Page 90 of Coming Home to You
The fireworks begin to burst out over the water as I feel Beck slip his arms around my waist from behind and I lean back against him.
My eyes close as I recall exactly how this all started and where we ended up.
Young love, that was wild and free and careless, somehow formed into a bond built off a need for each other.Completeness and a mutual respect, that only grew as we aged.It turned into something most people never find.
Their soul mate.
I met my soul mate at age fifteen, the person I was meant to spend the rest of my life with and although it took ten years to realize it, none of that matters now.The past is the past and making a future with Beck has been more than I could have dreamed of.Although we still struggle with what happened during my kidnapping and with Beck getting shot, we try not to dwell on it too much.It won’t define our relationship and it won’t consume our lives.
“You ready?”he asks.
He’s been acting strangely all day and I turn around and give him a questioning look.“Ready for what?”
“We’re taking the boat out.Watching the fireworks from it.You know, like we did as kids.”
He shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly and I take his outstretched hand.
On the way down to the dock and even as we step onto the boat, he’s quiet.Oddly quiet for Beck and I begin to worry.
When he told me he’d quit his job and was planning to stay in Rockport for good, I had serious reservations.Could he really leave his fast-paced life in Boston to settle back into small town existence?Where you’re only known for what people gossip about?Would he miss the bright lights of the city and his big shot detective position on the police force?
Maybe today he’s realizing the ramifications of what he’s done after making such a hasty decision.
I sit down and fold my hands in my lap, trying not to pick the skin around my fingers; an anxious habit that faded immediately upon Beck’s return.I can’t let these thoughts consume me.I told myself when he left ten years ago and when he returned, if we’re meant to be then we’ll find a way.
Beck pulls the boat away from the dock, his back to me and his eyes focused straight ahead.But when I look at his hands on the steering wheel; they’re gripped around it so tightly his knuckles have turned white.
I’m completely baffled by this man and what is going through his head.
Before I can question him, I look around and I fall speechless.
We’re drifting as Beck drops anchor and my eyes can’t stop checking to make sure what I’m seeing is real.
“How’d you find this place?”I ask.I begin to get choked up, but it subsides after a few slow breaths.“I’ve tried for years, but never could.”My voice grows shaky again, so I stop speaking.
Without looking at me, Beck says, “I found the coordinates written on a slip of paper tucked in an old pack of cigarettes I found on the boat.”
I chuckle to myself.As much as my dad liked to claim he quit smoking, I knew he hadn’t because every time he’d go out fishing on the boat, he’d come back reeking of cigarettes.
“His fishing spot,” I whisper.“Thank you.”
“I wasn’t sure this was it, but I snuck away a few days ago so I could be sure.”He smiles at me for the first time today and it’s that perfect smile, the one that makes my knees weak and my heart race.
Beck paces along the deck of the boat before running his hands through his hair.The fireworks are booming in the distance and lighting up the sky.I can see the worry on his face and it grips me.
“Baby, you okay?”I ask.
“Yeah, Kels.I’m fine.”
He sits down next to me and takes my hand in his and that’s when I notice it’s trembling.This is so unlike Beck and I need to know if something’s wrong.But before I can ask, I’m quieted by his words.
“I have to tell you something,” he suddenly says.“Actually, I have to tell you a story.”
“Okay.”
“Remember when we snuck out after curfew to go swimming in that old quarry?”
“Yeah,” I answer, smiling a little as my memory brings up a picture of us, still so young and naïve.
