Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Nineteen
Nikki
As we cross the city lines into town, I inhale deeply. I’ll forever be grateful for the Bahamas and I definitely want to go back again to see my new friends who became a part of my family after spending two weeks with them, but Seaville is definitely home. It’s the place that always calls me back. I might make a lot of jokes about living in paradise, but I already do. There are many paradises all over the world. I want to visit them all. Then, at the end of my adventures, this is where I’ll come back to.
I’ve never understood the need for people to move away from home. I long to explore... and there should be a period of time we all do this... but why would anyone want to raise their family without their community with them? What’s so great about moving from one home to another? Seriously.
People always make comments that’s it so sad for someone who never leaves home. Why is that a bad thing? What makes one town better than another? What makes one state better than another? Well, okay, some places are better if you look at resources alone. But for those who want to move from one city to the next, I don’t see much difference. I don’t know why my mind goes down these paths. I hope it never stops though. I love questioning myself, love making changes in my life. I really love knowing who I am.
The familiar scent of home is a refreshing welcome as we step from our vehicle. It feels like a warm hug wrapping around us. The sunsets might look a little different here, but we’re all looking at the same sky no matter where we are. Tonight I’ll lie beneath the stars and know my friends a long way away are doing the same.
“Are you hungry?” Victor asks. It’s been a very long day and a half of traveling after our emergency stop.
“I’m always hungry. Mermaid Café?”
“Of course,” he says with a chuckle. “I’m sure there will be lots of hugs coming our way. Stepping away from home for two weeks might as well be a lifetime to our neighbors.”
We make our way down the street and soon arrive at our favorite gathering place in town. Even when Victor’s restaurant opens, we’ll still come here. It’s a beacon for this town. There’s plenty of room for both restaurants. As soon as we walk inside, we get a chorus of happy greetings.
“Look who found their way home,” Amelia says from behind the counter. “The island adventurers return.”
Sasha, who’s sitting at a corner table with Sia, jumps up and rushes over. “Yahoo. We’ve missed you!” she says as she rushes forward and hugs us both.
“We weren’t gone that long,” I tell her with a laugh.
“It seemed like forever,” Sia says.
“You travel all of the time now,” I point out at her.
“That’s different. This time you left,” she says with laughter.
“We’ll be doing it again. It was amazing.”
“Maybe we all need to travel together. Then it will be perfect,” Sia says.
“I agree. Let’s make our next trip to Greece. That would be phenomenal.”
“I’m in,” both Sia and Sasha say at the same time. Victor and I sit, more than eager to plan out our next trip.
Robert’s sitting at the counter and turns. “Heard you two made quite the impression up in the skies,” he calls out.
“How in the world did you hear about that?” I ask.
Sia grins, pulling out her phone. “We did more than hear about it. Check this out.” She presses play on a video, and suddenly there we are... on the local news in Texas where we made our emergency landing. I watch in awe as a reporter interviews the passengers from our flight, talking about the entire event. It then cuts to the woman Victor helped, who’s sitting in her hospital bed with a smile on her face.
“He was so calm,” the woman says, her voice filled with gratitude. “He saved my life. He’s a real hero.”
I feel a wave of pride rush through me as the camera cuts to Ethan and Monica. They’re beaming at the camera. “We were really scared,” Ethan says. “But, the real nice lady, Nikki, stayed with us and gave us some chocolate and said she’s sending my sister her super special Wonder Woman doll. She made us feel okay, and reminded us we’re our mom’s superheroes so we were strong.”
Tears spring to my eyes at these words. It’s absolutely beautiful. The camera turns back to the mom. “Thank you to both, Victor and Nikki. I hope you see this, and hope you know how much you mean to me and the kids. Thanks could never be enough, but thank you.”
The reporter finishes up, and the video stops. The café erupts into applause and cheers and I feel my cheeks burning. Victor’s grinning like a fool as he squeezes my hand. “You were the real hero. Those children will never forget you,” he tells me. “I didn’t know about the doll.” His brows rise, and I flush a little more. Now, everyone in town will know about my secret obsession.
“Oh, yes, Nik has had that Wonder Woman doll since she was about eight. We weren’t allowed to play with it. It’s never come out of the box. I’m in awe she’s giving it away. You really are incredible,” Sia says.
“Knock it off, you guys. Victor was the hero of the plane,” I say. For a woman who wanted to be the star of the show for the cookoff, I’m really uncomfortable with all of this attention. “I just did what anyone would do.”
“Clearly that’s not true as you were the only one to step up,” Sasha says.
“How about we agree that you are both equally great?” Sia says, knowing I’m about to run out the doors. “We’re very proud of both of you.”
“You better accept that we love that one of our own saved the day. We’re proud of you,” Mrs. Jones gushes.
“Now you have to join the volunteer firefighters,” Chief Mitchel says.
“You just take all the praise,” Amelia says. “Lunch is on the house. We have a fresh blackberry pie from the bakery.”
“I’ll take some pie,” Victor quickly says.
“Make that two slices,” I pipe in. “With ice cream.”
The entire café is buzzing with energy, the locals crowding us, everyone wanting to say hello and tell us they’re proud. I’m thrilled when that part of it is over and things settle down, or at least, they seem to settle. That is until Dale walks over with a wicked grin on his weathered face.
“You two are looking awfully cozy. I do have to say you make a mighty cute couple.”
These are words I’d never expect to hear from our most famous fisherman in town. My cheeks once again flush. I’m sure the matchmakers are all thrilled we’re together, thinking they had everything to do with it. I’m not so sure they didn’t have a big hand in it.
Victor looks at me and grins before giving his attention back to Dale. “I think we’re pretty amazing together,” he says.
“You should’ve heard how much this boy was moaning about how much he wanted you not that long ago,” Robert says as he winks at me. This time it’s Victor’s cheeks flushing.
“There are some things that aren’t supposed to be talked about,” Victor tells him, making Robert laugh.
“Ignore him, Robert. You go ahead and talk all you want,” I say, making everyone laugh.
“I won’t embarrass my buddy too much, but I’d love to hear how the trip was,” he says.
“Absolute perfection. We had sun, sand, cooking, made new friends, drank a lot of rum, and talked a whole lot,” I say. “Turns out when we aren’t fighting we get along pretty good.”
“We all watched your cooking videos on the vlog. It sure looked like fun,” Martha says.
“That was my favorite part,” I say.
Aunt Eileen steps in. “We all loved those videos. You two sure seemed to be doing a lot of touching while filming.” Just like that my cheeks flush again. They might as well stay red, as much ribbing as we’re getting. I knew it would happen. Hopefully it settles down soon.
Victor leans against me and whispers in my ear, sending shudders through me. “They’re right, you know. We’re perfect together.”
“I think so too,” I say, my heart fluttering.
“We won’t forget feeling this way. That’s how we make it last,” he tells me.
I decide I don’t care who’s watching. I lean against him and give him a soft kiss on the lips, causing everyone to cheer all around us. I pull back and shake my head as I laugh. Never did I think I’d get applause for kissing someone. This town can be strange sometimes.
I might’ve loved the Bahamas, but this really is home. As much as all of this drives me crazy at times, I know all of these people have my back, and there’s nothing they won’t do for the people they love. We’re a real community.
We sit with our friends, hand in hand, surrounded by the people we love, and I feel peace and a stirring of excitement. We have so much to do now that we’re back home again. The sky’s the limit and nothing will hold either of us back. We’re writing a story right now, and it’s happening one chapter at a time.