Page 3 of Memories By the Shore
“Right this way.” She smiles, gesturing for us to follow her. We both fall into step behind as she weaves through the emptytables in this oddly vacant restaurant.Why is there no one else here?This restaurant is one of the best in town and is typically fully booked months in advance.
I began putting all the pieces together as we approached the candlelight table covered in red rose petals.
“This is perfect, thank you,” Dave compliments, walking over to pull out my chair.
My throat runs dry while I try to swallow the formed cotton ball.Oh fuck.My eyes roll over the deserted space, and one more time, a group of staff members lined up by the kitchen door with broad smiles. Then, I find the hostesses, three young girls giggling behind the stand.Oh my god.When my focus circles back around to Dave, he kneels before me.
I gasp. Panic zips up my back.He’s going to propose!
“Avery?” My name rolls off his tongue with confidence and ownership.
“Mhmm?” is all I manage to say as my heart pounds inside my chest. I can barely form words.
“I would wait until after dinner to do this, but I knew if I didn’t do it now, then I wouldn’t be able to enjoy my food,” he tells me. I bite back a chuckle but let him continue. “It’s only been a little more than a year, and I know we started as some casual thing, but I also know that you want more.”Do I? “I’m getting to that age where I’d like to settle down. I need someone to come to events with me, support the boards I’m on, and play nice with the other wives.”
This proposal is in true Dave fashion.
“Okay.” I nod, fighting the urge to speak because this sounds more like a contractual thing than anything else.
Then Dave slips out a small black velvet box from his front pocket. “This is custom made,” he quickly says before uttering those four words with life-changing power. “So, Avery Thomas.” He clears his throat. “Will you marry me and become part of the Stoll family?”
A sharp ringing in my ears is all I hear as everything around me goes silent. The light clinking of dishes in the kitchen disappears. The sound of my own breath echoes inside my skull as if underwater.
I should marry Dave.And I believe with all my heart he’ll provide me with a safe and secure life. We’ll continue to be friends, occasionally hooking up for mediocre sex, who would be living together. We’ll rarely fight, he’ll agree with most things I say, and we’ll live happily ever after in mundane marital bliss. But I know things could be better—I’ve had better. But I’ll never have a love like that again. I’ve accepted it.
But the moment the word “Sure” comes out of my mouth, I don’t get flashes of plans for my dream wedding or fantasies of a future with him. The only image that flashes through my mind is of someone else’s, reminding me of a secret I’ve kept for eight years.
I’m already married.
Chapter Two
Then
Avery
It’s not that I’ve never loved the beach. I have, but moving to a small beach town from a large city in the desert isn’t something I ever imagined I’d be doing.
Filled with conflicting emotions, I walk into my aunt’s small sea foam-green beachside cottage.
“I hope you feel at home here, Avery.” Her voice is sweet as she takes my luggage to one of the two bedrooms in the home. My aunt Helen is a single, middle-aged, self-proclaimed beach bum. She lives alone, does what she wants, and has a group of friends who are the same way. Never getting married or having children, she enjoys her freedom—until now.
I follow her down the short hallway with the sound of ocean waves rolling in and out along the surf surrounding me. This is the new soundtrack to my life. “Thank you.”
Rolling my suitcases to the corner of the room, she quickly cranks the lever on the slatted windows, closing them. “The water can be loud sometimes.”
I glance around the tiny bedroom. A queen-size bed restsagainst one of the windows, and a white vertical dresser with a seashell-shaped mirror is on the back wall.
“It’s fine,” I say.
She tucks a corkscrew curl of her grey hair behind her ear. “I’m so sorry you’re going through this.”
Shrugging my shoulders, I try to brush it off. This is a common phrase I’ve heard often since losing my parents only a month and a half prior. I should be more upset, but I’m not. The only term to describe my emotions at this time is apathetic.How can I feel nothing? Aren’t I supposed to be sad?
“I’m glad you’re here. It’s no secret your dad and I weren’t close, but I wished I’d gotten to know you better.” She shuffles her feet, unsure of how to address her estranged relationship with her brother. “These horrible circumstances have forced us together, but I hope we can try to connect in the process.”
I swallow hard while a single tear falls from my eyes. “Thank you, Aunt Helen. I appreciate you doing this for me.”
“Oh, honey, there was no question in my mind when I got the call that I wanted you to live with me,” she says, sweetly cupping my face.
