Chapter 10
Muriel sat in her aunt’s kitchen waiting for her to leave so she could talk to Cora alone. “We’ve got this.”
“I know, I know,” Remy said, digging through the fridge. “I just want to make sure you guys have enough for lunch before we go.”
“We’re going to be just fine,” Cora said. “Besides, we have a car and an actual job, remember?”
“But Matty only likes red grapes.” She pulled the whole container of grapes out of the drawer and put them in the cooler.
“You ready, Remy?” Remy’s husband, Colby, asked.
“Yeah…” She bit her bottom lip.
“We’re going to be fine,” Muriel reassured her. “People pay me to do this for a living.”
Remy looked at the family. “Okay guys, we’re leaving.”
“Go already,” Sadie said from the living room.
“Bye, Mommy!” Matty said from the floor, eating a bowl of Goldfish snacks on the coffee table. The two of them were watching something on the television together.
“We’ll text you about everything,” Cora said to Remy.
“Promise?” Remy said to them. “I just don’t want to miss anything.”
“Promise,” Muriel said.
The sisters waited until the door closed and peeked in on the kids before continuing their conversation from last night.
“When did Dad invite you to the house?” Muriel asked.
“He just called right before I left for here,” Cora explained. “He had nothing to say other than to ask for help with babysitting.”
Muriel felt so angry and betrayed that she didn’t even know where to begin. “He hasn’t talked to me in months.”
“I know,” Cora said. “It’s been that long for me, too.”
“It’s like he doesn’t even want to see me.” Muriel cut right to the chase.
“Of course he does, Muriel,” Cora said, and she grabbed Muriel’s shoulder.
Ever since their father had a baby, neither she nor Cora saw him very much, and if they did, it was brief. He had included their brother Ryan in things, but now he was also including Cora?
Cora shook her head. “He was only looking for a babysitter.”
“Seriously?” A little voice inside her head asked why he wouldn’t have asked her.
“Because I don’t have a career,” Cora said, sitting down at the table. “Remember, I’m just a waitress.”
“Who’s got this great internship,” Muriel added. But the truth was, the great internship at the “newest and up-and-coming designer,” was actually more like volunteer work.
“He actually told me I could live above the garage in their in-law suite,” Cora added. “Like a disjointed member of the family.”
“We are disjointed from his family,” Muriel added.
Cora sighed when her phone buzzed. A smile broke out across her face the second she saw who it was.
“Jules again?” Muriel said with a roll of her eyes.
“He’s smitten, apparently,” Cora said, texting back immediately. She bounced right back from their father’s selfishness. “He’s going to meet us at the beach.”
“What?” Muriel shook her head. “You promised me you’d watch the kids with me today. My arm still really hurts.”
“And he’ll be super awesome with them, I’m sure,” Cora said. “Besides, Oliver’s coming, too.”
“I just wanted to lay at the beach and play in the sand, not hang out with people. Is he bringing Natasha?” Muriel asked, hoping he wasn’t.
Cora shook her head. “They broke up.”
Muriel straightened at the news. “Really?”
She thought back to the brothers’ cryptic conversation last night at the tavern. Had he broken up with her at that point and then went straight out afterward?
Exactly like Zack.
Eww.
“I’d rather stay home,” Sadie complained from the family room.
“It’s gorgeous out!” Cora said, walking into the family room with the sunscreen.
“Are you going to surf?” Sadie asked Muriel.
Muriel shook her head and held up her arm. “I need to take a break from surfing for now.”
Cora held up the bottle of lotion. “Who wants to go first?”
Little Matthew’s eyes widened, and he bolted out of the room. Muriel looked at Sadie.
“I can do it for you.” Sadie plucked the bottle out of Cora’s hands.
“You’re the best,” Muriel said to Sadie.
“I know,” she said. “Come on, Matthew. Let’s lather up.”
Matthew ran into the kitchen. “I don’t want to!”
“Sorry you broke your arm yesterday.” The young teenager looked down as she said this. “I shouldn’t have made you go surfing.”
“Oh my goodness,” Muriel said, reaching out and squeezing Sadie’s shoulder. “It’s not your fault. I’m the clumsy one. Besides, that’s what cousins do.”
“Make you go surfing?” Sadie said.
“You didn’t make me go surfing,” Muriel said. “I wanted to go with you.”
“And break your arm?” Sadie shook her head. “It’s my fault. I didn’t help you at all.”
“Stop it,” Muriel said, gathering up the snacks left out on the coffee table. “I heard you’re really good.”
“Who said that?” Sadie narrowed her eyes in disbelief.
“Mr. Abbott,” she said.
“Oh, do you have Oliver as a teacher?” Cora asked, picking up Matthew’s snack.
“Yes,” Sadie sighed. Her eyes looked out the window, wistful.
Muriel smiled at that sigh. She knew it well. Mr. Brewer, second semester, Art History. She’d never forget how in love she had been with her professor. She’d dreamt of him, daydreamed, and doodled him while in classes.
“He’s my favorite teacher,” Sadie said. With both arms, she squeezed Matthew into a hug. “Let’s put some lotion on so we can go swimming, okay?”
“I can see why he’s your favorite,” Cora said, winking at Muriel. “He’d be my favorite teacher.”
“He’s super fun, and his class is really interesting.” Sadie sounded like she meant it, too. “Everybody loves Mr. Abbott.”
What’s not to like?Muriel thought to herself. Yet, she took back the thought. He’d broken up with his girlfriend and gone out to the bars after. That was what not to like.
“Maybe we should just stay home with the kids and play at the house?” Muriel said.
Both Cora and Sadie looked at each other.
“No way,” Cora said. “It’s a beautiful, warm, sunny day in Maine, and I’m not at work, so I want to go to the beach.” She wrapped her arm around Sadie. “You in?”
Sadie nodded her head. “I’m in.”
“I’ve got a broken arm.” Muriel held up her trump card.
“You’re fine,” Cora said, like she did when she felt Muriel was being too sensitive, which in their relationship was always.
They packed everything up in the car, including Matthew, who didn’t want to leave the house without every sand toy possible, and made it to the beach just as Muriel saw two dark figures floating on the water along the horizon. She couldn’t see their faces, but she could tell just by their profile who they were.
“Well, looks like the same gang is here,” Muriel said, suddenly a bit embarrassed she’d come back to the beach with a cast over her arm. “Okay, Matty, let’s find a good spot on the beach!”
As they found a place to put their things, Muriel noticed the mean-girl group from yesterday. All the girls sat together on matching towels and similar bikinis, whispering behind their hands, and making looks at one another. She felt like a thirteen-year-old as she passed the group, thinking they were talking about them.
The second the girls glanced over, Sadie’s shoulders slumped in, and she bowed her head so her hair fell in her face.
Muriel noticed Sadie peek back over to the crowd as they set up the beach blankets and toys with Matthew.
“Don’t even bother with them,” Cora said, confident like always.
Muriel understood the complexities of being in middle school. She may not be in middle school now or teach middle school, but she remembered the awkwardness, the insecurities, and the pain associated with never feeling cool enough and always feeling like an outsider.
Cora wouldn’t care that this popular group didn’t like her, because she had always been popular herself. She didn’t have to count on the social sway of other popular girls to get her into a crowd. She had always had a group of friends at her fingertips. Even now, as an adult in the city, she had a large network of friends and coworkers.
Not like Muriel, who only had her long-term, not really friends-slash-roommates in Concord. Her social group had been centered around Zack’s friends from law school, and her and Zack’s friends from college.
Now all Muriel had was her family, and only half of that. Her dad didn’t call her. Ryan hardly acknowledged her existence. All she had was her mom, who was busy with her boyfriend, and Cora, who usually had no time for her.
“Hey, look!” Cora took off her sundress and stood in a bikini showing off her perfect figure. “It’s Mr. Abbott and his scrumptious brother, Jules.”
Cora used her whole arm to wave to the two brothers bobbing over the waves on their boards. One of them waved back. With the sun, Muriel wasn’t sure who waved and wouldn’t be surprised if either did. She wouldn’t be surprised if both brothers fell in love with Cora like all her other boyfriends and friends.
Muriel held Matthew’s hand with her good one. “Let’s put your life vest on so we can go swimming with Cora and Sadie.”
Matthew looked out at the water and pointed to the men now paddling in on waves. Both brothers stood up at the same time and glided into shore together. It captured a few of the other beachgoers into pointing and watching them. Cora laughed as they both casually stepped off their boards into the water, making the sport look as easy as walking.
“Hey, there,” Oliver said. “It’s nice to see you came back.”
Matthew looked up at Oliver and his board in awe. “That was awesome!”
“Hello again,” Muriel said, wishing she’d kept her cover-up on. “Have you met my other cousin, Matty?”
Oliver reached out his hand to the small boy. “Hello, Matty. I’m Sadie’s teacher, Mr. Abbott. I’ve heard a lot of cool things about you.”
Muriel watched in delight as the little boy, who seemed a little shy at first, started to talk. “I like your surfboard.”
“Are you going to learn how to surf as well as Sadie?” Oliver asked the boy.
“I already know how,” he said.
“Really?” Muriel turned to Sadie and saw Sadie playfully hitting Jules in the arm.
“No, you don’t, silly,” Sadie said in the sweet tone Muriel hadn’t heard Sadie use on many. “You’re just learning.”
“Did you get into the water with it?” Oliver asked Matthew.
“Yup,” Matthew said, still holding Muriel’s hand.
“Did you sit on the board?” Oliver asked, his tone serious.
Matthew nodded.
“Did you go out on the waves?” Oliver waited for Matthew to answer, which turned into a shrug.
“I think so.” Matthew pointed at the water. “I was out there.”
Oliver turned to look, entertaining Matthew. “Well, then it looks like you’re a surfer.”
“See.” Matthew looked up at Muriel. He leaned his whole little body up against hers, and a feeling came over her. A tugging pulled at her heart that he was already comfortable with her to make such a gesture.
“Can you do this?” Oliver asked, holding out his pinky finger and thumb. “And say ‘That wave was gnarly.’”
Matthew looked up at Muriel as if to get permission to follow Oliver’s instructions. She laughed and nodded, doing the gesture with her broken hand. “Cowabunga, dude!”
Oliver knelt down to Matthew’s height, slightly shaking his head, and whispered loud enough for her to hear, “You might want to consider not using all the surfer lingo at once.”
Matthew didn’t have a clue what he said, but just like everyone in this town, he was enamored by Oliver.
“Want to go surfing with us?” Oliver asked Matthew.
Matthew immediately left her side and tried to drop her hand for Oliver.
“Oh, no, he’s with me today,” she said, squeezing Matty’s hand in hers and pulling him back.
“I don’t mind keeping him close to the water near you,” Oliver said. “The big kids always love to teach a novice.”
“You mean a noob,” Sadie said from behind. She wore a T-shirt and running shorts.
“Aren’t you going surfing?” Muriel asked. “I’ll watch Matthew.”
“I want to help teach Matthew,” Sadie said, but with the way she looked at the group of girls, Muriel felt something else was going on. “Come on, Matty. Take my hand and we can surf with Mr. Abbott.”
“Sure,” Muriel said, stepping back.
“You should wrap that up and get back out there,” Oliver said, pointing to her cast.
“Oh, I think my surfing days are done for now,” she said.
“But you said this morning you got a waterproof cast,” Sadie reminded her.
Muriel glanced at Cora, who was in a full-blown conversation with Jules.
“Yeah, for like pools and showers and stuff,” Muriel said to Sadie, who protectively held her arms against her belly, trying to cover it. “Not ocean water. Besides, my arm hurts today.”
“I want to surf!” Matthew said, pulling Sadie’s free arm toward the surfboards.
Oliver leaned down. “You have to be a really good listener out on the ocean. It’s a very dangerous place, so you have to listen to the rules.”
Matthew nodded, then looked up at Sadie.
“You can’t go in without an adult,” Oliver said to the young boy. “And you never go over your waist.”
Matthew nodded. “Can we go surfing now?”
“Do you have a good life vest?” Oliver asked.
Matthew pointed to the vest he was wearing. His eyes widened in excitement. “I have one on!”
Oliver then turned to Muriel, his blue eyes glowing in the sunlight. “I really don’t mind teaching him. It’s the least I can do after yesterday.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” she said. Was this man for real? From below, Matthew’s puppy dog eyes pleaded with her.
“Please, Muriel?” Matthew held his hands together, as if he were praying. He already knew how to use his charm.
“Alright, but if at any time you stop listening to Oliver and Sadie, you’ll get out of the water and play with me.”
“I promise I’ll listen!” he said, running straight to Oliver. He was ready to run out into the water when Oliver stopped him.
“Whoa, wait a minute, little man. Not until you understand all the rules first,” Oliver said, holding out his hand to Matthew. “Today, we’re going to master the art of boogie boarding.”
“What’s that?” Matthew asked, bouncing on his feet.
“It’s like a surfboard but shorter and a little easier to manage.” Oliver pointed to a kid holding one. “That’s a boogie board.”
“Cool!” Matthew looked up at Oliver.
“You always have to wear your life vest.” Oliver tapped Matthew’s vest with his finger. “Good job knowing that rule already.”
This made Matthew stand up taller.
“And you also have to know how to tell someone you’re in trouble.” Oliver spoke seriously, then he raised one hand into the air and waved. “If you ever think you need help in the ocean, you lift one arm up as high as you can and call for help.”
Muriel couldn’t help but listen, mesmerized by this man talking to a little boy so kindly and warmly. Matthew usually became shy around strangers, but here was Oliver showing him the right way to hold a boogie board, and Matthew appeared at ease.
“You ready?” Oliver asked.
“There’s a wave,” Matthew said, pointing to a small ripple coming to shore.
“Aren’t you coming in the water?” Sadie asked.
Muriel shook her head. “I don’t want to get this wet.”
“What’s the point of having it waterproof?” Sadie rolled her eyes.
“I’ll smell like fish, waterproof or not,” Muriel explained. Having a seawater-smelling cast for six weeks did not sound worth it.
“Don’t you worry, sparkles,” he said. “We won’t let you smell like fish.”
“Sparkles?” Muriel looked down at her black bathing suit, which covered her whole torso.
“The meaning of Muriel,” he said, wrinkling his forehead as though she should know this information. “Right?”
“You mean a sea goddess?” she said, referring to all the silly places she had seen her name’s meaning.
“Sparkling sea maiden,” he said, staring at her with his deep blue eyes which seemed to penetrate hers.
She took in a breath as she looked away suddenly. “Is that what it means? Huh.”
Everything in her body told her not to fall for this behavior. The guy was a creep for going out after breaking up with his girlfriend. And Muriel had dated enough jerks.
She shook her head, holding up her cast. “I’m good right here.” She wiggled her toes in the dry sand. “I don’t want any water on this.”
Oliver held up his finger. “I’ve got an idea.”
He jogged away, running off the beach.
“Where’s Oliver going?” Cora asked, now standing so close to Jules, Muriel wasn’t sure if they were touching.
They all watched as Oliver came running back with a bag in his hand. He ran down the beach, and Muriel couldn’t do anything but stare at Oliver’s perfectly tanned, chiseled chest. Baywatch had nothing on Oliver Abbott.
“Here,” Oliver said, handing her the bag immediately. “There’s some duct tape and garbage bags in there. We can wrap it up and you’ll be fine.”
“You carry duct tape in your car?” Muriel said, surprised.
“It’s Maine,” he said, as though that was enough of an answer.
Oliver pulled out the first bag and started ripping it apart at the seams. Then he ripped off a piece of duct tape and said, “Now you won’t have to worry about smelling like fish.”
He started wrapping up her arm, twisting the plastic perfectly around it before she even had a chance to argue. She held up her arm in shock, wishing her whole being didn’t buzz when he stood close to her. Every single cell radiated within her.
“You ready to see Sadie take a wave?” Oliver asked as he tore off more tape with his teeth.
At first, Muriel was about to joke that she had already explained herself, but she realized Oliver wasn’t talking to her. She looked over to her side and saw that Matthew took hold of Oliver’s hand, the boogie board under his arm, and ran toward the water.
Oliver turned back to her before leaving and said, “Don’t think just because you broke your arm that you’re not hanging out in the water with us.”
“I guess not,” she said as the two went into the water. She walked up to the edge of a wave and let the cool Atlantic waters roll over her toes. “Oh, that’s cold.”
“It’s refreshing,” Oliver said, and he dove under before getting up and whipping his wet hair back.
He looked like a Greek god, all sparkling wet under the summer sun. He held the board out for Matthew as Sadie dipped under next to them.
“Put your hands on the top of the board here,” Oliver instructed.
Matthew did what he was told, holding the board while also waiting for further instructions. Muriel held up her hand to block the sun as Matthew launched on a wave and into the water, without even a slight hesitation to the cool water. He rode the boogie board all the way to the shore as Sadie ran after him, both in a fit of giggles.
“Again!” Matthew shouted as he reached the sand.
“Let’s go, Matthew!” Oliver shouted out.
And the three took off back to the water, Matthew leading the group, jumping over the waves.
Muriel slowly moved out into the water up to her knees. She became used to the temperature, and it wasn’t so cold anymore. The sand buried her feet deeper as the waves passed through. Suddenly, her chest expanded, and she was able to take a huge deep breath, something she hadn’t been able to do for weeks. She closed her eyes, holding her face up to the sun, and breathed in again, holding it, then slowly releasing it with absolute control.
Muriel opened her eyes, and for the first time in so long, she felt good. Happy. She looked out at the group with Matthew as he took another wave. Sadie and Oliver laughed and gave instructions to Matthew, who couldn’t wait to get on the boogie board.
Matthew had no trouble learning, either. With each wave, he ran right back into the water, ready to catch the next one. Each time, Muriel cheered him on. Every time he reached the shore, he’d run to her and give her a high five.
“Don’t forget the surfer talk,” Oliver said, going back into the water with Matthew.
Matthew turned around and held up his hand, wiggling his thumb and pinky finger, and said, “Cowabunga, dude!”
Muriel let out a laugh each time.
Matthew would then take off for the waves, running as fast as his little legs could through the water to where Sadie and Oliver were.
Off on the beach blanket, Cora and Jules laid under the sun, deep in conversation.
Muriel looked around the beach, noticing all the people around enjoying themselves. She couldn’t think of a time when she’d ever seen someone miserable at the beach. Did people stop and enjoy themselves this much in Concord, or did they just go through the motions?
She was enjoying this moment. She was enjoying herself. And it felt good to be among other people who were enjoying it as well. For three years, she had been stressed over Zack’s stress being in law school, finding the corporate law firm of his dreams, and studying for the bar. Not to mention, he was always concerned about the future.
Here in Blueberry Bay, everyone enjoyed life in the now. They enjoyed the warm summer sun on their faces. They enjoyed the sight of the Atlantic Ocean, rather than their phone screens. They enjoyed the sounds around them and the people they sat with. Everyone seemed to care about their surroundings and community. No one left garbage lying around. Everyone seemed to know everyone’s business but also the sorrows and pains. Muriel saw firsthand what this community did for one another from her mother’s experiences over the past year. They took care of one another. They watched out for one another. They were more than just neighbors.
But as Muriel watched Oliver teach Matthew how to boogie board and the way he clearly cared about Sadie, she couldn’t help but have a little crush for the handsome teacher. It was something about the way he grabbed life by the boogie board and rode the waves.
She looked down at her garbage-bag-covered arm and cursed it. She wanted to be out on the water with that boogie board.