Epilogue
Claire
A year later
The summer celebration behind the Seabreeze is even better than last year, but that’s because this year, all of my favorite people are here.
Two days after the Fourth, my parents rented a house in Seaside Point, and my sisters, Nate, Jules, and Sophie, all came for a week. Thankfully, Helen was more than willing to work a bit extra this week, though Nate and Miles had a blast picking on me when I worked a lifeguard shift yesterday.
But today, in the cove behind the Seabreeze, all of my favorite people are in one place, and my heart is so full it might explode.
“Okay, girlfriend,” I say, jumping up and down beside Sophie, who has a fishing pole in hand. The bobber keeps going under the water, a fish on the line. “Now reel her in, nice and gently.”
I have fished a grand total of one time this time last year when I won the yearly competition, but right now, I might as well be an expert.
“It’s really hard,” Sophia says through gritted teeth.
“I know, that just means it’s a big one,” I encourage her excitedly.
“I can’t do it,” she says, her face going red with effort.
“Sophie, Sophie, Sophie.” Sutton starts chanting, and then Jules, Sloane, Lainey, and I join in, Decker coming in and bringing it down an octave as well. From behind me, I assume either Grant elbowed him when he stops chanting and yells, “ Ow!”
“ You’re supposed to be on our team, man,” Grant says.
I look over my shoulder at Deck, who is glaring at my best friend’s older brother.
“Are you really mad I’m cheering for a seven-year-old girl?” he asks.
Grant doesn’t respond, but his jaw goes tight, and I let out a laugh before going back to cheering my niece on.
The cheering does the trick, though, because a splash comes from the water, and my attention goes back to my niece, who starts shrieking with excitement.
“I did it! I did it!” She jumps happily, clearly not worried about the fish the way I was last year.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Miles says with an exasperated sigh.
I’m confused by his statement, and even more so when Benny starts laughing, loud and wheezing, as he looks at the flopping fish. He comes to my side, putting a hand on my shoulder.
“I think she may have beat you, Claire,” he says, and then I let out a laugh with understanding.
“Did I win? Did I do it?” Sophie asks, my brother taking the line from her and holding it up while Grant grabs Benny’s measuring tape, holding it out to measure the fish.
“No way,” he says, then looks up. “It’s bigger than Claire’s last year.”
“Girls rule,” June shouts with a laugh. This year, the group of girls shrieking excitedly is bigger and, thus, louder, something that, again, makes my heart swell.
“Sophie! You won!” I say to my niece.
She smiles wide, hands on her hips. “Of course I did. I’m the coolest, smartest girl ever.”
I let out a loud laugh and hope to God she never loses her confidence.
“Duh,” I say. “Okay, picture! Soph, hold your fish up!” Nate hands her the line, and she holds the poor, flopping fish up, a smile on her lips as all of us girls huddle in together.
Benny takes a photo, Miles taking one on my phone like the good boyfriend he is. “Must be something about those Donovan girls, you know?” Benny says with a wide smile after Nate releases the fish into the water.
“You know it,” Sophie says.
“Who gets the prize?” Deck asks because before Sophie caught her fish, he had the biggest so far. “She doesn’t even live here.”
“Shut up,” Sutton says, rolling her eyes. “You sound like such a whiner.”
“Excuse me?” he asks, turning to her with a look of awe on his face.
“I said,” my sister says slower. “You sound like a whiner who’s mad that a little girl beat you at the fishing contest.”
My jaw drops a bit, and I look to June, who is beaming, then to Miles, who is shaking his head.
“There’s a prize?” Sophie asks with hope in her words, breaking up the tension.
“It’s a parking spot at the Seabreeze,” I explain. “Not very exciting.”
“Don’t think Soph has much use for a bar parking spot,” Nate says with a laugh.
“Honestly, if anyone could somehow find a use for it, it would be Princess Sophie,” Jules, my soon-to-be sister-in-law, says, the rock Nate slipped on her finger last Christmas glinting in the sun.
“I don’t want a parking spot,” Sophie pouts.
Miles looks from me to Nate to Sophie like he already has a plan. From the corner of my eye, my dad lets out a loud laugh from the picnic table where he sits with Mom, Helen, and Sarah.
“Wanna make a deal?” Miles asks, getting on her level.
Sophie looks at him skeptically, hands going to her hips. “What kind of deal?”
“I’ll buy you a new Ashlyn doll if you give me the spot,” he says. He’s spent plenty of time with my family over the last year, including getting to know my favorite niece well.
Her little nose scrunches up, concentrating before she responds. “And the Ashlyn horse,” she says, crossing her arms on her chest.
I let out a laugh.
“Sophie—” Nate starts, but Miles puts his hand out for her to shake.
“Deal.”
“God, can anyone say no to her?” my brother mumbles, and as I watch my niece and my boyfriend shake hands, I shake my head and laugh.
At least we’ve got our spot for another year.
“You know,” I say, sitting next to Benny. “Love you; you’re the coolest person here.”
He smiles wider, that pipe moving with the movement. “An honor, darlin’.”
“But you gotta quit that thing.” His brows furrow in confusion, and I tip my chin to his pipe. “We want you to stay around for as long as you can, Ben.”
With that, his lips spread, a wide smile almost making the pipe fall before he grabs it and starts to laugh, full out. His head tips back, and even though I’m confused, I can’t help but crack a smile. It’s the only option when Benny is laughing like this.
“I’m serious,” I say once his laughter dies out.
“Not that kind of pipe, Claire,” he says, and my eyes go wide, thinking he means he puts something other than tobacco in it.
“But it doesn’t smell like weed—” I start, wondering if maybe Benny is just high all the time, which, honestly, would in fact make sense. But then I realize I don’t think I’ve ever smelled the smoke coming from Benny’s pipe. That’s when he smiles wide, closes his lips around the pipe, and blows.
Bubbles come out of the end.
Fucking bubbles .
“Are you kidding me?” I ask with a laugh, pushing his shoulder.
Lainey laughs at my shock and comes over. “I had that talk with him years and years ago. He said he still wanted it for his image .”
“God, you’re such a weirdo, Benny.” He shrugs like he knows, and he’s happy about it. We sit for long minutes, my parents chatting with Helen, Benny, and Sarah, before I see Miles near the shoreline of the bay.
He tips his head for me to come, and I stand.
“I’ll be back,” I say, smiling. My dad looks at me, reaching out for my hand and squeezing it. I look at him, confused.
“I love this place for you, Claire Bear,” he whispers.
My eyes water, and I blink them out, then bend to press a kiss to the top of his head. “Love you, Dad.”
He smiles again, something strange in his face, before he tips his head toward where we can see Miles waiting for me.
“Go to your boy.” Then he lets go of my hand and sinks right back into conversations with Benny.
I make my way to Miles, who stands there with his hands in his pockets before putting one hand out to me. “Come on. Let’s go for a walk.”
I don’t say another word before he’s intertwining his fingers with mine, and we’re walking along the water. It feels familiar, though the bay shore isn’t as pretty as the ocean, and there are far fewer shells, even without Miles tossing them down.
“Good day?” he asks.
I smile up at him. “Great day.”
I hear something fall, and I look down.
It’s a seashell.
“Miles,” I say with a laugh. “You don’t have to do this anymore.”
He’s smiling at me before he tips his chin to the ground.
“Go on. Pick it up,” he says softly.
I roll my eyes, but I do all the same, but when I lift it, I feel something on the underside. Tape. Tape and…
I turn it over, and my heart skips a beat. A gold ring with a perfect princess cut diamond taped to the back of a dusty gray-blue scallop shell, just like the first one I found with him. When I look up, he’s on one knee, gently taking the shell from my hands and removing the ring.
Instantly, my eyes water. “Miles,” I whisper.
“It took me seven years to get here,” he says. “So I think for it to be of full impact, you should be standing.” I’m squatting in the sand, my hand out from when he took it from me, but I can’t convince myself to move. I shake my head. “God, can you even make anything simple?”
I shake my head again, smiling through the tears starting to fall down my face. His hand reaches out to cup my chin, his thumb swiping along my cheek to brush the tear away.
“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” he whispers. “But what I do want is for you to be mine. Forever. I want to wake up every morning with you in my arms and watch you eat junk cereal that will make your teeth rot out one day. I want to make a new fun list with you every single season because you’re still worried I’m not making the most of every single moment, even if I spend all of my free ones with you. I want you to drag me to every rec department event and force me to volunteer. I’ll drag my feet, but know deep down I’d do whatever you ask of me. I want to watch you dance with June, and I want to catch you when you fall off chairs or tables or bar tops. I always want to be the one to catch you. I want to raise our kids in the house my grandfather built, and I want them to be best friends with Sophie because she is, in fact, the coolest, smartest girl ever.”
I let out a laugh then, the tears falling faster.
“But most of all, I just want to be with you. Forever.”
“Yes,” I blurt out, my hand moving to his face.
“I haven’t asked a question yet,” he whispers, and I shake my head.
“I don’t care. You know the answer anyway.”
“I don’t think that’s how that works, Claire. I’m supposed to ask you to marry me.”
I smile at him.
“Sounds like you have some really big feelings about that,” I whisper, and he smiles wide, his hand moving to mine.
“The biggest,” he replies before sliding the ring on my finger, and without giving him another moment, I put a hand on either side of his face, and I beat him to the first kiss.
But I do know I’m going to have dozens and dozens more until the day we die.