Chapter 21
“You’ll never believe who called me.”
“Who?”
“Darlene!” my mother shouts, bursting into the camper. She’s very excited. I’m just not sure why.
“Didn’t we already talk to her?” A lot of things about the summer are a bit of a blur, but I’m pretty sure I remember talking to Darlene about her psychopath uncle.
“Yes, but she called me again and this time I met with her and her mother—direct family contact.”
“That’s great. Did she tell you anything new?”
“Yes, and she showed me some photos no one had seen or published before. Plus, she was at his execution.”
“Oh, that’s…great.”
“It really is. Eyewitness reports can’t be beat. She was really excited about helping with the process. I think it will make the book that much better.”
“So you’re almost done then?” I ask, stretching out on my bed. The pillow smells like boy and ocean.
“I start edits next week. I should have it sent in to the publisher by the end of August.”
“That’s great, Mom. I’m really proud of you.”
She smiles at me. “I’m proud of you, too. We both made a lot of progress this summer.”
We did make a lot of progress, like the fact my mom is currently packing up her suitcase.
She’s moving into Richard’s house and giving me a little more space of my own.
She hasn’t asked much about the boys, just knows that we’re all close.
She loves them all, too. I doubt she could make a choice either.
“You coming over tonight?” she asks, zipping up the suitcase.
“Yeah, after the guys get off work.”
She smiles again. It’s like it just won’t leave her face. I’ve never been happier for her.
“I wasn’t sure,” she says suddenly, “about you coming down here with me. I was afraid of you finding out the truth or being resentful that I kept you away from the family. I never realized how much you needed to be down here and discover your own place at Ocean Beach.”
“Thank you for sharing it with me. I know it was hard.”
She brushes a piece of my hair out of my eyes. “I named you after this place, hoping you’d always carry a piece of it with you.”
I give my mother a hug. She’s a survivor. A winner, and I’m damn lucky to have her in my life.
“Whose bright idea was game night, anyway?” I ask.
“One guess.”
“Anita?”
“And Sugar. It’s tradition. Once a month.” Pete fastens the button on his jeans while I straighten my skirt. “This is the first time we’ve had it at Richard’s, though.”
“Ah, I’m assuming my mom had something to do with that.”
He eyes my fumbling hands and notes, “You should wear dresses to every game night.”
I smooth my hair back into a neat ponytail. Well, as neat as I can get it. “You’d like that.”
“Yep.”
Laughter floats from the patio below. Bobby’s voice rises above the others.
It sounds like he’s challenging some rule or the other.
“Does this happen every time?” I ask, meaning the argument downstairs.
Not the sex we just had in the bathroom of Justin and Whit’s cottage.
I’m pretty sure I have marks on my upper thighs from the counter.
“Bobby thinks everyone cheats. Really, he just sucks at strategy.”
“I’m surprised you passed up on playing. You’re awfully competitive.” Pete and I excused ourselves from the latest round to ‘look for something’ in his apartment. Apparently, he found it. Up my skirt.
“I’m not spending my limited number of minutes with you playing games.” He sits on the top step of the stairs and pulls me down onto his lap. “The clock is ticking on school starting. I’m not missing any opportunities.”
He’s right. It’s going to suck. “I’ll come down for the Vandy-Clemson game.”
He nods. “And we’ll come up for your mom’s book release.” Her publisher put the rush on her book. She’s expecting a Christmas release, because everyone loves a little serial killer with their eggnog. “And then you’ll have spring break,” he continues. “And the military ball.”
“Yeah, not sure how it’s going to work with me having two dates.”
We both laugh and I brush his hair out of his eyes. “And then it’s summer again.”
“From there, we’ll decide.” That was the deal. We get through the year, see if this works for all of us and make other decisions. Like transferring south. Or moving north. Or maybe something entirely different.
“We can make it work,” he says. I believe him, but I’m nervous.
The fighting below gets louder and we both laugh when we hear Maggie start in. Pete stands, pulling me up with him. “That may be our signal to return to the group.”
I follow him down the steps and we can see the fireplace roaring and lanterns all around the patio. Mom, Richard, Sugar, and the others are partnered off around a big table with a game on top.
“Oh, did I tell you?” I ask, once we reach the bottom. “Mom’s leaving the Airstream at the campground.”
“Really?”
“I think she wants to have somewhere nearby also. I don’t know how he did it, but Richard won her back. I suspect she’ll move down here full time before next summer.”
“Hawkins charm,” he says, waving me off, but then I see him furrow his forehead. “Wait, so if Richard and your mom get married, what does that make you and Justin?”
I think about it for a second. “Lucky?”
He leans in and kisses me soft on the lips. “I like the sound of that,” he says, steering me toward the others.
We reclaim our seats around the table. Justin is standing, battling with Bobby over imaginary injustices in the game.
Whit has one arm over the back of the chair and winks at me when he catches my eye.
Nick’s flash blinds us all as he takes a million photos.
I’m glad he’s documenting it all. No doubt I’ll look at them when we’re apart.
Anita rolls her eyes, aware of what we’ve been up to.
I ignore her and instead look at my mom.
Her eyes sparkle from the fire and she’s happy. We both are.
“Dude, I’m not cheating!” Bobby shouts at his brother, but he winks at me before he throws his cards on the table.
I snuggle into Pete’s side, ignoring the theatrics, just happy to be part of this family and thankful my mother brought us to this edge of the world, one I never knew existed.
For a second, I wish she had come back sooner to heal, but I know in my heart that now is the right time, the best time for us to make the most of summer.