Chapter 2
19 Years Ago
Saturday morning cartoons played in the background, but Nolan didn’t care to watch. He was too focused on his Legos. Dad had brought home a new set for him last night, and he was a few Legos away from finishing the boat.
“Nolan, come here a sec!” Mom called from the other room, and Nolan hurried to finish. “Now, please.”
He grumbled and let his head fall forward as he got up and ran into the kitchen where Mom put the phone on the charger.
She was about to call for him again when she turned and spotted him. “Oh good. You’re here. I just got off the phone with Mrs. Garrick. Her granddaughter is over today, and she’s invited you to go with them to the beach. Isn’t that exciting?”
He thought about his Legos in the other room. “I don’t want to go.”
“You love the beach.”
Swimming was fun, and he really like building sandcastles. “I don’t like girls. They have cooties.”
“I think you’ll like this girl. Now go put on your bathing suit, and I’ll pack you a bag.” He pouted out his bottom lip, but Mom didn’t care. “Off you go.”
He stomped out of the kitchen and turned toward his bedroom.
“Don’t forget to clean up your Legos,” Mom called from the other room. “I do not need to find another one with my barefoot.”
Nolan went back to his Legos. There were only five left. He sat down and quickly clicked them into place. A smile spread across his face as he lifted the completed boat and admired his work.
“Nolan!” Nolan’s head popped up and swiveled to Mom, who stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips. “Bathing suit.”
“Going!” he declared. He took the completed boat with him and put it on his dresser with the other Legos. He had a firetruck, a jet, a train, and a helicopter! One day he’d have an entire room of Legos.
“Nolan, let’s not keep Mrs. Garrick waiting.”
Nolan grabbed his bathing suit and swapped his pajama pants for the dark blue and red shorts. He went to run out of the room when his eyes drifted to his dresser. Maybe he could take one of his Legos with him. No, the last time he did that, he lost a piece in the sand and they never found it.
He left his Legos in place and went back to the living room. SpongeBob was on and Nolan stood in front of the TV to watch.
“Nolan!” Mom exclaimed. “Why are you still wearing your pajama shirt?” He looked down at Woody from Toy Story and shrugged. “Please go change your shirt and hurry.”
Nolan ran to his room, stopping for a second to look at his Legos again, before grabbing a t-shirt out of his clean pile and pulling it over his head.
Mom stood in the hallway this time when he came out of his room. “Better! Now come on let’s go.” She carried a bag on her shoulder and pressed a hand to his back.
They walked outside and trekked across the lawn to Mrs. Garrick’s house. Mrs. Garrick came outside with a big smile and her arms stretched out. “Nolan, I’m so happy you’re coming with us.” She gave him a quick hug, but his eyes drifted to the girl skipping out of the house.
Her hair parted in two, bounced with each skip. She came to a stop in front of him. Her smile was big, but she was missing her two front teeth.
“Hi.” I’m Isla. Her blonde pigtails were sloppy, and her big blue eyes watched him. Heat exploded in his cheeks, and he wanted to hide behind Mom's legs, but babies did that and he wasn’t a baby. He stepped forward and held his hand out because that's what Dad did when he met new people.
“I'm Nolan.”
Isla wrapped her hand around his and pulled him toward the car. He heard his Mom laugh and looked at her. She gave him a wave, then turned to Mrs. Garrick.
“We're gonna have so much fun! Grandma bought me a new shovel and pail, so we're gonna make a castle, and I'll be the princess and you'll be the prince.”
Nolan didn't care about the whole prince and princess thing, but he was excited to build a castle. “Can the castle have a moat?”
“Sure!” she exclaimed, her voice pitching high and ended on a giggle. This girl definitely did not have cooties.
“Who’s ready to have some fun?” Mrs. Garrick asked with a clap of her hands. Her long hair was tied in a braid over her shoulder, and she wore a big straw hat that made her look funny.
Isla’s hand shot up. “I am!”
“Me too,” Nolan said.
They piled into the backseat and headed to the beach. Isla talked the entire time, but that was okay. He liked her voice.
At the beach, Mrs. Garrick set up a blanket for them, but he and Isla went right to making their castle. It was going to be the biggest castle ever!
They worked together while Isla continued talking. He wasn’t even sure what she was talking about, something about sharks and sunfish, but he also heard her say something about seashells, too. She didn’t seem to care that he didn’t say anything, so he continued digging the moat.
Mrs. Garrick came over and wiped them down with sunscreen. Nolan hated sunscreen. It was sticky and gross, but Isla happily allowed Mrs. Garrick to put the icky stuff on her, so he didn’t try to fight it either.
Once the moat was completed, he and Isla took a running jump to land in the middle. “Let’s make a tower,” he said. “Let’s make it go all the way to the sky!”
Isla bounced in place. “Yes!”
Nolan grabbed the pail and filled it with sand. Isla told him what to do, and normally that would make him mad, but it was her castle, too.
Covered in sand, they finished the tower. It didn’t make it to the sky, but it almost did!
“Come on kids, time for lunch.”
Nolan didn’t want to eat. Not when they had a castle to finish. Isla took his hand, and he forgot about the castle. “I’m hungry,” she said.
“Me too.”
She didn’t let go of his hand. Instead, they jumped over the moat together. They sat down on the blanket, and Mrs. Garrick handed them each a peanut butter and jelly sandwich—Nolan’s favorite.
He went to take a bite when the bread flopped open and all his jelly fell into the sand. He went to catch it and in doing so dropped the rest of the sandwich.
“Oh no!” he exclaimed, and sad, hot tears pressed against the backs of his eyes. He wouldn’t cry. He was a big boy and big boys didn’t cry. But he really wanted that sandwich, and now it was covered in sand.
“Whoops!” Mrs. Garrick said. “Let me see what else I have.”
“It’s okay.” Isla rested her hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, and she smiled. “You can have half of mine.” She handed him her other half, and he took it carefully and gratefully.
He sniffed away the tears that hadn’t fallen. “Thank you.”
When they were done eating their halves and Mrs. Garrick reapplied their sunscreen, they went back to the castle. Once they finished, they grabbed their pails and ran to the water’s edge, scooping up water and bringing it to fill the moat. Mrs. Garrick followed them and told them every time they went too far in the water to step closer to shore.
Isla dumped the last bucket in, and she threw her hands in the air. “It’s done!”
“Let me get a picture,” Mrs. Garrick said.
Nolan usually hated his picture being taken, but Isla threw her arm around him and that made him smile. They played princess and prince for a little while, but then they had to go. Nolan didn’t want to go. He was having so much fun.
In the car, Isla kept talking. He had no idea how she always had so much to talk about. When they got home, Mom met them in the driveway.
“Did you have a good time?” she asked.
“We had a great time!” Nolan exclaimed, then Isla told Mom all about their castle and how Nolan dropped his sandwich.
“Wow,” Mom said. “Sounds like you’ve had quite a day. Let’s get you home and ready for dinner.” Mom thanked Mrs. Garrick, then rested her hand on his shoulder. “Say bye to Isla.”
“Bye, Isla. I’ll see you next time.”
She smiled and nodded. He gave her a wave and walked home with Mom, peering over his shoulder every now and again to get another glimpse at the toothless girl.
“I see you and Isla got along just fine,” Mom said.
Nolan nodded and with a sheepish grin said, “I’m going to marry her.”