Chapter 20
Opinion: The shoes are everything. They make or break one’s fashion.
—Delilah Dune, opinion writer
T here was nothing in this house to prop her foot up properly, so Lyla used her suitcase as a makeshift footrest. Her toe was now a pretty violet color, the shade one might find in a flower arrangement rather than one’s body.
Lyla hadn’t told Travis about her toe just yet. First off, she hadn’t had the opportunity, because Travis was working some odd job in town. Second, Lyla was still in denial that she was going to have to wear some kind of ridiculous shoe with her dress to the wedding. Was this actually happening? She didn’t believe in supernatural things. In her mind, they didn’t exist. She’d written an entire opinion article on that topic once, and her readers had come out of the woodwork to argue differently.
Lyla had gotten emails from people detailing their paranormal, otherworldly experiences. Time travel. Worm holes. Ghosts. Lyla had heard it all, and she’d considered all the tall tales to be nonsense. No one had written about a time capsule that had caused some sort of strange alteration in time, though.
Her cell phone rang beside her. She glanced at the screen and immediately answered. “Hey, Mom. I was wondering when you and Dad were going to check in with me.”
Her mom’s laughter sounded light and relaxed. “Well, we’re on vacation time, I guess you’d say.”
“How’s Dad doing? Is he feeling better yet?”
“Oh, yes,” her mom said. “Much, much better. How are things with you? And the house?”
“Good. I haven’t burned the place down, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Of course you haven’t. Any news on selling?”
Lyla had already decided to spare her parents the details of the things that had gone wrong with the house so far. She’d handled them, so there was no need to concern them. “We’ve had two potential buyers so far. One wasn’t interested, but the other one might be. I’m still waiting to hear the buyers’ thoughts.”
“Oh, wonderful. That’s hopeful news. The sooner it sells, the sooner you can be out of there. Although, if you’ve already packed up your belongings and handled the donation boxes for us, there’s actually no need for you to stay. The agents have keys. You can go home and get back to your normal life.”
Home. Lyla didn’t intend to return to her last residence. She didn’t have plans at all. “I finished all the packing and donating last week. I can’t leave Echo Cove just yet, though,” she told her mom. “I have an obligation here this weekend.”
“Oh? What kind of obligation?” her mom asked.
Lyla really didn’t want to tell her mother the truth, but this was Echo Cove, and she was certain her mom would find out eventually. “Travis Painter is in town for his sister’s wedding. He invited me to go with him.”
“Travis? Really? That’s a surprise.” Her mom’s tone of voice wasn’t exactly thrilled. “And what a coincidence that the two of you are in Echo Cove at the same time.”
There was that word again. Coincidence.
“Yeah. We’ve been hanging out a little bit. Allison and I have been spending time together too. We went out for ice cream today.” Lyla’s gaze fell on her broken toe. She decided not to concern her mom with that detail either.
“That’s so nice. Bailey is getting married, huh? That’s a shocker.”
Lyla didn’t know Bailey all that well. “Why would you say that?”
“Well, she’s dated quite a lot over the years. I kind of figured she’d never commit to anyone. I’m happy to hear she’s finally found the one .”
“Hmm. Mom? Why didn’t you tell me about Allison?”
“What about her?” her mom asked, innocently.
“You know, her story. The accident.”
“Why would I tell you that?” her mom asked.
“Because I knew her. You might have considered I might want to know what she was going through.”
“Oh, everyone is going through stuff, Lyla. I guess I just don’t like spreading the worst news about a person. You and Allison were never close, so I figured there was no need for you to know. Just like when people ask about you, I don’t immediately tell them that you’re going through a breakup.”
“Went through a breakup,” Lyla corrected. “There’s absolutely no chance Joe and I are getting back together.” She considered what her mom had said. “Thanks for not spreading my dirty laundry everywhere.”
“Of course. So, you and Travis, huh? Are you two spending time as friends or . . . ?” She trailed off.
“Friends, Mom. We’ve always been just friends.”
“Oh, Lyla. You never fooled me. A girl is supposed to be excited when she’s about to go away to college, but I could tell. A mother always knows. The thought of leaving your best friend behind was weighing you down in a big way. So much so that you started to distance yourself from him before you even left.”
“No, I didn’t,” Lyla protested.
“You hardly left your room the entire week before the move.”
Lyla rolled her eyes. “Maybe that’s because of the huge hurricane that was barreling toward Echo Cove,” she said sarcastically. The hurricane was a category three, but it was slow moving and had caused a lot of wind and water damage. “Billy. Hurricane Billy, right?” she asked her mother.
“Good memory.”
Lyla hadn’t thought about that storm in a long time. It had wreaked havoc on Echo Cove, flooding everything. It happened right before she moved away for college, and it felt like the final blow on a pretty crummy summer. Bailey was supposed to have a shotgun wedding and the storm had even ruined the big event—although that was probably for the best. “But maybe you’re right. The thought of leaving my best friend behind was painful.”
“Of course. Growing pains. I think you were more upset about leaving him than you were about your recent break up with Joe.”
“That’s probably true,” Lyla admitted. “Where are you and Dad right now?”
“Puerto Rico, and it’s so lovely here. Your dad’s stomach is doing much better. See? Spreading only good news.”
Lyla spoke to her mom a few minutes longer, then said goodbye. After disconnecting the call, she shifted uncomfortably on her mattress. She was tired of lying still, so she got up and headed down the hall toward the kitchen, stopping in front of the time capsule. She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t taken all the items out just yet. Maybe she was savoring the discoveries.
Opinion: Do it now because tomorrow isn’t promised. Never creeps up on those who hesitate.
Lyla reached inside the bottle’s open flap and pulled out several items. They were mostly silly things that she couldn’t remember the significance of. A painted rock. A penny. A compass. There was nothing meaningful in the last of the items, which left her feeling disappointed. She was hoping there would be something surprising left inside the bottle. This is all? She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it was more than this.
Opinion: Lower your expectations and you’ll never be disappointed.
That one wasn’t a Delilah original. It was universal.
The doorbell rang, snapping her out of her spiraling mood. “It’s open! Come in!” she called, stepping back to see who would enter.
Travis walked inside, wearing that ridiculously sexy tool belt.
Immediately, her mood lifted as if whatever she hadn’t found in the bottle had materialized in her parents’ living room. “What are you doing here? We don’t have plans, do we?”
“We do now. I’m going to help you get this place hurricane ready.”
Lyla felt the blood inside her freeze. “What?”
“There’s a hurricane rolling up the shore and it’s going to hit this weekend. Perfect timing for Bailey’s wedding, huh?” he said sarcastically. “Anyway, I don’t want you to have any damages on this house.”
Lyla’s brain stuck on the word hurricane. “What are you talking about? I haven’t heard about any storms?”
“Because you don’t have a TV,” he pointed out, continuing to assess her windows. “Hurricane Bill is on its way.”
“Bill?” Goosebumps fleshed on her arms. “Hurricane Bill?” she repeated.
“That’s right.” He gave her a strange look. “Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”
“Because Hurricane Billy hit the last summer I lived here.” She limped toward him.
Travis seemed to notice that she was injured. “Did you sprain your ankle?”
“Broken toe,” she said, feeling breathless. “Again.”
Concern mounted in his brown eyes. “That’s weird. Maybe you’re on to something with this whole summer repeating nonsense.”
The fact he still referred to it as nonsense didn’t go unnoticed. “There’s no maybe about it. This is happening, Travis, and if this hurricane is in any way similar to the last, we have more to worry about than Bailey’s wedding getting ruined.”
Lyla watched as Travis stored the extra wood for boarding the windows in the garage. The storm wasn’t expected for a few more days and maybe there would be more showings between now and then.
“We can board everything up on Friday afternoon before the wedding rehearsal.”
“Wedding rehearsal?” Lyla shifted to take some weight off her toe.
“Well, yeah. You’re my date, remember?”
“To the wedding. Not the rehearsal.”
“To both.” Travis looked at Lyla like she was losing her mind. “Haven’t you ever been part of a wedding party before?”
“No.” She’d been to plenty of weddings, but she’d never been part of the close-knit circle that orchestrated the event. “I have to go to both occasions?” she asked, truly surprised.
Travis took her head, squeezing it softly, a silent plea. “I need you, Ly. There’ll be family members there that I haven’t seen in ages.”
“And?” She didn’t see the problem.
“And I won’t feel like such a loser with a beautiful woman on my arm.”
“Beautiful woman? Where will you find one of those?” she asked, admittedly fishing for a compliment.
“Right here.” He dropped her hand and then looped his arms around her waist. The motion took her by surprise. Yeah, they’d kissed the other night, but she wasn’t sure where they stood. Did that kiss move the line to where he could hold her close anytime he wanted? He brushed a kiss on her lips that liquefied every bone in her body. Did flings include flirting like this? She wasn’t sure.
“Fine. I’ll be your plus-one to both. That counts as an extra favor to hold over your head.”
His mouth fell open, disbelief lifting his brows. “This is how you thank me for boarding up your windows?”
The easy banter between them was so addictive. “Right. I guess we’ll be even then.”
Travis leaned in slowly, and kissed her again, lingering longer this time. “I don’t mind being indebted to you.”
“Actually, I’m indebted to you.” She pulled her mouth from his, her eyes flicking up to meet Travis’s. “Because of you, I wrote an inspired article that my boss just so happened to love.”
“Because of me?” The corners of his lips lifted. “What’s the article about?”
“Relationships.” She immediately felt embarrassed as if telling him he’d inspired her article was also claiming that’s what she thought she and Travis were in. “Those always do the best with my readers.”
He planted tiny kisses along her jawline, his breath tickling her skin as he exhaled. “Well, I can’t wait to read this new article of yours.”
“You don’t need to,” she said.
“Why wouldn’t I read it?”
“Because it’s personal. It’s my opinion.”
Travis stopped kissing and pulled back, narrowing his eyes. “An opinion that you allow the entire country to read,” he pointed out.
“But those are strangers. This is you.”
“All the more reason I should read it.”
There was too much tension gathering between them, and Lyla needed a break before she did something crazy, like pull Travis to her and start making out right here on the front porch for all to see. She dropped her gaze to her toe. It was a deep purple color reserved for eggplants. “Do you think I can still dive with this toe?”
Travis glanced down at her foot as well. “What?”
“If Hurricane Bill is on its way, we need to finish off our bucket list. It’s bad luck to leave anything unchecked. If we don’t check those other items off, that storm might wipe Echo Cove off the map. At the very least, it’ll do some serious damage to my parents’ house.”
Travis tapped a finger to his chin. “I thought you didn’t believe that not checking off the items would bring bad luck.”
She hadn’t. Not until now. Now she felt sure that all the bad luck of this summer and her last one here was due to her unchecked bucket list.
“But if you’re feeling brave and want to go for a swim,” Travis said, “I won’t argue.”
Lyla felt the opposite of bravery. More so, it was a feeling of panic driving her to jump off the Pirate’s Plank. “Let’s go. Before I change my mind.”
“Even with your toe?”
“It’s wrapped. It’s fine. If it’ll stop a hurricane and save your sister’s wedding, I have to jump, right?”
Travis chuckled softly. “Are you sure you didn’t hit your head when you injured your toe?”
“My head is fine,” she said. She knew it sounded crazy, but she believed the next week and the town hinged on two unchecked bucket list items.
Travis cocked his head and grinned in her direction. “This is why I love you, Ly.”
Lyla gasped softly. He didn’t mean that he loved-her loved her, but the L-word still made her freeze. She looked away, hoping her expression didn’t reveal feelings.
“Your ex was a fool if he couldn’t see how wonderful you are.”
Lyla’s skin felt hot. She was certain if she looked in the mirror right now, her skin would be red and blotchy. “Are you still going to think that if I fall off the Pirate’s Plank and sink like a rock? Again?”
“You’re not drowning on my watch.” He reached for her hand, the feel of it akin to a plug being pressed into an electrical socket. “Okay?”
Travis always had a way of making her want to say yes. It was never forced or coerced. It was more that his confidence in her made her feel like it was warranted. She could do anything if he was with her. “Okay.”
Lyla’s confidence waned as she walked toward the Pirate’s Plank. Her toe began to throb harder and she felt herself begin to limp.
Travis reached for her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
She squeezed back, but she was too nervous to talk.
She’d been having the recurring nightmare for years. She had passed out on the plank that day, and she never wanted to feel so helpless ever again.
But here she was, feeling the familiar panic jolting through her veins. She stopped walking and closed her eyes.
“You okay?” Travis asked quietly.
“Fine. I just . . . just need . . .” She struggled to pull in a deep breath. Then she slowly started climbing the ladder, one rung at a time. “Remind me why we’re doing this?” she called over her shoulder.
“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to, Ly. We’re just having fun.”
She wasn’t just having fun, though. In fact, no part of this was enjoyable to her right now. She turned and looked down at him, finding something gentle in his eyes.
“I didn’t realize the idea of jumping scared you so much.”
She pressed her lips together, noticing that she was shaking. She wasn’t just scared, she was terrified. The more she thought about it, the more her flesh seemed to tremble. Her vision was starting to fade, and she saw stars. She was pretty sure they weren’t fireflies this time.
“Hey. It’s okay. You don’t have to do this, you know? Let’s get out of here, Ly.”
She wasn’t going to argue with him. Not when he was suggesting the exact thing her mind was screaming at her to do, turn around and flee. She was on the verge of passing out anyway, which wouldn’t check off that bucket-list item.
Descending the ladder, her legs shook harder as she lowered to each step, feeling like a complete coward. Once her feet were on the ground, she headed in Travis’s direction. “Where are we going?”
“To my camper.”
Anywhere was better than being here. On a nod, she followed Travis to his truck.