Page 62 of The Shell Collector
“Hi, Frank.” Amanda loved how much happiness they found on this beach each day, and it was free for the taking. “Come on, kids. Let’s get some sunscreen on before we get sunburned.” The rain that had come through this morning had given way to bright sunshine.
They followed her and stood like soldiers, spinning as she sprayed them.
“Ready to roll,” she said, spreading the excess over her own face and arms.
Jesse picked up his toy bag and dumped three small trucks and a tractor out into the sand. “Let’s make a race.”
Hailey took the big lime-green tire truck and carried it off to the side, where she made long sweeping movements. “I’m making the big turns.”
With a truck in one hand and a tractor in the other, Jesse rushed to her side and started creating a mound of dirt.
Amanda sat and closed her eyes, satisfied with their purring motor noises and collaboration nearby. Every time Jesse made the beeping sound imitating the backup alarm on his truck, she shook her head. How did he even know that?
“Back it up, bub.” His voice was gruff and insistent. “Hurry along.”
Amanda loved how creative they were. They could entertain themselves for hours.
She was just beginning to exhale when a scream pulled Amanda out of her zone.
Hailey?Her eyes popped open. Her heart pounded as she scanned the water. She’d only taken her eyes off them for a moment. The ocean was dangerous. Frantic, she jumped to her feet.
Another scream. Another high-pitched pulsing sound.
Jesse stood at the water’s edge with his trucks in his hands, staring back toward the beach. His tummy poked out as he watched, stunned.
Hailey ran, her feet pushing sand with each step, her arms out and fingers splayed as she moved.
Amanda raised her hand over her eyes. The silhouette of a man in an easy jog down the beach made her heart catch in her throat.
“Hailey!” Amanda spun, tripping in the twisting sheet beneath her. “Wait!” She struggled to her feet, trying to get traction in the deep sand. “What happened, Jesse?”
His mouth was in a soft O.
Amanda realized that it was Hailey screaming, and then it registered. She was screaming “Daddy” and running toward a man on the beach.
“Hailey!” The harder Amanda tried to hotfoot it down to the water’s edge, the farther Hailey seemed to slip away from her. Amanda’s chest burned, her eyes stung.Daddy?“No. It’s not…” She ran harder. “Hailey, stop.”
The sun beat down in long streaming rays, hot and bright. Her breath caught. If she didn’t know better…but it couldn’t be. Jack was gone. “It’s not him.” She slowed, trying to catch her breath.
Hailey screamed for him again. “Daddy!” Not a panicked scream, but a squeal of delight.
“No! Hailey, stop. Please stop.” She watched as Hailey flung herself at the stranger. Her arms wrapped around his waist, her face against him as if she were clinging for life.
“I’m so sorry.” Amanda uttered the words, but her brain couldn’t keep up.
“Daddy, I’ve been waiting,” Hailey said.
The man squatted down, his knees dipping into the water as he put his hands on her daughter’s shoulders. “Hailey?”
Hailey wrapped her arms around his neck. “I knew you would come back.”
He placed his large hand across her back, raising the other with his palm up.
Don’t you touch my daughter.Her breath seemed to solidify in her chest.
The man’s eyes locked with hers.
She stumbled to a stop as the familiar face registered. She took a step back.
