Memories in Sea Glass: Driftwood Key Beach Reads #2

3. Liberty

Liberty followed her sisters into the Driftwood Diner, feeling happy to be back in the Keys.

It was one thing for Mom to feel at home here, but Liberty had been to the Keys all of twice before. And the first time had been for her wedding.

She closed her eyes at the pain she still felt every time she thought about her husband. Leaving Chase was the hardest thing she’d ever done. And even though she had done it out of love, she was starting to question… well, everything.

The warm sea air brought her back to their wedding day, her hands in Chase’s as they stood in front of the pastor. The ocean was their backdrop, and all their loved ones sat at picnic tables covered in white tablecloths that were weighted down with vases of pretty sea glass that glowed in the sunshine. It had been a simple wedding, yet so heartfelt.

Cherry, the waitress, approached with a worried look on her face.

“Liberty, honey,” Cherry said. “You know there’s a man looking for you around town? He won’t say who he is. I asked him myself.”

“Well, I’m back, so I guess he’ll find me sooner or later,” Liberty said weakly.

“It has to be Chase,” Anthem hissed at her.

“He stopped calling a couple of days ago,” Liberty said, shaking her head and not allowing herself to hope. “And he cut off all our joint credit cards. It’s over.”

The words felt like they were ripping pieces out of her heart.

The sooner I accept it, the better.

After all, it was inevitable. Chase was an honorable man. If Liberty told him that she had found out she couldn’t have children, she knew he would try to do the right thing.

But she also knew that Chase desperately wanted to be a dad. And he didn’t just want one child, he wanted a whole bunch of them. They had agreed on it before they got married.

She couldn’t ask him to scrimp and save for years for a single adoption, especially if it wasn’t what he wanted in his heart of hearts. But if her willpower broke, and she did ask him, he would agree out of duty. And then the resentment would begin to build.

It was better that she had ripped off the Band-Aid.

Although that did leave her with one question. If he wasn’t the one here looking for her, who could it be?

“Do you all want the big booth?” Cherry asked cheerfully, though her eyes were still a little worried.

“Yes, please,” Glory said.

They all slid into the big U-shaped booth, Glory and Anthem, then their cousin, Justine, and finally Liberty. Sitting on the end put her directly across from Glory, who looked weirdly nervous.

“Y’all know what you want?” Cherry asked.

“Let’s start with a round of coffee,” Anthem said.

“Decaf for me,” Justine put in, patting her pregnant belly proudly.

“Good thinking,” Liberty said, smiling at her.

Though it had been hard at first to accept that her nineteen-year-old cousin was pregnant by accident after Liberty herself had been trying since her wedding night, she had come to terms with the situation. Over the last few days, she had developed a real soft spot for the spunky girl, who seemed to be her opposite in almost every way.

“Great,” Cherry said. “Be back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”

“Maybe he cut off your cards so you’d have to call him,” Anthem suggested.

“Why wouldn’t he come to Dad’s funeral if he wanted to see me?” Liberty asked. “He had to know I’d be there. And he doesn’t even know I came down here in the first place.”

“No point trying to figure it out,” Glory said tightly. “Whoever it is will catch up to you eventually, and then you’ll know.”

“You haven’t, like, made anyone mad, have you?” Justine asked worriedly.

“What do you mean?” Liberty asked, feeling completely at a loss.

“You know,” Justine said in a low voice. “Angry former customers? Stalker ex-boyfriends?”

“I’m a pediatric nurse,” Liberty said in disbelief. “And no, I don’t have any creepy exes.”

Justine just shrugged, but Liberty suddenly had a terrible feeling that she’d just had an inadvertent peek into her little cousin’s dating life. Between Justine’s awful high school boyfriend Shawn, who they had all hated, and whatever she was referring to now, Liberty wasn’t a bit surprised that Justine was set on being a single mom.

She glanced over at Glory, but her youngest sister had her head buried in the menu, which was odd, since they’d been here a couple of times and Glory always got the pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream.

“Hey, ladies,” a familiar voice said.

Liberty looked up to see that Kyle McKinnon, the youngest of the men in her mom’s foster family, was heading over.

“How are you holding up?” he asked, sympathy in his brown eyes.

“We’re okay, Kyle,” Liberty said. “It’s a lot to take in, but we have each other, so we’re getting through it.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Kyle said. There was still a worried expression on his face.

“We’re about to have breakfast for dinner,” Glory told him. “Want to join us?”

“I was heading out, but I’d love to sit and have a coffee,” he said. “As long as you don’t mind. Mom will be happy to hear I caught up with you.”

They all scooted over, and Kyle squeezed in on the end next to Liberty.

“Kyle, this is our cousin, Justine,” Liberty said. “And Justine, this is Kyle, the youngest of the McKinnon kids.”

“You’re the one with the amazing restaurant,” Justine said excitedly.

“That’s me,” Kyle chuckled. “You’ll have to swing by once you all get settled. How long are you staying?”

“I’m not sure,” Justine said, suddenly looking a little shy about it. “For a while, I think. Until Aunt Jess kicks me out.”

“Smart girl,” Kyle said with a smile. “Your Aunt Jess is a great lady. You should definitely stick with her.”

Justine smiled back at him brightly.

“And is the rumor true that the rest of you are staying for good?” he asked, looking around the table.

“Mom is hoping to,” Glory said. “And I’ll stay with her, obviously, at least until college.”

“High school in the Keys,” Kyle said. “Excellent. Maybe Connor can take you to school in the boat.”

“Amazing,” Glory breathed.

“I’ll stay a while too,” Liberty said. “I’m working online these days. And, well, now that we’re down to one parent, I guess I want to keep an eye on her.”

It was a weak joke that only reminded her of her sadness. She bit her lip, suddenly wanting to cry.

Kyle wrapped an arm around her, giving her a friendly squeeze.

Liberty turned to Anthem, hoping to distract herself with hearing her sister’s plans. Anthem was the wild card of the three. She had just graduated from college, where she had majored in music, and for all Liberty knew, Anthem might wind up a studio musician in LA, or teaching English as a second language in Japan. She seemed to take her role as the free-spirited sister very seriously.

But before Anthem could answer, the door to the diner opened hard enough that it banged the wall behind it and sent the overhead bells clanging like a car crash.

“Liberty,” Glory breathed, staring over Liberty’s shoulder like she was looking at a ghost.

Liberty braced herself, suddenly realizing that maybe she should have taken the threat of someone looking for her more seriously. Maybe it really was an unhappy ex-patient, sleepless from nights caring for a newborn, and looking for the nurse who told had his wife to let him handle some of the night feedings.

“Liberty.”

It had been so long since she had heard her name in her husband’s voice that the sound of it brought tears to her eyes. Relief washed over Liberty in a single beat of her lovelorn heart, and she looked up to drink in the sight of her sweet Chase.

He was as handsome as ever, taking her breath away with his broad shoulders, dark hair, and beautiful brown eyes.

But his eyes weren’t on her.

He was looking at Kyle like he wanted to punch him in the nose.

“Okay,” Chase said, nodding slowly. “Okay, I get it now. You could have just told me, Liberty.”

Liberty’s mind reeled as she tried to understand what was happening.

But Chase turned on his heel and marched out before the truth landed on her.

“Oh for heaven’s sake,” she said. “Let me up.”

“He thinks you two are together,” Anthem giggled.

“You guys are like my nieces,” Kyle said, removing his arm from Liberty’s shoulder and looking mortified.

Liberty gave him a gentle shove and he hopped up, allowing her to launch herself out of the booth. She flew for the door, not worried about whether she looked like a maniac, sprinting through the diner.

Narrowly missing a waitress carrying a tray full of omelets, she pulled the door open and headed out into the parking lot.

The sun was setting, but heat still emanated from the dark surface of the pavement. Silhouetted against the flame-orange sky was the broad shape of her husband.

“Chase,” she called out, running for him like her life depended on it.

“You made me look like a fool, Liberty,” he said, turning to her. “I was worried about you. I thought you were depressed.”

“He’s not with me,” she managed. “That’s not what’s going on.”

“He was holding you,” he said. “You two were cozied up together, hanging out with your family.”

“He’s basically family too,” Liberty said. “This is where my mom is from, remember? And he was checking up on me, to make sure I was okay.”

“Why would you need checking on?” Chase demanded. “You aren’t the one who was dumped by your soulmate without so much as an explanation.”

Liberty was so shocked that she could barely breathe.

Was this really her gentle husband, who caught bugs in Tupperware bowls and carried them outside to avoid killing them? Of course she was still angry with her father for leaving them in the lurch and not allowing them to know he was sick. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t mourning him. And Chase should know it.

Things between them had clearly changed.

“I know you’re angry with me,” she said, willing her voice not to shake. “But that’s a little low.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked.

She was tempted to walk away, but he did look legitimately confused. Was it possible that he really didn’t know?

“My dad died,” she said simply. “We just got back from burying him in Aynwick.”

“Oh,” he said, his face crumpling. “Oh, Liberty, I’m so sorry.”

His reaction said it all. He had no idea. She longed to go up on her toes and wrap her arms around him.

“You’re really not with that guy?” he asked, looking a little sheepish.

“Of course not,” she said without thinking. “He’s Mom’s foster brother. He’s basically our uncle.”

Hope flickered in his eyes, and she did her best not to see it.

“What are you doing here?” she asked him quickly.

“I’m here for you,” he said, as if it were obvious. “And I won’t give up, Liberty. Not until you tell me what I did wrong.”

“But you stopped calling,” she said, shaking her head. “You cut off all our credit cards.”

Chase stared at her for a moment, then the corner of his mouth twitched.

Suddenly, he was laughing.

“Chase?” Liberty said worriedly.

It wasn’t a bitter laugh, and he wasn’t laughing at her, at least she didn’t think so. But he was laughing so hard he was bent over now, with tears in his eyes.

“Chase, are you okay?” she asked.

“Sorry,” he panted, glancing up at her, still smiling. “Sorry, sorry, sorry. I’ll explain. It’s been a rough couple of days.”

She waited while he straightened up, cleared his throat, and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.

“As soon as I realized you were here, I came right away,” he said. “I just got in the car and drove.”

Liberty frowned, still wondering how in the world he could have figured out she was here.

“But unfortunately, on the drive down, I picked a pretty shady motel to stay in,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I went for a run, and while I was out, someone broke in.”

“Oh no,” Liberty murmured.

“They took my wallet and my phone,” he said, shaking his head. “Thankfully, they left my clothes and my car keys, and I had a little cash in my joggers. I got the hotel to charge me for the room and then I canceled all the cards. I was going to tell you, but I didn’t have my phone.”

“So how did you get here?” she asked.

“I had a full tank of gas and enough cash for another,” he said, shrugging. “All I knew was that there was no way I was going back. When I got here, I let the owner of the bed and breakfast I’m staying in know what was going on. She’s so sweet, Libs. Her name is Pia, and she let me stay, and she even gave me a little cash in exchange for me doing some yard work and handy things around the house.”

“Oh, Chase,” Liberty said.

She could picture it instantly, like the plot of a romance movie, the pretty owner of the bed and breakfast falling hard for her handy guest.

A flare of jealousy took her breath away.

“New cards will be here for us in the next couple of days,” he told her, completely oblivious to what she was feeling. “I didn’t have a way to call you. You know I can’t remember anyone’s number without my phone. And Pia doesn’t even have a computer or a smart phone, can you believe it? I really hope I didn’t leave you in the lurch.”

“I’m fine,” she said dismissively.

“I love you, Liberty,” he said, his voice dropping low and rough. “Talk to me, please.”

She looked up at him and saw the love and agony in those brown eyes she had always loved so much. All she wanted was to hold him and drink in his warmth and his familiar scent.

“You deserve to know,” she agreed at last. “Of course you do. But not here. Not like this. I just… I need a minute. Come by the house tomorrow at dinnertime?”

He tilted his head slightly, studying her for a moment.

“What?” she asked.

“Are you going to run again, Liberty?” he asked at last.

“No,” she said, feeling horrible. “I’m not. I promise.”

He nodded slowly, then his exhausted face melted into the sweetest smile.

“See you tomorrow,” he said.

She watched as he headed to his car, her heart squeezing at his familiar loping stride.

How am I ever going to tell him the truth and let him go when I still love him so much?