Memories in Sea Glass: Driftwood Key Beach Reads #2

27. Jess

As soon as they got home from Mary’s house, Jess put on her favorite pajamas and padded back downstairs to indulge in a little ice cream.

Liberty and Chase were sitting on the wicker chairs on the front porch, holding hands and talking about exactly how they’d like to renew their vows. The sight of it had Jess’s heart squeezing like it would burst with the sweetness.

Now that she’d had a moment to breathe, she felt nothing but happy for those two sweet kids. Things were going to be just fine for them, and there was nothing more she could ask for as a mom.

In one way of thinking the ceremony was unnecessary, neither of them had ever taken off their rings or spent a moment out of love with the other. But Jess could sense the inherent importance of what they were doing. Choosing each other again in such a joyful way, with friends and family there to celebrate with them would help to separate the difficult period they had just come out of from the rest of their lives.

It may also sustain them during trying times to come, Jess thought to herself.

If the two planned to adopt a child, she knew from what Uncle Brian had gone through just trying to bring her home with him that it wasn’t always the easiest path. But with Liberty’s determination and discipline, and Chase’s positive attitude and big heart, Jess knew they would be able to handle just about anything together.

Anthem had disappeared upstairs, most likely to play her guitar. Social events took their toll on her little introvert, but Jess hadn’t missed that she and Glory seemed to have made up. They sat next to each other in the car on the way home and Glory interrogated her sister about her BeeBop stardom, unable to believe that Anthem had no plans to become rich and famous.

“I just want to write music and play,” Anthem had said happily. “Besides, I would never make a move without Zara, and she’s not interested in following up on anything we’ve been offered so far.”

“You guys really hit it off,” Glory observed.

“She’s the ideal performer,” Anthem said, nodding. “I can write all the songs I want, but without someone to bring them to life like she does, no one will ever hear them the right way.”

“But you can perform them, honey,” Jess had said. “You’re a wonderful musician.”

“It’s not the same,” Anthem said firmly.

And secretly, Jess knew she was right. Anthem really was a gifted musician, but there was something about Zara Davidson’s stage presence and beautiful voice that was almost mesmerizing. Together, the two of them were a formidable duo.

“Why doesn’t she want to follow up on the offers?” Glory asked. “Does she have a boyfriend here or something?”

“I don’t think so,” Anthem said thoughtfully. “Though I guess it could be something like that. But really I think that we just haven’t been offered anything lucrative enough yet to be worth going on tour. She says she just loves it in Driftwood Key, but it’s not like she couldn’t come back afterward.”

“Some people are just homebodies,” Jess said, thinking of herself.

That had made Glory laugh.

“You mean you, don’t you?” Anthem teased.

“I do,” Jess said, unashamed. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re not touring yet. It will be good for us all to be here for Liberty and Chase, assuming they do their ceremony here.”

Everyone had gotten quiet then at the thought that Liberty and Chase would be leaving them.

Liberty had come back to the house in Chase’s car. Jess had half expected her to go back to the bed breakfast with him, or for him to grab his stuff and stay at Seashell Lane. But the two had decided they would wait to live together until after the ceremony, just like the first time.

Now she was doing her best to resist peeking out the front window at them.

Meanwhile, Everett and Justine were out back, walking on the beach. It seemed to Jess that the two of them were becoming closer. And though Everett still felt his daughter should give the baby up for adoption, he seemed to respect that it was her choice.

Footsteps on the stairs alerted her to Glory’s presence before she appeared.

“Hey, pumpkin,” Jess said. “Want to raid the fridge with me? I was going to have some ice cream.”

“That sounds amazing,” Glory said with a smile. “Are they still out there?”

Her eyes went to the front of the house, indicating Liberty and Chase.

“They sure are,” Jess said happily as they headed into the kitchen together.

“I still can’t believe it,” Glory said.

“From what Liberty told me the other day, you actually had a lot to do with it,” Jess said, grabbing the container of rocky road from the freezer.

“She said that?” Glory asked.

“I heard you were the first to know what was happening with her,” Jess said. “And that you were the one who made her call him, even before she was ready to tell him.”

“I guess so,” Glory said, nodding.

“And I heard about that post you made from her phone, too,” Jess said, trying to be stern and hide her smile.

“I know that was a little… well… I didn’t do it lightly,” Glory said. “But they’re supposed to be together. I couldn’t just let her suffer like that, or him.”

“I know, pumpkin,” Jess said fondly. “As long as you’re promising it was a one-time thing, I’ll admit that I was impressed.”

“See, social media isn’t all bad,” Glory joked, shaking her head so Jess would know she was teasing.

“And you made up with Anthem tonight?” Jess asked, studiously turning back to the fridge to grab the chocolate syrup so Glory wouldn’t feel like a bug under a microscope.

“I never should have been mad at her in the first place,” Glory said softly. “She couldn’t help what she did.”

Jess nodded, biting her lip and fighting back the tears that were suddenly prickling her eyes.

Though she had understood immediately why Anthem had been speaking with Silas, it had hurt her too, knowing that he had chosen to speak with only one person in the family, and it wasn’t the one he had known the longest.

And poor Glory. At seventeen, she was probably the least able to understand why her dad had left in the first place, let alone why he had chosen to exclude her from the phone calls he made to Anthem when Glory was already being excluded by her friends.

“I’m so proud of you,” Jess said simply.

“We’re all so different,” Glory said, shrugging. “I forget sometimes that just because they’re my older sisters doesn’t mean they’re perfect. I’m glad he’d been calling her, so the nurses saw her number in his phone. If she hadn’t taken his calls, none of us would have had the chance to say goodbye.”

Suddenly Glory was crying. Jess pulled her in for a hug, patting her back between her shoulder blades.

“I’m so sorry, honey,” Jess said soothingly.

“I’ve decided I’m going to let it make me a better person,” Glory said as she pulled back, her blue eyes serious. “I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. I don’t like the person I was back in Aynwick. I might have been popular, but I was getting to be kind of a… you-know-what.”

Jess was stunned.

“I was only worried about outfits and parties and stuff I don’t actually care about,” Glory went on. “Even dating Jason was all about status. And I guess the same is partly true for Tristan. When he dumped me, I think it hurt my pride more than my heart.”

“That’s very insightful,” Jess said, impressed. “Not many people can look at themselves with so much honesty, and I mean grown-ups.”

“I want to be a better person,” Glory said simply. “That means I have to be honest about where I am right now.”

“I think you’re farther on your way than you think,” Jess told her, smiling.

“My next boyfriend will be someone I feel comfortable with,” Glory said. “Someone who makes me more like the person I want to be.”

“That sounds like a great quality in a boyfriend,” Jess said.

“I mean, I look at you with Clint,” Glory went on. “You guys both seem so peaceful, like you just want to enjoy your lives and spend time with family.”

Jess froze, stunned at what Glory was saying. She wasn’t dating Clint. She wasn’t sure that she ever wanted to be romantically involved with anyone again.

“I want something like that too,” Glory said simply.

“You… like Clint?” Jess heard herself ask, instead of making denials. “You like the idea of me seeing him?”

“Well, who wouldn’t?” Glory laughed. “He’s the total package. He’s sweet, he helps around the house, he makes you laugh, he likes your daughters, and he’s pretty easy on the eyes for an old guy.”

Jess listened, feeling like a desert drinking in raindrops as Glory listed some of Clint’s good qualities. Each one made her heart smile.

“Well,” she said after a moment, trying to pull herself together instead of swooning like a schoolgirl talking about her crush. “Well, I’m not actually dating him…”

But before she had a chance to explain anything, the front door opened and Liberty came in, looking excited. Chase was right behind her, his hand wrapped around Liberty’s as if they were cuffed together and could never let go. They both looked radiantly happy.

“Mom,” Liberty said. “Can we talk?”

“Sure, honey, of course,” Jess said, relieved for the change of subject. “What’s up?”

“I can go,” Glory said, eyebrow lifted.

“No,” Chase said. “No way, please stay.”

Glory smiled and looked as happy as the other two.

“Sit, sit,” Jess laughed. “Have some ice cream with us?”

They nodded and she quickly scooped out two more dishes, adding a drizzle of chocolate syrup to each one.

“Here you go,” she said, placing a dish and spoon in front of each of them. “What’s up?”

“Mom,” Liberty said, “I know this may sound a little wild, but we were talking and… we want to stay.”

Jess blinked at her for a moment, unable to take in what she was hearing.

“We love Philadelphia,” Chase put in. “But I did a little research, and they have a real need for teachers here in the Keys.”

“And with my nursing degree, I can find work anywhere,” Liberty added.

“Now that we’re going to start looking into adopting, we want to be close to you and Libby’s sisters,” Chase said, his voice soft with happiness. “So, we want to stay in Driftwood Key.”

Jess’s breath caught in her throat.

“As long as you’re planning to stay, that is,” Liberty put in.

“Oh, kids,” Jess said, her voice breaking a little as she got up to hug her wonderful daughter.

Liberty laughed and squeezed her back, and Chase wrapped his big arms around them both.

Jess closed her eyes, soaking in the pure joy she felt at their happiness and the incredible news they had shared. When she opened them again, the first thing she saw was Glory sitting across the table, misty-eyed and glowing with happiness.

“I’m going to be an aunt,” she whispered in wonder. “I can’t believe it.”

“You’re going to be a hands-on aunt,” Chase told her. “We expect our second-chance matchmaker to make up for her mischief by playing with our kids all the time.”

His voice was stern, but his eyes twinkled with humor.

“I don’t even care if you’re joking,” Glory said, laughing with tears in her eyes. “I’m going to spend every minute with your kids. And I’m so happy I could cry.”

“Don’t do that,” Liberty laughed. “Because then I’ll start again, and if I cry any more today, I’ll need an IV drip. Let’s eat ice cream instead and talk about housing in Driftwood Key. Have either of you seen any cheap apartments for rent around here?”

Jess headed back to her seat and drank in the sight of her family.

We have to stay,she told herself. This is a sign. Whatever we have to do, it’s time to make Driftwood Key our forever home.

Later that night, as she slipped under the covers and looked through the wall of glass into the stars reflecting on the water, she thought about what else she still had to do.