Chapter Twenty-Nine
Tug pulled into the driveway at Kathleen’s less than an hour later.
Rosemary opened the front door just as he was ready to knock. “Hi there. I was just coming out. Thanks for coming to the door.”
“My mama raised me right.”
“I see that.”
They walked down to the van, and he held the door for her and shut it once she and her big beach bag were settled into the passenger seat.
It was such a pretty day for a drive that he took the long way, looping out near Amanda’s and then heading back down the beach road toward his house.
They weren’t far from Amanda’s place when he noticed another For Sale sign in front of a house.
“Did you see that house for sale?” Rosemary asked.
“Yeah, I’ve noticed several go on the market lately. It’s not unusual after a storm. Snowbirds and people who don’t visit much themselves get tired of dealing with cleanup after these storms. I don’t know why they buy houses instead of condos if they don’t want any of the upkeep.”
“A house can be a lot of work, especially if you’re not living in it. That’s a really cute house. It’s close to Amanda too.”
“About two blocks.”
“That’s what I was thinking.” Rosemary shifted in her seat, getting another look at the house through the side mirror. “Know anything about it?”
“I know a doctor from Boston had it built. I can’t remember if he was an orthopedic surgeon or a heart surgeon.”
“Well, you don’t want to get them confused when you need one or the other.”
“Yeah, that could be disastrous.” He repositioned his hands on the steering wheel. “I’ve never been inside, but I heard it has a lot of built-ins. Everything was custom. The wife came down to monitor things while they were building it, which is why it took so long to complete. She kept changing her mind on things.”
Rosemary laughed. “I bet they hate it when that happens.”
“Probably. I’m sure the contractors were paid handsomely for their time and the rework. They didn’t come down often.”
When they got back to his house, he headed straight for the beach path.
“Don’t we need to get chairs and stuff?”
“I already took care of that. Come on.” He extended his arm, and she ran the few steps to catch up and took his hand. They walked over the dune.
“You’ve been busy,” she remarked when she saw the picnic sheet, chairs, and cooler. “This is so nice.”
“I might be trying to impress you.”
“You are.” She took the seat on the left side of the cooler. “Ahh. It feels so good out here today.” But she only sat still for about two minutes before hopping up and dragging her chair to the edge of the blanket. “I want to put my toes in the sand.”
“Good thinking.” He moved his chair up next to hers. “I was thinking too. Not about my toes in the sand, but more about all my stuff in it. About treasure hunting through the diner’s rubble.”
“What do you think?”
“We’d have to be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt, and there’s no telling what mess is all mixed in that rubble. Knives, broken glass—”
“We can be careful. There has got to be some stuff you wish you could find.”
“A few things. Yeah.”
“We can take it slow.” She sucked in a breath. “Thanks for trusting me to help you with this. I think I’m going to accept Amanda’s invitation to stay at her house for a couple of weeks. Do you think she meant it?”
“I know she did. It’ll help her too. You’ll give her a little break from the kids.”
“Which I’d love. Yeah, Kathleen is coming back tomorrow. I was trying to decide what to do, but helping you go through the rubble is the best reason in the world to stay.”
“Good.”
She looked hesitant. “Do you mind if I take a sec and check in with Amanda really quick? I just want to make sure she’s okay with me moving over there tomorrow.”
“Sure, and if she’s not, you could stay in my guest room. I promise I’d be a complete gentleman.”
“I know you would be, but I think it would be better if I stayed with Amanda. It’s a small town. People will talk.”
“People will talk either way. Suit yourself.” He leaned forward. “I’m a better cook.”
“Right, but I’ll be the best cook if I stay with her. Did I mention I can be a little competitive?”
“Well, there’s that. It’ll be interesting to see what I learn next.”
Rosemary called Amanda.
Just from hearing Rosemary’s side of the conversation, Tug could tell Amanda was excited to have her.
When Rosemary put her phone down, she was smiling. “I’m going to stay for at least two weeks.”
“Great. We’ll work fast.”
“We will.” She clapped her hands. “Isn’t it crazy when things just sort of work out?”
“Let’s eat while we get started on this bucket list thing you insist upon,” he said.
“I’ll admit I can be a little bossy, but in a good way…I think.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” he teased.
“I can’t believe you’ve never traveled,” she said.
“Never needed to.” Tug opened his arms wide, gesturing toward the beach and the horizon. “Everything I ever needed was right here.”
“Have you ever been just a little curious about other places?”
“I guess not. I thought about surfing in Australia or Hawaii in my younger years, but it seemed unattainable. I never considered what it would take to become a reality. I’m just a simple guy.” He looked at her with interest. “So why do you think this bucket list exercise is so important?”
“Because you said you didn’t know what you wanted to do. It’s not about traveling. That’s just something lots of people put on theirs, but you might not. I was just asking about that for me. It’s a great starting point. Plus—wait. I’ve got some notes right here.”
“You studied up on this?”
“Yes. Why are you so surprised?” She pulled a stack of folded papers from her beach bag and handed them to him.
“Is this something you were doing anyway, or did you just come up with this for me?”
“I already have a bucket list. So, yeah, I guess I did it to help you.”
She’d put quite a bit of work into all this. There were a lot of printed pages, and she’d written notes on some of them too. “Why?”
“I don’t know.” Her gaze drifted out to the tranquil expanse of the ocean.
He sat silently beside her, the gentle lull of the waves filling the space between them.
“I care about your happiness,” she admitted. “I know that might sound weird, since we barely know each other, but working so close through this disaster, I feel like I know you, and I thought it would help.”
“It’s not weird. I feel the connection too.” His eyes met hers, and he was glad to see the hint of understanding in her gaze. “Can you give me the short version? Because I’m not reading all of this.” He chuckled as he handed the stack of papers back to her.
“Fine.” She summarized the documents. “Creating a bucket list of the things you’ve always wanted to do or see is a great way to ensure a life well lived. In some cases, yeah, it’s travel or seeing something. Sometimes a bucket list item could be spending time with someone.”
I like the sound of that. “Like you?”
“Or Hailey and Jesse. Or I don’t know. Yes. It could be me.” She giggled.
“Okay. I get it.” He liked to see her laugh.
“You write them all down and check them off as you achieve them. You can add to it or take stuff off. There are really no rules, but it’s a good way to see that you’re giving those things that you hope to accomplish a priority in your life. You and I both know that we aren’t promised tomorrow.”
“So, how do I get started?”
“I’m so glad you asked that,” she said. “There’s actually an app for that.”
He leaned back in his chair, feigning major dismay. “Oh no, not another app I won’t know how to use.”
“I’m kidding. We’re not using an app. I don’t know how to add an app to my phone, either, but living with a thirteen-year-old in the house, I swear it’s all I hear. That’s why we have this stack of paper to help us navigate the process.”
“Thank goodness.”
She dug into her big beach bag again. “Plus, I made good old-fashioned flash cards.”
He laughed. “Well, as long as none of them require me to name state capitals, I think I can deal with flash cards.”
“There are two things on each of these cards. It’s a ‘this or that’ quiz. Tell me which you prefer. That will help me help you with your bucket list later.”
“Shoot.”
She flipped up the first card. “Beach or mountains?”
“I live at the beach, but I would like to go to the mountains one summer when it’s unbearably hot here. Haven’t been in years.”
“Got it. How about hiking or driving?”
“I’m too old for hiking. Driving.”
Noting his response, she flipped to the next card. “Vineyard or distillery?”
“Neither.”
The list continued with airplane or train, cruise or tour, write a book or read one, music or musical, adventure trip or cultural explorations, learn a language or an instrument, and on and on. “That was the last one,” she said, finishing the pile.
“That was a lot of questions. What’s on my bucket list?”
“Nothing yet. I was just gathering information.”
“This is going to be harder than I thought. At least tell me one thing from your bucket list.”
“Okay. I’d like to walk up to the top of a lighthouse.”
“I’ve done that,” he said. “I can take you. There’re a couple not far from here. I’ll pack a lunch.”
“Really?”
“Definitely,” Tug said. “We’ll make plans.”
“I’d really like that, but don’t get us sidetracked. We’re working on your list.”
“Well, put that on mine. Then we’ll both check it off.”
“I think that’s cheating.”
“You said there are no rules.”
She pursed her lips, her eyes narrowing. “I did, but you can’t just copy mine. At least give me a couple of things you think you might enjoy doing or seeing or making. Just wing it—money is no object on bucket lists. Like, there were a couple of things I wanted to see in Paris, but I didn’t really want to go on the long flight or spend that kind of money, so I sort of did my own version. Ordered some fancy French wine and pastries. Went to a French restaurant with an authentic French chef to enjoy the cuisine and found books and movies about all those things. I dedicated four days to my Rosemary version of Paris. It was pure delight.”
“Fine. I see. I like the way you think, lady. Then I’ve always wanted to see the northern lights. The pictures seem unbelievable. I’d like to see that for myself.”
“Oh, yes. They say you can hear the air buzzing. That’s a great start. Aurora borealis, here comes Tug. What else?”
“Maybe learn to paint with watercolors.”
“Awesome. We can totally do that. We’ll find you a class or maybe even videos online. You might be able to do that right from the deck.”
“We could take the class together.”
“We could.” As the list grew, so did their laughter. The ideas became wilder and more whimsical. And Tug’s initial hesitancy faded.
For two hours, they sat on the beach enjoying the day. They ate the lunch Tug had prepared, and then Rosemary finally started writing things on his bucket list.
“Come on,” Tug said. “Let’s pack up and head inside.”
They carried everything back up to the house, then sat on the deck, watching the ocean. Tug looked over his list. “This is pretty good. Thank you for helping me with it. I don’t know if it’s going to be useful, but I’ve enjoyed working on it with you.”
“Me too. Meeting you, and the unexpected friendships I’ve made here on Whelk’s Island, have brought me a lot of joy.”
“I might like this bucket list approach to life,” Tug said.
“Dream it, wish it, do it.”
“You are a piece of work, you know that? I love your relentless optimism.” Tug looked at Rosemary. Her features softened in the setting sunlight. “I didn’t realize how much I needed this. It’s been a long time since I considered what I wanted to do rather than what I needed to get done.”
A knowing smile spread across Rosemary’s face. “Sometimes it takes a storm to clear the way for new beginnings.”
“Poetic,” he said in appreciation. It was true.
“And helping you see that…it’s helping me in ways I never expected.” She sighed. “When I lost Kai, I thought I’d lost my future too. But sitting here dreaming…it reminds me that there is still so much to live for. It’s all in reach.”
“Well, I don’t know about that. There are some things out of reach on my list.”
“Dreams are fun, though.”
“They are. And thanks for not letting me give up. I will not reopen the diner, but I can see there are plenty of things that I could do by selling that property. And there are some local things I’d like to help with. The food bank, for example. Serving meals once in a while.”
“I’d do that in a heartbeat. I loved working with you after the storm. It was very satisfying to help others.”
“I know what you mean. I feel sort of amped up like I’m ten years younger all of a sudden. This bucket list is a testament to our resiliency. A declaration that, even in our seventies and eighties, life can, or should, still be an adventure.”
She nodded as they watched the sunset. “It sure is.”
Gratitude filled Tug’s heart. Two friends bound by loss had united in hope. Maybe they really would get to have some of those adventures together.
He decided to take a chance. “I know you aren’t in town much longer, but would I be monopolizing too much of your time if we spent tomorrow together, sifting through what’s left of my diner?”
“Not at all. I’m here to help.”
“Asking for help. It’s not something I’m good at.” He lowered his gaze, then looked up with a smile. “But I was hoping you would say yes.”
“Thanks for letting me be there for you.” There was a quiet moment of togetherness that spoke volumes. She shifted in her seat, her gaze flickering away before continuing. “We’ll need to wear sturdy shoes to keep from getting cut. There’s so much hidden debris. I’ll pick up a first aid kit at the hardware store. I saw he was already reopened. I figure if we have one, we won’t need it.”
“Good planning either way,” Tug said. “I can’t wait to see what we recover. There are a lot of memories in that rubble.” Maybe we can replace lost ones with new, more precious ones.