Chapter 47
SUMMER
The crew had been out there since early morning.
I’d watched them from the water, sitting up on my board with my arms loose at my sides and the sun on my shoulders, tracking every movement on the shoreline.
There were maybe six of them, working in pairs, pulling chain link panels from the posts that had been driven into the sand.
My mother had walked this stretch every single morning, rain or shine until she couldn’t anymore. I had walked it with her. I had walked it without her. I had walked it angry and heartbroken and so full of joy I thought my chest might split open. This beach was not just a place. It was our home.
I watched the last panel come down. The crew loaded the fencing into a flatbed truck that was parked up near the access road. I lay down on my board and paddled in slowly. The beach was just sand again. Just sand and sea grass and the long flat stretch of shoreline that had always been there.
I dragged my board up above the waterline and stood there with my feet in the wet sand.
The locals swarmed. It was a celebration. I wasn’t surprised. Word had spread. It always did in Surfside. I stood there and watched the locals take it back and felt something move through me that started in my chest and worked its way out to my fingertips.
Mom.
I wished she could have been here to see the success. She would have been first to be celebrating. She would have made me laugh and cry at the same time. I hoped I made her proud. I pressed my lips together and stared at the water until the sting faded.
She would have been so proud. I smiled and wiped my eyes. They weren’t sad tears. Just the tears that sometimes popped up when I thought about her not being around. I wasn’t sad, but dammit, I wished she was here.
I was pulling my board further up the sand when I heard my name. I turned and spotted Lana coming down the beach at a jog, her dark hair loose and flying behind her. She was grinning. I hadn’t seen her smile like that in weeks.
She didn’t slow down when she reached me. She came straight in and wrapped both arms around me hard enough that I had to take a step back to absorb the impact. I laughed and hugged her back just as hard, my chin hooking over her shoulder.
“It’s down,” she said into my shoulder. “Summer, it’s actually down.”
“I know.” I pulled back and held her by the arms and looked at her face. Her eyes were bright and wet and she was still smiling that big, unguarded smile. “I watched them take the last panel out from the water.”
She turned and looked down the length of the north end, taking it in from where we were standing.
“Look at that,” Lana said quietly. “It’s down. It’s gone. We got our beach back.”
“You fought for this,” I said.
She shook her head. “A lot of people fought for this.”
“Lana.” I waited until she looked at me. “I mean it. You were out there before anyone else took it seriously. This may never have happened without you.”
She had tears streaming down her cheeks. “I committed crimes.”
“You did.”
“I have to tell Colt.”
“I’d like you to. I think you need to take responsibility.”
“I heard about the paint,” she said.
I laughed. “Yeah. His poor car.”
“I made some mistakes,” Lana said quietly. “I made some choices that I’m not proud of.”
“But you can still take ownership.”
She exhaled. “I was so angry. I know that’s not an excuse. It wasn’t even really a protest. It was just anger that had nowhere else to go and I aimed it somewhere stupid.” She paused. “I aimed it at someone who was already starting to turn around.”
“You didn’t know that yet.”
“No,” she said. “But there were better ways.”
“You know what I think?” I said.
She looked at me.
“I think the anger came from the right place,” I said.
“The execution needed work. You’re going to make mistakes your whole life, Lana.
Some of them are going to be worse than a keyed car.
The next time you feel that kind of rage, come to me.
Let me help you. We can find a better way to handle things. Ways that don’t include felonies.”
Lana sighed. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“I know. Lana, I’ve already told him it was you.”
“You said you wouldn’t tell him,” she murmured.
“I know, but I love him and I don’t want to keep secrets from him. That’s not healthy for my relationship with him. You still have the chance to do the right thing. I can’t lie to him for you or anybody.”
“I get it,” she said. “Wait, you love him?”
I laughed. “I do.”
“I’m happy for you.”
“Thank you. It’s good. I’m happy.”
We walked along the beach. The celebration behind us had settled into something more relaxed, small clusters of people still lingering, kids running the stretch of newly reclaimed beach like they were testing it, making sure it was real.
Lana walked beside me with her hands tucked into the front pocket of her hoodie, her hair still wild.
“My mom fell in love with my dad on this beach,” I said. “Right around this stretch, actually.” I looked down at my feet moving through the wet sand.
Lana smiled. “My parents fell in love here too.”
I looked at her and smiled. The beach was romantic and had fostered many relationships. Mine included. It was the place to fall in love.
“It’s a beautiful place,” I said. “I understand why you were so desperate to save it. I think you might have sparked the movement. You gave others courage to fight.”
Lana exhaled slowly. “I’ll talk to him, Summer. I’m not putting it off because I’m scared, even though I am scared. I just want to find the right moment. I don’t want to do it in a parking lot or send a text.” She glanced at me. “It needs to be face to face.”
“It does,” I agreed. “Lana, he’s not going to destroy you. I told you that already.”
“I know.” She kicked at a small wave that crept up toward our feet. “That almost makes it worse, in a way. If he was terrible about it I could at least be mad at him. But he’s not terrible. He’s actually very nice.”
“Yes, he is.”
She pressed her lips together. “He’s a decent man. And I treated him like he wasn’t.”
We walked a little further before I turned us back toward the main stretch. The sun was hot, burning off the last of the morning haze and bringing out all the beachgoers that were taking advantage of the day.
We parted ways near the access path. Lana went south and I went north, my board tucked under my arm. I rinsed the board at the outdoor shower at the back of the house and propped it against the wall. Through the screen of the fence I could see movement at Colt’s place.
I crossed the yard like I tended to do so often now. I knocked on the frame of the back door and waited. Footsteps, and then Cody appeared in the doorway. Damn, the Anderson men certainly came from a very nice gene pool.
He looked at me. Then he grinned. It was the same grin Colt used when he thought he was being charming. It was an Anderson family trait and probably responsible for a great deal of trouble over the years. And a lot of broken hearts.
“Summer Banks,” he said, pushing the door open. “Come in. He’s on the phone but come in anyway.”
“I can come back later,” I said.
“Come in,” he said. “We’re practically family.”
“Thank you.”
“Want coffee?”
“No, thanks. It’s too hot.”
“Agreed. Water?”
“Perfect.”
Cody grabbed two cold bottles from the fridge and sat on the barstool he’d clearly been occupying before I knocked. There was a laptop open in front of him and a yellow legal pad covered in his handwriting beside it.
“Big morning,” he said.
“The fencing came down,” I said.
“I heard.” He nodded toward the window that faced the beach.
I took a long drink from the bottle. “Can I ask you something?”
Cody looked at me. “Okay.”
I figured it would be best to start with one of his family members than face all of them. I had met a few of them over the years, but that had been a long time ago and it was only in passing. We were entering into new territory. I wasn’t sure how they were going to accept me. Especially now.
“I cost you money,” I said. “Your family. The whole situation with the port, the pullout. I know there was a financial penalty. And I know there’s the lawsuit now.” I made myself look at him directly. “I need to know if there’s any bad feeling about that. Toward me.”
Cody looked at me for a long moment, the kind of look that was taking stock rather than finding an answer. Like he was deciding how honest to be.
“Summer, my brother has been walking around for four years looking like a man who left something important behind and couldn’t figure out how to go back for it.
” He took a drink from his water bottle.
“The money we lost on the Surfside deal is not even a footnote compared to watching him actually look like himself again.”
I nodded. “And the smear campaign?”
He shrugged. “Have you ever been to Texas?”
“No.”
“Well, we’re built a little different down there. Judd can try, but he’s not going to win. And the money, well, I don’t think you fully understand how little that money matters.”
“All money matters,” I said. “And I think rich people are more aware of their money than others.”
He chuckled. “You’re right about that, but we’ve learned money cannot buy happiness. But in this case, I think losing money has bought my big brother a life.”
“No hard feelings?” I asked.
“No hard feelings,” he said simply. “Not from me. Not from the family.”
“Thank you. I think ultimately you guys will appreciate it as well,” I said. “You guys own property here because it’s beautiful. No one wants an ugly, loud port.”
“Agreed,” he said. “You changed him. He’s different since he came back here. Better. More like the version of him that existed before he got so wrapped up in building things that he forgot why he was building them.”
I had no idea how much he’d told his family about his plans. I wasn’t going to reveal anything. But I wondered if they knew he was planning to stay here for good? That might be the thing that had them resenting me.