swipe a tear from my cheekbone. “Not since I found him at the beach house last week.”
“He knows we’re flying out tomorrow morning?” she confirms.
I asked Helen not to interfere with what was going on between Jasper and me—a hard thing to ask of her based on the relationship she has with Duke, but a necessary one for my mental health. I need a clean break. It might not be the choice someone else would make, but it’s the one I have to.
Rubbing my lips together, I imagine the calendar on the wallin his bedroom with today circled in red marker.He knows.
“He does.”
A sigh slips through her tight lips. “Once we arrive in Phoenix, we’ll pick up your car from the shipping location, then head up north, right?” she asks, clearly wanting to change the subject. I appreciate it.
“Yeah, I got the confirmation from the moving company that all my stuff was officially delivered to the storage unit on campus.” I swipe up on my phone, confirming the information.
“These were not this convenient when I went to college.” She chuckles. “You have been able to ship your furniture and car out there seamlessly. It’s amazing.”
