Page 12 of The Single Dad Billionaire
Ry - Out surfing. I’ll be back by 9. - PJ
Even though I knew Rylan would still be sleeping when I got back, I always left a note for him. I would hate for him to wake up and not know where I was.
While the coffee was brewing, I put on my suit and then went out onto my deck to grab my surfboard. I couldn’t help but smile as I thought about how confused my mom was by the fact that I kept my surfboards on my deck. One time when she was visiting, she had stood on the deck for a few minutes, just staring at the boards hanging on the wall. Finally, I asked her what she was looking at.
“I don’t understand why you keep these out here,” she had said. “You have a nice garage, and it seems as if it would be a lot more convenient to keep surfboards there. Every time you want to go surfing, you have to carry these through your house, and I’m sure you get sand everywhere. And then when you come home from surfing, you bring even more sand through your house when you put your board back out here on the deck. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
I laughed and said, “You’re right. I do track sand in and out of my house, but I always clean it up. I like having my surfboards out here because I feel like they are a fun decoration. I spend a lot of time on my deck, and I like to look at my boards.”
She had said that it was strange to her, but it was my house, and she wouldn’t say anything else. However, every time she hadbeen to my house since then, she had looked out there, shook her head, and smirked.
Although I had four boards to choose from, I had narrowed it down to two. The shortboard would allow me to move through the waves faster and do more tricks, but the longboard would make for a more relaxed day where I would just glide on top of the water.
I knew the waves would be perfect for either board, but I eventually chose the long one. It had been a stressful week at work, and I was looking forward to spending some peaceful time on the water.
I took the board off the wall and carried it into my garage, smirking as I saw the sand falling onto my floor. After I drank my coffee and lathered on sunscreen, I filled up my water bottle and headed out to the beach.
I loved the fact that I lived within walking distance of the ocean. A few years earlier, I thought about moving to a larger home that had a more sweeping view of the ocean, but I didn’t want to give up being so close to the water.
While it would be nice to have an unobstructed view, it was even better to wake up in the morning and have the ocean right there. I could leave my house and be on the beach within five minutes. There was no other home on the island that could give me that.
I put my surfboard on the sand and attached the leash to my ankle. After stretching for a few minutes, I picked up the board, walked into the water, and paddled out into the waves. As I had suspected, the water was perfect, and there were no other surfers in sight. I let out a contented sigh and then lost myself in the rhythm of the waves.
After about forty-five minutes, I caught a wave in and then walked up onto the sand to get some water. As I sat, admiringthe waves, I noticed a figure walking towards me. Looking up, I was delighted to see Brenna approaching, surfboard in hand.
A smile spread across my face as I glanced towards her ankle, relieved to see that she did not have the leash attached.
"Hey there," I said as she approached, taking her board from her and walking over to where I had set up. I put her board down, and once her hands were free, I gave her a hug.
"Hey," I said. "Welcome home."
"Thank you," she said, smiling. "I'm happy to be home."
"When did you get here?" I asked.
"We got into town on Tuesday night."
"We?" I inquired.
"My parents and I," she explained.
"Oh!" I said, feeling a wave of relief wash over me. "Are they still in town? I would love to see them."
Brenna shook her head. "No, they left last night to go back to Texas. They helped me get everything settled at the property, but then they knew that I had a lot of work to do, so they left. This way I could just get to it. They are going to come back out to visit in a month, but I told them that this first part I wanted to do on my own, and they completely understood."
"That's awesome," I said. "I love that they are so supportive of you, but also willing to give you the space to figure things out on your own."
Brenna nodded. "They have always been that way, and I appreciate it so much. I guess they have always been that way because I have always been this way. I just kind of like to dive into things and figure it out as I go. Some people say that it’s reckless, and I guess they might be right, but I like the adventure of it."
As she spoke, memories of the day she had tried to teach herself how to surf flooded back. It was clear her mindset hadn’t changed much since then. "I guess I don’t have to tellyou about that," she chuckled. "You’re the one who saved me from embarrassing myself out there when I wanted to become a surfer."
I laughed. "You embarrassing yourself was the least of my concerns!"
Brenna smiled. "That was such a fun day!"
"I see you’re back here, so does that mean that you are stuck with surfing? I didn’t think there was much surfing out in the New York area."
"Actually, there are places where you can surf in the Atlantic. It’s not anything like out here, but there are some decent waves. However, I’m embarrassed to say that I never went. I actually only went to the beach once or twice while I lived out there. I haven’t been surfing since that summer when you taught me."
