Chapter 37 A HAZY SHADE OF SUMMERWEEN
A HAZY SHADE OF SUMMERWEEN
It had involved about an hour of tearful goodbyes and an ever-growing basket of travel snacks, but Tiff and I managed to pull away from the Pink House before Rosie managed to convince us to stay for good.
Thankfully, neither of us was running from something any longer – we both had new chapters in our lives to run towards with full, loving hearts.
And with Finn staying on a little longer to help Rosie finish her last few home-improvement tasks before she headed back to the city, I knew that everyone in the Pink House was going to be looked after as well.
Apparently, the next room to work on was the music room, which Finn and Rosie were going to do together.
Even Noah was going to help out before heading back to law school.
Well, once he got done with his latest portrait – the tarp-wrapped one he’d carried into the house during the storm – which I knew was going to be one of his best yet.
And not just because it featured me. Because it featured all of us, and Charlie, together in the house where we’d made so many memories over the years.
And where we’d continue to make so many more.
Even if we weren’t always in the same place at the same time.
I leaned out of the window blowing kisses and waving energetically as Tiff pulled out from the driveway, muttering about how if she ran off the road, she was going to tell the insurance company it was all my fault.
‘One sec.’
Instead of heading straight for the backroads, she detoured through town, parking outside the general store for what I assumed were some additional car snacks. She was still Queen of the Car, after all, even if she’d taken off her paper crown before heading into the store.
‘I had to get a picture of the cheese-and-crackers vending machine for Damien,’ she said, climbing back into the tiny Mini. ‘I think our B&B definitely needs one.’
‘The European mice will love it,’ I said wryly.
We sat for a moment, watching the waves break on the shore and the gulls wheel overhead.
A few straggling runners jogged along the boardwalks, and small knots of beachgoers made the most of their last few days at the cove.
I could see in their body language that they were all trying to capture a moment, a memory.
I didn’t blame them: Whisperwind Cove had shaped so much of my own life, and would continue to be a part of it as long as I could manage.
‘Hang on,’ I said, as Tiff went to put the car into gear. ‘Before we go, I just want to do one thing …’
Pulling the two halves of Josephine’s ring out from my pocket, I ran across the sand-strewn main street and over to the Heart Tree clearing towards the top of the beach.
I wrapped my fingers around the ring, feeling my magic imbue it.
The ring grew hot in my palm, and as I opened my hand, it was exactly as I knew it would be: whole, sparkling, beautiful.
Ready for its next owner.
Closing my eyes, I sent my own whisperwind out into the world.
The air crackled, and so did my fingertips.
I dug a hole in the glittery sand, scooping away shell fragments and dried blossoms as I went. When I was content with the divot I’d made, I pressed the ring into it, smoothing the sand back over.
I was no Josephine, but I had my own love story to share.
‘Okay. Now let’s get you to the airport,’ I said to Tiff.
She shook her head. ‘You say it like you’re the one driving.’
‘Never,’ I said. ‘Well, maybe the golf cart.’
‘Thank Goddess I trust Noah to look after you while I’m gone.’
My smile was so wide that my face ached. Because Noah and I had so many plans for the coming months that even Tiff’s rigorous calendar couldn’t keep up.
Tiff cranked the stereo, which was tuned to an eighties station bursting with all the summery hits that Rosie had played on repeat these past few weeks.
It was our last glimpse of summer, and we held it close to our hearts as Tiff put the Mini in gear and carried us back through the orangey red of the turning trees, and into a new season of the utmost joy.