Flirting With Forever (Vacation Getaway)

Chapter One

Kiera

When it rains, it pours and right now; it is pouring down on me.

Pretty sure those are lyrics to a song I used to love, but today they’re very fitting. Standing on the corner in front of the burned-out remains of my former apartment, I tip my head to the skies as torrential rain pours down. If I were crying—which I am —you could never tell.

This rain is more than a soggy end to a shit day. In moments, it becomes a catalyst. A cleansing. My apartment is beyond repair. A fire started while I was at work, because of the ancient wiring in the beautiful colonial home. While my home was burning down, my life was going up in flames with it.

Just before I got the call that everything I owned was burning to ash, I got called to my boss’s office. At forty-five, I am established in my career as an accountant for a marketing firm. It is as boring as it sounds, but I am good with numbers. It would seem I am not good enough because I missed the ones for next year’s budget without my pay scale on it.

“Fired? I am being fired. For what reason? What have I done?”

“Oh, no, you have done nothing wrong , Kiera. We’re moving in a new direction. We will give you a glowing letter of recommendation.”

Ten years and five superiors later and all I am worth is some words on paper saying I know how to do my job. Not well enough, it would seem, to go in the new direction with the firm I gave a decade of my life to.

Now I stand on the corner with the few things not destroyed in the fire. Not counting myself because I am destroyed. Sighing, I grab my bags as I clutch the ticket for a few nights’ stay at a hotel given to me by the apologetic landlord. I have nowhere else to go. If I don’t find a job, I might end up on the street once the landlord’s kindness wears out.

Still, standing on the corner in the rain, I am smiling. Because there is nothing holding me here in True Ridge. I can go anywhere. My parents passed a few years ago, romantically within days of each other. I was married once for about six weeks after a mistake one wild night in Vegas.

With no job, no family left, and no real friends, there is nothing stopping me from going somewhere else. Anywhere else. Starting something new. It is something I have thought about often. I have never had the courage to take a chance. To pack up my things and hit the road. With no things to pack, no ties to True Ridge, nothing on the horizon, leaving feels right.

Somehow, I wind up at the small airport, with a one-way ticket to Sunset Springs. I have one bag containing what remains of my possessions; I am soaked from the rain, but I still have a smile on my face. Past the safety checks, boarding the plane, and taking the tiny, pricey bottle of whiskey, I am still smiling.

“You heading home to Sunset Springs or just visiting?”

“You know what,” I say to the attendant with that same smile on my face. “I am not sure yet. I might just make it home.”

“There is not a nicer place to call home. They call it a tourist trap because it gets so overrun during the summer, but it is so beautiful.”

“It was a coin toss between Sunset Springs or Heart Harbor.”

“I just bet you will have a good time. Lots of handsome men, lots of cute little bars and shops. It’s a perfect place to sneak away to for a while.”

That is just what I am doing. Sneaking away for a while to give myself a break. It has not just been a bad day; it has been a terrible year. Hell, a few terrible years. I won’t say I have had a bad life. Until I lost my parents, I had a charmed life.

Growing up in True Ridge meant learning the value of hard work and being grateful for whatever you have. We were never poor, but we struggled. My father was a trucker who spent a lot of time on the road. He always came home for weekends and never forgot to bring little trinkets from his travels.

They met at a New Year Eve’s party and were married before Valentine’s Day. Their love proved to me you can find your other half. A soulmate who stays true to you and loves you through all the struggles of life. Sadly, I have never experienced that kind of love for myself.

I used to believe it existed, but now I have some doubts.

Staring out the window as we sail over the mountains towards the shores of Sunset Spring, I am tired. Tired if just getting by. Just existing. I was never someone who made waves or craved attention. I never stirred the pot or spoke out against anything or stood up to anyone.

At forty-five, I am all alone, with literally nothing to show for my life. All the survived the fire was a small box of precious mementos. That is all I have. One box of my entire life. It is not enough. I should have boxes and boxes full of laughter, of special moments, of special people from my life. On a plane to paradise, I realize I have yet to really live life.

“Now is the time to start living, girl,” I whisper to myself as I empty that tiny bottle of liquor and wave the flight attendant over for another.

Pulling out a new notebook covered in silver and pink stars and cute little quotes, I click a pen to jot down a list. A list of all the things I want to do with my life. All the things I have put off or said I would get to someday, things I was afraid of or unsure of. It is time to get to the list, to cross each of these things.

“Swim in the ocean. Skinny dip. Sex with a stranger,” I whisper the last one as if I am telling myself a secret. “Eat some lobster. Go on an ice cream date. Get drunk. Go out on a boat.”

By the time the list is done, about forty to-dos later, I am excited. I am going to start a new life once this plane lands in Sunset Springs. Gazing out at the small beach town as we soar over it for our landing, I am all smiles.

I could have fallen apart after all that had happened in the past few days. To be honest, I did a little. On my first night in the hotel, I ordered some macaroons and some wine and let myself have a rough night. Waking up the next morning, I was excited not to have to go to that office, not to have to trudge through another day at a place I now realize I hated. Not to go home to an empty apartment to spend another night alone.

“Become a brand-new person in Sunset Springs. Be whoever you want to be. Find out who you truly are inside, Kiera.”

With that little positive vibe pep-talk, I finish the last little whisky, savoring the sweet, fiery burn of the liquor. Once the plane lands, I clutch my new list to my chest, grab my two bags holding all my worldly possessions, and climb into a waiting taxi.

“Welcome to Sunset Springs,” the driver calls as she pulls from the curb.

Turning to watch the beachside city’s landscape, I am awed. Bright colored buildings are crammed next to each other down the main street. Everything from sweets stores to antique shops. I spot an old pizza parlor beside an aged movie theater. It is almost like taking a trip to the past.

Outside the cute bungalow style hotel rooms at my hotel, the white sand beach sprawls out as far as I can see. Closer to the hotel are grassy dunes and other houses, but most of the beach is flat, warm sand stretching out to the crashing waves. The water is choppy, a deep gray blue, and I can smell the salt of the ocean from the little porch of my bungalow.

Once I unpack my few things, I head right back out. On the same street the cab just took me down, I wander through the shops. I had almost nothing in my savings account, but it was enough to get me here and get me started. I am not sure where I will go next, or if I will stay here in Sunset Springs.

Crossing a few things off my new to-do list as I go, I am in high spirits. I got myself a new bathing suit in a beautiful purple watercolor design. It’s more daring than anything I have worn before, but I feel good in it. I buy sparkling strappy sandals, several new dresses, and even some brightly colored necklaces and earrings to dress it all up.

“New day, new me,” I whisper when I am back at the hotel, hanging all the pretty things in the little armoire.

It is almost sunset by the time I am settled in the adorable bungalow. I can see the ocean from the spacious bedroom. I can smell the salty sea air before I throw the windows open to let the cool breeze in. Deciding right now, this very moment, is time to get this new me, new life started, I pull on that racy little bathing suit, grab a fluffy towel, and head to the beach.

Choosing a spot just a few hundred feet from my bungalow, I spread my towel out and set my bag down beside it. Inside is the notebook outlining my plans to live life. Pulling it out, I flip to the first page to cross off “swim in the ocean” and then march toward the crashing waves.

“Swim in the ocean, Kiera. Take a step towards a new you,” I whisper as I dip my toes in the warm water.

Taking a deep breath, I wade in slowly, smiling as the steady waves rock me slightly. My feet sink into the sandy bottom as I move further out. Standing in the water, I watch the sun drop beyond the horizon, the skies going purple hued. It is a beautiful day and the first one I have let myself embrace in a very long time.

Swimming in the warm, clear waters until the skies are sparkling with bright stars, I truly embrace it. Not just the beautiful day in Sunset Springs. A new chance at a full life. A chance to do all those things I listed, those things I never had the courage to do before. It might take some time; it might take me working up more than the courage it took me to get in the ocean.

Courage is something I need to embrace. Being brave. Taking chances. Now that I am here, in the ocean, under the inky blue skies, in a whole now place, I can be a whole new me. I am going to be courageous. Brave. I am going to take chances because there is nothing telling me I can’t.

Summer just began here in Sunset Springs, so I plan to soak up the sun, play in the ocean, and take chances I never dared take before.