Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
B eth turned to glance back down the dock while her pulse spiked.
“I… can we stay just a little longer?” she asked, needing a moment to settle things in her heart and her head. Not because of the news that Aaron had given her, but because of how he had just looked at her.
The evening breeze ruffled her hair, cooling her heated skin a little. The feeling of salt water, the smell of pine, and the sounds of the crickets helped calm her, steady her, as much as Aaron’s presence did.
“You really threw the tracker into the lake?” she asked, turning towards him. She leaned against the railing and gripped it lightly behind her as if it would steady her racing thoughts. She wanted to touch him. To hold his hand. To feel his arms around her. But he’d stepped back.
Aaron gave a small, reassuring nod as he stopped next to her. “Yup. That’s one way to neutralize it. I guess there’s a chance it was waterproof.” He shrugged.
Beth swallowed hard. The tight knot of fear in her chest loosened just slightly, but the unease lingered. “I wish he’d just leave me alone.” Her voice wavered, a mixture of disbelief and lingering anger.
Aaron’s gaze softened as he stepped a little closer, though still careful not to crowd her. “He thinks that he can control the chaos he creates. You’re not alone in this. This evening was proof of that. The whole camp is watching out for you.”
She blinked up at him, swallowing hard against the swell of emotion threatening to spill over.
“You’re right. I know that. But it’s still…
sometimes it’s too much.” Her hand twitched slightly, and she almost reached for his but hesitated.
The proximity of him, his calm confidence, the protective aura he carried, it made her pulse stutter in ways she hadn’t expected.
Her lips parted slightly, just enough to let a quiet, almost shy, “Thank you” escape again.
She didn’t know how to tell him how much she appreciated everything he did for her. Everything he was to her.
He shook his head, a faint half-smile tugging at his lips. “Don’t thank me. Just… let me do this right.”
Beth swallowed again, aware of every detail—the set of his jaw, the way his gaze softened when it landed on her, the subtle warmth that radiated off him even in the cool evening air. Her hand drifted slightly closer to his again, enough to make the tension between them electric.
“You’re here,” she whispered, more to herself than him, a quiet acknowledgment of the relief that surged through her. “And you told me instead of keeping me in the dark.”
“I won’t hide anything from you.”
Beth nodded, her fingers tightening briefly on the railing before releasing. Her body felt simultaneously lighter and more aware than it had in days. She laughed softly, a mixture of disbelief and nervous energy. “I really am trying not to have a panic attack. It’s working… mostly.”
Aaron’s lips curved just slightly, a teasing glint in his eyes, but there was tenderness underneath it. “If it comes anyway, let me know and I’ve got you, anytime.”
The dock beneath their feet creaked softly as the water below swayed and shimmered gold in the sunset. For the first time in a long time, she felt, if not entirely safe, at least less alone.
Aaron’s hand brushed briefly against hers and she felt a spark run up her arm. The simple touch, light and fleeting, left her fingers tingling long after it ended. She bit her lip, stealing a glance at him, catching the faintest smirk that promised both protection and… something more.
“Come on, let’s get you to your car,” he said, his voice low, steady, but carrying that undertone that made her stomach flip.
Beth let him guide her off the dock and down the pathway to the parking lot.
The next morning, Beth’s car hummed softly as she drove out of town, the salty tang of the tide clinging faintly to the morning air.
Today was her day off, and, as much as she hated it, she had agreed to visit her mother in Panama City. She hadn’t been there in months, which wasn’t long enough, but she had told herself it was time.
The drive was slow going with tourist season was in full swing. Normally, the drive took her forty minutes, but she was almost hitting the two-hour mark when she finally pulled into her mother’s condo complex.
Her mother had moved out of the childhood home Beth had grown up in shortly after her father’s death.
The condo was a huge contrast to the house, which had been unchanged since her birth.
After parking in the parking garage, she climbed the two sets of stairs to her mother’s floor, squared her shoulders, and knocked lightly on the door.
With her mother, everything should be done lightly.
Her mother appeared almost immediately, arms crossed, eyes narrowing as if she had been expecting confrontation rather than a visit. “Bethany,” she said with that sharp tone she always used when Beth had done something that didn’t please her. “You actually came this time.”
Beth forced a small smile. “Hi, Mom. How are you doing?”
Her mother’s gaze swept over her as if cataloging every flaw. “How am I doing? My only daughter has been living in sin, divorced from her husband for years. You know, the Lord says...”
Beth’s chest tightened as her mother went into a very long rant about what the good book says about women like her.
Almost two minutes into the standard rant, Beth realized that she was still standing just outside her mother’s door.
She hadn’t even gotten inside this time before the headache started.
She opened her mouth to respond to her mother, but the right words to defend herself caught in her throat. Instead, all that came out was a weak, “Mom…”
“Don’t ‘Mom’ me,” her mother snapped. “I’ve prayed for you, Bethany. You left your husband, you’re living your life as though God’s rules don’t matter. You act as if I should just smile and greet you and pretend everything is fine with your eternal life?”
Beth swallowed hard, anger prickling along with the ache in her chest. “Mom, I didn’t leave him because I wanted to hurt you or God. I left Ian because I couldn’t stay. Because he was abusive and, damn it, because I needed— No, I wanted to survive.”
Her mother’s lips pressed into a thin line, her eyes blazing. “Survive? By living as a woman without guidance, without a husband? That’s not surviving, that’s sinning.”
Beth felt her stomach knot. “Mom, I’m not sinning. I’m trying to live my life, to be safe, to be happy. I’m not doing anything wrong. You can’t blame me for Ian’s choices. What does the bible say about men like him?”
Her mother shook her head, disbelief etched in every line of her face. “I don’t understand why you can’t just… just do things right. Be the woman God intended.”
It was funny. Every time her mother was confronted with the truth, she diverted the conversation, somehow making everything Beth’s fault.
Beth’s hands curled into fists against her sides, her nails biting into her palms. She couldn’t stand here in the hallway of her mother’s condo complex and defend herself against a lifetime of judgment disguised as religious and moral concern.
“I can’t do this,” she said tightly. “I don’t think I want to try this again.
” She glanced around. “I couldn’t even make it through the door this time. ”
“My pastor says?—”
“I don’t give a damn what your pastor says!”
She hadn’t realized she’d screamed until her mother gasped and lifted her hand to her throat.
“Well, Bethany, there’s no need to shout.”
“Yes, Mom, there is. You refuse to listen to me.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “If you’re going to put my marriage’s health before my own physical and mental health, then I don’t need to waste the gas to come see you again.”
Without waiting for a response, she marched back down the stairs and slammed her car door.
Without looking back, she drove out of the parking lot.
She didn’t know where she was going, only that she needed to be alone.
The town blurred past in streaks of color as she drove, and before she knew it, she had pulled onto the public access road leading to the beach.
This was one of the last places she remembered going with her dad. One of the last times she’d been happy and herself around a man.
The parking lot was crowded with tourists, and umbrellas and towels dotted the sand like a scattered quilt.
Families laughed, the scent of sunscreen hung in the air, and waves crashed rhythmically against the shore.
Beth slipped from her car, shrugged off her jacket, and walked down the boardwalk, weaving through the throng until she found a quiet patch of sand.
Sitting down, she pulled her knees close, letting the noise and the chaos of strangers wash over her. She didn’t feel comforted, she felt small, exposed, just one body among hundreds, but at least she was away from judgment, away from expectations, away from the memory of her mother’s harsh words.
In her mind, she replayed that last day with her father. They had come here and fished just before sunup. Her mother hated that he would take their daughter fishing. Fishing was a man’s job. Little girls of the tender age of twelve didn’t fish.
Her dad had loved bucking her mother. He’d laugh at her uptight ways and defy them with a grin.
She smiled now as a tear slipped down her cheek. She’d loved her dad. Loved at least one man completely in her lifetime.
The sand felt gritty beneath her fingers, grounding her.
The wind tugged at her hair, and for the first time that morning, she let herself breathe.
Her eyes drifted to the horizon, where the sunlight danced over the water, the vastness of the ocean reminding her that there was a world beyond the confines of judgment and fear.
She’d married Ian to get out from under her mother’s controlling hold. The abusive tones, the judgments, constantly being told she was a sinner.