Page 30 of Happy Harbor
Kendra assumed it was because of her mother’s relationship with her own mother. It had made her outer shell so tough that nobody could really crack it. It had also made her stubborn and untrusting, characteristics which often got her into trouble and had caused her to lose the best job she’d ever had.
As she swung, Kendra dreamed about what living in Happy Harbor was going to be like. Nothing was perfect, but surely a small-town school would give her more freedom.
“Oh, hey,” a man said as he came out of the guest house. Wow. So this was the tenant. She’d only seen him in the darkness last night. Sure he was an older guy, but he was still pretty dang handsome.
“Hey. I’m Kendra, Josie’s daughter.” She stopped the swing, kicking up dark dirt onto her bright-white sneakers.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Walker. I knew your grandma.”
“Great-grandma. We called her Nana.”
“Right. Nana. I called her Miss Adeline. Most folks around here did.” He leaned against the enormous oak tree that was holding the swing. The Spanish moss hanging above him made it look like a romance novel cover.
“I didn’t get to see her much. My mom doesn’t like coming back here.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Really? Why is that?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Bad memories, I guess.”
“Gotcha. Bad memories can make us avoid a lot of things, I suppose.”
“Yeah. That’s one reason I’m glad we’re moving here. I have a lot of bad memories from my old school.”
“Really?”
“Lots of snobby, rich kids. Plus, I kind of got in trouble a lot.”
He smiled. “Ah, I remember those days. I got in my fair share of trouble at your age.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Well, I grew up north of here, near Myrtle Beach. My dad was pretty strict, which only made me want to rebel even more. One year, my buddies and I sort of took the principal’s car for a joy ride.”
“I mean, that’s not so bad.”
“It is if you drive it to Florida.”
Kendra let out a loud laugh. “Florida? How many hours was that?”
“I think about ten? We had a nice day at the beach, and then the cops caught up with us. Thank goodness our principal didn’t press charges, but we all got suspended for a few weeks. Ended up having to empty the garbage cans around school for the rest of the year.”
“That’s an epic story.”
“Happy Harbor is a much quieter place. I wish I’d grown up here.”
Before Kendra could respond, the back door flew open and her mother came rushing out of the house like her hair was on fire. Her face was beet red, and she was sweating, even though it wasn’t that warm outside. As she stomped toward Kendra, her arms flew back and forth by her sides like she was jet-propelled.
“Mom?”
“Pack your stuff. We’re getting out of here!”
“What?”
“I mean it. Get off the swing and go pack your stuff. We’re leaving!”
Kendra slowly got off the swing and stared at Josie. “But I don’t want to leave. I already like it here. Plus, Nana wanted?—”
“I don’t care what Nana wanted! She lied to me!” Kendra had never seen her mother so angry and upset.
