Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
Faith had spent the last two days with her family.
They’d gone out to the beach until they couldn’t stand the heat anymore and then they’d lazed around the cottage.
It had been great because they’d been so busy since they’d arrived that they hadn’t really had a chance to relax.
Even better, it gave them all time to be together as a family.
They turned in early last night after a round of board games, which made Nan happy.
She was glad to be able to spend more time with her grandmother.
The cottage was new, but it was starting to feel familiar, the twinge of anxiety filling her every time she thought about leaving it.
On the eve of the second full day at the cottage, she decided to spend it on the porch where she could enjoy the view she’d had for so many years.
As she looked out at the sea, she could almost feel her old cottage at her back.
Trying not to think too much about missing this place, she focused her attention on tomorrow.
Tomorrow was Nan’s birthday party. Her mom had found a bakery in town, and she’d ordered a grand cake.
Faith smiled to herself as she remembered worrying about impressing Jake at Nan’s party.
Now that she knew him better, she realized that she didn’t need to impress him.
He’d never judge them based on the way they’d chosen to celebrate her grandmother’s birthday.
Her worries seemed silly now. But her distress over Nan’s party had been replaced by a new uneasiness.
She hadn’t seen Jake since their trip to Key West.
She’d fully expected him to drop by, but he hadn’t.
She hadn’t seen him since he’d left her on the porch after their date.
He’d brought her home that evening, walked her up to the door, and they’d had a little chitchat until it was obvious she needed to let him go.
She’d put her arms around him and hugged him as she thanked him.
His absence had made things feel even more unclear for her.
She worried, thinking again how maybe he had just been doing her a favor taking her to a beach she’d never seen. Rich guy to the rescue.
She pulled her feet up into the rocking chair and hugged her knees.
The sun was going down behind the cottage, and the blue sky looked as though someone had put it on a dimmer switch.
It kept getting darker, her surroundings fading into black.
The sound of the tide going in and out and the stars in the sky were all she had left of the evening.
The warm breeze blew around her, the air still recovering from the day’s heat.
As she sat outside alone, she tried to get her mind off of depressing thoughts like losing her childhood cottage, how the area was going to have changed the next time she would be able to visit, and leaving Jake.
She had a lot of great things to be thankful for from this trip.
She’d made amends with Casey, and she felt like she understood her so much better.
And she’d gotten to know Isabella so much better.
She realized that she and Scott could still be friends, and she was so excited to see him back with Casey.
She would never have imagined that she’d have that reaction, but it was this trip that had changed it all.
She had Nan to thank for that. Nan had planned it and dragged them all there.
She always knew just what everyone needed.
Her mom was the same way, and Faith expected that when Nan finally went to find John, it would be her mom who would keep them all together.
They were so much stronger as a family now.
Before coming on vacation, Faith had looked for just the right present for Nan.
What does someone get a person who has lived her entire life, has everything, and wants for nothing?
Nan didn’t need worldly goods because she wasn’t worried about that sort of thing anymore.
What was important to her was her family, her health, and eventually meeting back up with the love of her life.
So, shopping for Nan had been quite difficult.
She’d settled on a gift, knowing that Nan wouldn’t need it and may not use it, but now, after spending time with her, and hearing her stories, it seemed perfect.
It was small, wrapped in silver paper with a white ribbon, and hidden at the bottom of her suitcase. She couldn’t wait to give it to her.
The surf gurgled its white foam over her toes as Faith walked along the ocean’s edge.
The sun was high in the sky now, but she’d been walking since after breakfast. Today was Nan’s birthday, the reason they’d all come here.
Faith had been excited about it, ready to celebrate the matriarch of the family, happy to have this day with Nan.
But now, all she could think about was leaving.
Tomorrow, they’d pack up their things, fill their cars, and leave the cottage empty and stark the way they’d found it.
It wouldn’t have a trace of any of them left, and they’d all go back to their regular lives.
While she had Nan to thank for all these new memories, she also had Jake to thank.
He’d provided experiences that she never would have had otherwise.
He’d also provided the opportunity for her to have feelings that she would never have had.
And now, she had to go back home with all of this in her head.
She knew she had to. That was why she was taking a long walk this morning.
She needed the time to get herself ready to go back.
Her mom was most likely getting the cake by now.
Nan had been puttering around, picking tidying up, and busying herself.
Scott, Casey, and Isabella were on the porch, playing Uno when she’d left.
Faith was so far down the beach now that she couldn’t even see the cottage anymore, so she turned around to head back.
As she made her way back, she promised herself that she’d see her family more often.
She hadn’t realized how much she’d missed them until these two weeks.
There was nothing magical about their cottage—it could be old or new.
What made it magical was the people in it—her family, and the one thing she’d learned this week—more than anything else—was that the were better together.
She smiled as she remembered the nameplate on the front of the house: Better Together.
It certainly fit. Even if they had to rent something else in the years to come, she would definitely still drive by this spot and remember how—no matter changes there were—it always brought them together.
The sand stuck to her feet as she walked, the tide washing them clean as fast as the sand covered them.
The water was warm like the air, the breeze blowing against her as she walked back to the cottage.
Even though she had to face leaving, she was excited to get back to her family, to have a few hours with them before seeing Jake one last time.
As she neared the cottage, Faith trudged up through the sand, her feet burning from the heat of it as she got farther from the water.
The sea had provided relief from the relentless sun as it beat down on the shore.
She jogged quickly toward the house and found Isabella sitting beside Casey and Scott right at the sea grass’s edge.
“Look, Aunt Faith!” Isabella said, her chest poked out in pride. “I made it all by myself just like you showed me how to do.”
Isabella had made a sandcastle with a moat around the edge of it, seashells adorning the roofline.
“It’s beautiful!” Faith kneeled down to get a better look. “Is this the door?” she said, pointing toward a shell that had been pressed into the side of the castle.
“Yes! And these are the windows,” Isabella said, squatting down and pointing to each little shell.
“Scott, do you mind staying with Isabella? I’m going to go up with Faith and check on Mom—make sure she doesn’t need any help,” Casey said. Scott nodded and Casey stood up, stepping toward Faith.
“Thank you for showing me your castle,” Faith said to Isabella. “I can’t wait to see what else you do with it!” She wondered what the real intent of Casey’s suggestion to help was. It was almost as if she’d been waiting for Faith.
“I’m going to make a town!” Isabella said with excitement.
Faith smiled, her love for her niece filling her up. She was so glad to have had the chance to be with Isabella this week, and she was happy that Isabella had warmed to her.
Once they were over the dune, Casey said, “Faith, I’m so scared.”
Faith stopped and turned to her sister. “Why?” She’d never heard Casey say anything like that before, and she wanted to know immediately what was wrong.
“Scott and I have been talking, and he’s willing to try if I am…
Things are going so well here, but I’m so scared about what may happen when I have to go back to work.
What if I fall into the same routine? How can I balance it all?
I want to be sure that I’m being the best wife I can be. What do I do?”
Casey was asking Faith for advice. The mere thought of this made her laugh—one quick burst of laughter.
“It’s not funny.”
“No,” she said, becoming serious. “It isn’t funny.
Casey, you are the strongest person I know.
You will figure it out. You won’t fall into the same routine because you’re aware that it doesn’t work for your family.
And the fact that you’re worried about it is good! You will be fine. Because you want it.”
“Then why did you laugh?”
“Because you were asking me what to do.”