Chapter 19
NINETEEN
The fire crackled as the last embers glowed, casting a warm, flickering light across Patrick, Blair, and Sienna’s faces.
The sky had turned to a velvet black, sprinkled with stars that glimmered behind the sporadic cloud cover.
They sat together, their quiet conversation punctuated only by the rhythmic crashing of waves that had crept toward them and the occasional snap of a burning twig.
In that intimate circle of light, the stress outside their little group felt nonexistent, leaving just the soft radiance of fire and the steady presence of this new bond between them all.
Sienna yawned and hoisted herself out of her chair. “I think I’m gonna head to bed.”
“Me too,” Blair said.
The last thing Emily wanted to do was try to sleep. The night hours tended to bring the heaviness of her life to the forefront again. If she allowed herself, she’d lie in bed, mind racing until her eyes stung for sleep, waiting for consciousness to leave her.
“I think I’m going to sit out here a little longer, if it’s okay?” she said to Patrick. “Do you need help to get the chairs folded up?”
“I’ve got time. Let me text Julia to make sure they’re okay,” he said. “I’ll take the cooler and things to the truck, so if they need me, I can just help put the chairs back by the house and get the fire pit tomorrow.” He gathered the supplies, slinging the bag over his shoulder.
“Okay.” Her heart fluttered at the idea of the two of them around the fire.
It was as if she’d been one person with Will and another with Patrick.
Which one was the real her? Was this all some kind of dream she’d eventually rouse from?
Would she get back into the classroom and just return to her old life, meeting up with Sienna and Blair at the coffee shop on weekends?
Or was she someone different now? Someone who couldn’t take her eyes off Patrick…
When he started making his way to the front of the house, Sienna turned around, her eyebrows bobbing.
“It’s just too nice to go inside,” Emily said. “That’s all.”
“If you say so.” Sienna winked at her. Then she linked arms with Blair, and the two of them walked toward the house.
With the radio still softly playing against the lullaby of the surf, Emily consciously tried to feel this new version of herself.
Had the breakup made her stronger or weaker?
Was she always going to fear that anyone she met might leave, blindsiding her the way Will had?
Would she ever have a restful night’s sleep?
When would that day come? Would she one day fall into slumber without a care in the world, the way she’d done before Will had shattered her heart? She couldn’t imagine it.
The fact that her phone had sat silent in her pocket all night gave her an indication of how quickly Will had changed his tune.
Why had he checked in that last time as if they were best friends and then nothing?
She pulled out the phone and checked the screen.
No calls or texts. As much as she loathed it when he broke into her personal time, a tiny part of her wished he had.
Then she’d feel as if she was worth something, as if she hadn’t just been discarded.
She shook the thought from her mind. What a stupid way to feel. She gritted her teeth, swallowing the tears that wanted to come. With determination, she opened her email, pulled up the quitclaim form, and signed it. Then she sent it off.
There. Stay far away from me now.
“Julia said Winston’s already asleep,” Patrick said, rounding a chair and plopping down into it. “Stormy’s in bed with him.”
She slipped the phone back into her pocket. “That’s so sweet. I hope he gets to keep him.”
“Me too. He’s wanted a dog forever. If we can’t find an owner, I’m going to have to help Julia with taking it to training classes, and it’s going to be a lot with work, but Winston needs a buddy. He’s always with adults. It would be good for him to have another friend to occupy his time at home.”
She smiled. Patrick took her mind off Will, and somehow managed to lift the weight on her heart at the same time.
“I’m not keeping you from anything, am I?” she asked.
“Not with Winston asleep. And once the sun goes down, there’s only so much cleanup I can do around her house and mine.
The restaurant’s in good shape. We haven’t brought in much of the furniture yet because we’re waiting on a custom hood and bar to be built and installed.
Most of it’s in a storage facility inland.
I’ve been waiting until Julia’s class is finished to bring it all over so Winston can play basketball while I work.
It’s the only thing that keeps him entertained. ”
“You help out with him a lot?” she asked.
“Yeah.” He reached down, scooped up a fistful of sand, and let it fall slowly back to the ground like the soft stream of an hourglass.
“That’s really nice of you.”
He made eye contact. “Nice?” His jaw tightened. “It’s my duty. Ever since Daniel died, it’s felt like something heavy on my chest—a kind of responsibility I can’t shake, no matter what goes on.”
“While it’s wonderful of you to offer your sister help, I wish you didn’t have so much guilt over what happened. From a bystander’s point of view, it was a case of wrong place, wrong time.”
“Even still, it’s become my obligation. The funeral was barely over before people started looking at me with a renewed sense of what my purpose was.
Some offered sympathy, others offered suggestions, but the message was always the same: You’re the one now.
I was suddenly supposed to become something I’d never prepared for.
A guardian. A father. A steady hand in a life that had just been torn apart—which I can’t stop believing was my fault.
” He looked into the blackness of the Gulf.
Emily followed his line of sight, but the darkness was so vast it was as if someone had turned off her vision.
“When Winston went out in the storm, all I could think about was his safety and that Julia could lose a second family member on my watch. Already, I don’t sleep well.”
“I understand not sleeping well,” she said, turning to face him.
She hadn’t planned to say anything—he was almost a stranger, a quiet presence on an otherwise empty beach. But as the flames danced, something inside her wanted to tell him how different he’d made her feel. So she started to.
Patrick said nothing, just listened, his face calm and open, the firelight casting gentle shadows across his features.
It wasn’t comfort she was seeking, just a place to unload the weight of it all while letting him know he’d made a difference.
Somehow, with the quiet murmuring of the Gulf behind them, it felt safe to do just that.
She shrugged. “Maybe this change was God’s way of shifting the path I’d set for myself.
I’ve thought about it sometimes—usually when I’m lying in the dark.
” This would be her go-to answer, she’d decided, for when she went back to school next year and her colleagues wanted to know what had happened.
“What’s on your mind now that Winston’s safe and sound? ”
“Most nights I just lie there, staring at the ceiling, wondering how I’m supposed to do this.
Winston will need me, but my career keeps growing, taking more and more of my time.
But when I look at him, I see a kid who’s looking back at me like I might be the last thing that makes sense.
Raising my sister’s kid doesn’t come with a set of directions, and I want to do it right. I don’t get a do-over.”
“Given how much he loves you, I don’t think you need any directions,” Emily said.
“That’s actually what terrifies me.” His chest rose with his breath.
“It’s in the quiet moments—the way he waits for me to speak, the way he hangs on my words like what I say matters.
And even though I don’t feel ready, I’m trying.
For him. Because ready or not, he needs someone.
And I’m the closest thing to a father he’s got. ”
Emily put her hand on his for an instant, sending his attention down to their fingers. She drew her hand back, worried the touch was too intimate.
“I’m honored you shared this with me,” she said, “since I know how much you enjoy your silence.”
He allowed a small smile to emerge.
“So, what did make you tell me? You barely know me.”
“I don’t know. You’re easy to talk to.”
“Well, that’s good, I guess.” But then she pressed him. “What, exactly, makes me easier to talk to than other people?”
He looked directly into her eyes, as if searching for something. Her heart pattered at the sincerity on his face.
“I don’t really like silence, actually. It just makes things simpler for me.
I don’t have to dive into my feelings if no one is there to make me.
But you walked in that day we met with your sincere smile and all your questions.
” He looked into the flickering flames in front of them.
“I thought, ‘If I don’t cut her off now, she might be trouble.’”
“Trouble?”
His smile reached his eyes. “I’d rather not elaborate.” A huff of laughter escaped with his words.
“No, seriously. Tell me. Do I look like a menace of some sort? Am I high maintenance or something?”
Fondness lifted his features. “Definitely not any of those.” He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in the weighted silence. “You’re as kind inside as you are attractive.”
Emily had to work to make her mouth move, but she didn’t have a clue what to say. It had been a long time since she’d heard a compliment, and his candor floored her.
When she didn’t say anything, he pursed his lips and bent forward, leaning on his knees.
“Sorry,” she said, scrambling. “Your honesty took me off guard.” Patrick didn’t look at her, so she got off her chair and squatted in front of him. “I like what you said,” she told him softly.
His eyes met hers.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” she asked.
It was a forward question, but with him she felt like a different person—someone she’d been all along, but had never allowed herself to experience.
Her adult life had been about chasing Will’s dreams. She’d tagged along, following him to Nashville, eating dinner alone and saving him a plate because he had some meeting with another person he was sure would open doors for him.
But Patrick hadn’t asked her for anything.
“I’ve got a few calls to make for work and then I’m assisting with the town cleanup.”
“Want a pair of extra hands?” she asked.
“I don’t want to take you away from your friends.”
“Maybe we could all go. What time?”
“Around ten,” he said, a glimmer in his eye.
“Emily!” Blair’s voice cut through the moment like a hot knife through butter. “I need you to come here!”
Patrick stood up. “I should pack all this and get going. It’s late.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” she asked.
“Definitely.” He began folding the chairs.
“Do you need any help?” she asked.
They stood opposite one another, every nerve in her body zinging.
“I’m fine. You should go see what Blair wants.”
But she didn’t have to. Coming toward her on the beach, through the soft light emanating from the grounds surrounding the house, were Blair and Sienna. But beside them were Tyson, Rocko, and…
Will?