Chapter 28
Opinion: The storms of life stir up all the junk that needs getting rid of anyway.
—Lyla Dune, aspiring author
A few days later, Lyla angled from left to right in front of the bathroom mirror. She was wearing the beautiful yellow dress that Allison had picked out for her during their shopping trip. It was sleeveless and had a scalloped neckline that dipped low enough to showcase the pearl necklace she wore. The material hugged her curves perfectly. It wasn’t tight, but it didn’t flow either. Allison was right about this dress being sexy. Not too sexy for a wedding. It still followed the unwritten rule that a woman should never turn heads more than the bride.
Bailey was getting married today. Unlike the summer after Lyla’s high school graduation, when the storm had blown through and delayed Bailey’s wedding plans, this summer’s wedding was still taking place. Bailey’s first wedding wasn’t meant to be. This one, this summer, was.
When Lyla had purchased this dress, it was to wear as Travis’s date. He was barely talking to her now. Her opinion article had hit him hard, and he was shut down to any romantic possibilities or even friendship. His texts had been brief.
I’m going alone . . . I don’t need a date . . . Bailey still wants you to attend . . . See you there.
Lyla worked to push down the hurt feelings that rose from her gut to her chest and made lumps in her throat. She wasn’t going alone today, though. Allison was going with her. Maybe this was for the best. She didn’t want to hurt Travis any more than she already had. She had no plans to stay in Echo Cove indefinitely, and neither did he. In fact, as far as she knew, Travis was leaving right after Bailey’s wedding today. Lyla couldn’t. She was staying to handle the repairs on the house.
The doorbell rang. Allison was right on time, as usual.
When Lyla opened the door, Allison waved and then did a spin on the front porch showing off her dress.
“Wow. You look amazing.” It wasn’t a lie. Allison was every bit as beautiful as she’d been in high school. Maybe more so.
“So do you.” Allison gave Lyla a once over. “You’re a knockout, actually. Are you trying to snag one of the groomsmen?”
“Definitely not. I am happily single and happily attending this wedding alongside one of my best friends.”
Allison’s lips parted. “Me? I’m one of your best friends?”
“Of course.” Lyla grabbed her purse off the table nearby the door and locked the door behind her. “Ready to go to a wedding?”
Allison nodded and took her time walking down the steps. “I’m awful in heels. You would think all those beauty pageants my mother put me in growing up would’ve have made me good at heels, but no.”
“That’s why I’m wearing flats.” Lyla gestured to her own feet. “Plus, my broken toe is still on the mend.”
They got into Allison’s little car and pulled out of the driveway.
“I hope TJ isn’t there,” Allison said as she drove.
“What if he is? What if he asks you to dance?” Lyla asked.
Allison pulled her lower lip between her teeth. “I don’t think I’m ready. When I thought I might be pregnant, that was a huge wake-up call for me.” She glanced over. “I want love and another family one day. Maybe even a year from now. I need to do some more work on myself first.”
Lyla reached over and squeezed Allison’s forearm. “I need to work on myself too. Maybe I’ll get the contact info for your therapist, since I’m staying in town a little longer.” Maybe a lot longer, but she wasn’t ready to share that yet. It wasn’t written in stone. Nothing was, right now. “I’m proud of you, you know.”
“For what?” Allison asked.
There were so many reasons. Lyla would be here all day if she listed them all. People changed and evolved out of what happened to them. Sometimes those changes weren’t for the best, but Allison could make lemonade out of anything. Out of nearly nothing. “For being who you are, despite what’s happened to you.”
Allison’s face lit up at the compliment. “I could say the same for you. Look at us. Who would have thought we’d turn into best friends?”
Lyla blew out a breath. “Not me. No offense, but I didn’t think we had anything in common. Maybe we didn’t back then, but we do now.”
“We have wine in common,” Allison agreed. “And we have the town of Echo Cove and a thousand disappointments. A few successes too.” She drove in silence for a moment. “Our class reunion is coming up in the fall. Do you want to go with me?”
Lyla felt herself grimace at the very thought.
Opinion: Class reunions are a bunch of people wearing fake smiles and pretending they’ve turned out a lot better than is true.
“Oh, come on, Ly,” Allison prodded. “It’ll be fun. I’m trying to talk Bernadette into going too. We can be a terrific trio.”
“Maybe.” Lyla looked out the window. Her answer wasn’t a solid no. In fact, even though it sounded like a miserable time, being with Allison and Bernadette sounded fun. Who was she these days?
“Great. We can shop for dresses again. I’ll pick out yours, and you’ll pick out mine,” Allison said, as if Lyla had given her a definite yes.
Lyla laughed. As they pulled up to the little church on the waterfront, nerves took over once again. Travis would be inside. At some point, they’d probably have to talk.
“What if Travis asks you to dance?” Allison asked. “Would you say yes?”
Lyla looked down at her interwoven hands in her lap. “I’m not ready either.” Except her reason for not being ready was different from Allison’s. She wasn’t ready to be so close to Travis that she could lean in and kiss him, but know that it wouldn’t happen. She’d hurt him. She wasn’t ready to feel the rejection that he would no doubt give her—and she deserved nothing less.
The church was filled to the brim with people and noise. Lyla and Allison slid into the back pew of the church and chatted with folks as they stepped up to give them hugs. Allison was a social butterfly as always. She was gracious, and she complimented each woman she spoke to as if she was the most beautiful woman in the room. And none of it was insincere. Allison Wilkerson didn’t have a fake bone in her body.
“This is the church that we held my son and daughter’s funerals at,” Allison whispered as the church grew quieter in anticipation of the Wedding March.
Lyla reached for Allison’s hand. “You okay?”
Allison nodded. “Better than okay. Some part of me thinks that they’re watching over me. Maybe they sent me you.”
Lyla narrowed her eyes. “Actually, my mom sent me you. I’ll have to thank her for that.”
The wedding party entered the church. First the groom’s party walked down the aisle all the way to the front. Then the bride’s party followed, taking their place on the other side of the podium. Finally, “Here Comes the Bride” began to play. Everyone in the pews turned to watch the bride escorted by the best man. Since Bailey’s father was no longer alive, Travis was giving her away. He wore a black suit, and he looked so grown up. He was a man these days, and Lyla loved him. She’d known she was falling for him, but now she realized that she was already there. She was fully in love with her childhood friend. The one she’d done countless pranks with and on. The one she’d ridden bikes with all over town and made yearly summer bucket lists with.
“You’re staring at him,” Allison said, leaning over and whispering.
Lyla blinked and looked down at her lap. “I probably shouldn’t have come today.” This was torture.
“Or maybe you need to ask him to dance later,” Allison suggested.
As soon as the wedding was over and Bailey and her new husband had said, “I do,” Lyla got up and headed out of the church.
“Ly! Ly, wait up.” Allison jogged over in her heels, nearly stumbling. “Aren’t we staying for the reception?”
“You can if you want,” Lyla said. “I can call an Uber or something. I need to go home.”
“If you really want to leave, I’ll drive you.” Allison folded her arms over her chest and glanced toward the large metal building beside the church where everyone was going to celebrate the new marriage. “But I think you’ll regret leaving without seeing him.”
All in a rush, Lyla said, “He’s upset with me. He’s barely responding to my texts, and he’s not answering my calls. He doesn’t want to see me.”
“So, if you go now, he’ll know it’s because of him. He’ll know that you gave up and—like it or not, true or false—it’ll be on you.”
Lyla blinked her friend into focus. “Me?” She thought about it for a moment.
“You messed up. It’s your mess to fix, not his.”
“Well, he’s not making it very easy,” Lyla said. “Or even possible.”
Allison tipped her head toward the venue. “Let’s go in there, have some finger foods and congratulate Bailey. You can say hi to Travis and be finished. The ball is then in his court to snatch or drop.”
Lyla twisted her mouth to one side as she debated. “Fine. Fine. But I know you’re only vying for us to go in so you can get a cupcake.”
They both burst into laughter.
“I need one too,” Lyla admitted. “Let’s go.”
They changed directions and walked toward the metal building. Everyone else was already inside. There were so many people that it was hard to navigate in the room. Everyone in town must have come to this wedding. Lyla was happy for Bailey. She deserved a lifetime of love and happiness. Her parents had turned their backs on her, but the town hadn’t. Echo Cove was small but strong in its support of those it loved.
Lyla found herself looking for Travis as Allison led her through the cliques of people, stopping every now and then to hug someone’s neck. He was nowhere to be found.
“Lyla! Allison!” Bailey hurried over to them and hugged them both, her white veil clinging to Lyla’s hair momentarily.
“Oops.” Nothing could bring Bailey’s mood down today. She was visibly lit up with joy. “Thank you so much for coming! It means so much to me to have you both here.”
“Of course. We wouldn’t miss it.” Allison glanced at Lyla and then back at Bailey. “Where’s your brother?”
Lyla wanted to bury her face in her hands out of embarrassment. It was obvious that Allison was asking on her behalf.
Bailey’s smile faded. “He could only stay long enough to walk me down the aisle, which I appreciate. He left already.”
“ Left ?” The word punched Lyla in the gut. “What? Why?”
“He had a job. My wedding was delayed, so he should have already left by now. He postponed as long as he could, but now he’s gone.” Bailey narrowed her eyes at Lyla. “He didn’t say goodbye?”
Lyla wanted to run into the closest bathroom, hide inside a stall, and cry her eyes out.
Allison reached for her hand and squeezed it tightly, a gentle show of her support.
“He didn’t say anything,” Lyla said, rolling her lips together.
Bailey reached for Lyla’s other hand. Was her devastation that obvious?
“It’s okay. This is your day,” Lyla told Bailey, blinking her tears away. “You only need to be concerned with you and your new husband.” She hugged Bailey again, careful not to get caught on Bailey’s veil this time.
“I’ll tell my brother what an idiot he is later,” Bailey promised.
“No, don’t do that. He’s actually pretty smart. We’re going to go grab a cupcake,” Lyla told her, stepping away with Allison.
And then they were going to leave, because Lyla wasn’t sure she could hold herself together for much longer.
Minutes feel like hours when you don’t have a couch or TV, or anything to distract your brain when you need it most. Lyla had been home for barely two hours, and she was losing her mind. If she was going to live here for any length of time, she needed a few things.
Resolved, and still wearing the dress she’d worn to Bailey’s wedding, Lyla got into her car and drove over to the thrift store. It didn’t close until 6:00 p.m., which gave her a solid half hour to make her living situation a little homier.
“Here to drop off more things?” the thrift shop manager asked, remembering her face.
“Here to find a few things. Do you by chance have a TV?”
“Of course I do.”
“And a coffeemaker?” she asked hopefully.
“You’re in luck.” The man loaded her cart with all her requests. Then she checked out and put them in her trunk. She told herself to drive home, but found herself driving in the opposite direction toward the empty lot where Travis had his camper. Maybe he was still there. The wedding was only a few hours earlier. It was possible that he hadn’t left without saying goodbye.
As she slowed her car on the road where Travis had been living, her hopes draining out of her, leaving a painful ache in her chest. The lot was empty. His RV was gone. He was gone too.
Tears rolled down Lyla’s cheeks. She wiped them away as quickly as they fell, but they kept coming, springing to her eyes until she had to pull over on the side of the road because she couldn’t see. When she was done, she drove back to her parents’ home and went inside and cried some more.
When the sun came up the next morning, Lyla felt hungover from all her crying the previous day. She used her new coffeemaker and prepared a cup of much-needed coffee. Then she sat on a lawn chair she’d purchased at the thrift store and reached for the old diary she’d found under her mattress the week before. She opened it to a page near the back, choosing it at random, and began to read.
Dear Diary,
I looked Travis square in the face and promised that we’d keep in touch on a daily basis. I promised, knowing that it was a lie. I can’t be friends with a guy that I have feelings for, and I can’t have feelings for someone who’s six hours away. I have dreams to chase and a life to conquer. So, I told him that me going off to college wasn’t goodbye, but I lied. I already know he won’t forgive me for this and I probably won’t forgive myself.
Goodbye, Travis.
Lyla rolled her eyes. What kind of logic was that? That she had to turn her back on the possibility of love to achieve her successes. Lyla sipped her coffee and then got to work, making the house feel a little more like home. When she stood, her eye caught on the bucket list, still on her kitchen counter—still with one unchecked item. Hurricane Bill had come and gone, wreaking havoc on her parents’ home, but there was still a lot to lose. That last summer in Echo Cove, Lyla had lost her very best friend, all because she was too scared to keep him. To lose him. To be so weighed down that she never learned to fly.
Maybe jumping off the Pirate’s Plank wouldn’t make Travis forgive her, but she didn’t want to run from fear anymore. She wanted to run toward it. There was that one item on the old bucket list she and Travis had made, and she didn’t want to avoid it anymore. Instead, she felt compelled to check it off, and she wanted to do it now.
Her phone rang.
Lyla answered. “Hello?”
“What are you doing?” Allison asked. “Want to plan a Dinnerware Party with me?”
“I would love to, but first I have something important I have to do.”
“Oh? What’s that?” Allison asked.
Lyla started walking toward her bedroom to find her bathing suit. “I’m going for a swim.”
“What? Now?”
Lyla was well aware that she was making a rash, possibly irrational decision. “Yes. Now.” There was no time like the present, and if she waited, she might back out.
“Fine. Then I’m going with you,” Allison said immediately.
“I didn’t ask you to come.” Although it wasn’t a bad idea. If Lyla was even considering getting into the lake, she should have someone with her. Never swim alone was a rule for good reason.
“If you go under, I go under too,” Allison added. “Because that’s what friends do.”
Lyla felt her brow line bunch up. “I thought friends were there to make sure you didn’t go under. Shouldn’t you be offering to save me if I go under?”
“I would, but I can’t swim,” Allison said. “But I’ll at least call nine-one-one.”
Lyla laughed quietly into the phone. “You should learn to swim. I’ll teach you next summer.”
“You’re coming back to town?” Allison asked. “For what?”
“For you. Among other things.”
“Or people.” Allison squealed happily. “Let me get my swimsuit on. I’ll meet you at the lake.”
Lyla disconnected the call and blew out a breath. Then she pulled open her dresser drawer and grabbed her favorite one-piece swimsuit. After stripping down, she stepped into the bathing suit and pulled it up her body, hooking the straps over her shoulders. She was doing this. Sink or swim. And a little added motivation to stay afloat was that if she sank, she was taking Allison down with her. Allison didn’t deserve that. She deserved the world, and so did Lyla.
August 31
Dear Diary,
I’m about to leave home for the first time in my life, and my mind feels suddenly very quiet. My mind is never quiet. It’s always racing, chasing new ideas and thoughts. I don’t like the silence. It’s lonely and I haven’t even left yet.
I dug a hole in my parents’ backyard and it felt like I was burying our friendship. In reality, I was burying my time capsule with a dozen things inside that remind me of this awful summer. The bucket list is in there too. For the first time, it’s unfinished. According to Travis, that means bad luck. I’m not sure my luck can get any worse though.
In ten years or whatever, I’ll dig this time capsule back up and look at the items inside. Hopefully the woman I am on the other side is a better version of me. I can’t wait to meet her. I hope she’s cool and has amazing hair. I’ve always wanted to be a redhead. Maybe she’ll have red hair. Maybe she’ll have a cool job where she gets to write all the time. Hopefully she’s kissed a boy by then. Hopefully she’s gone through all the bases and has done more than that.
Anyway, Travis is gone, the time capsule is buried, and my bags are packed. Unfortunately, dear diary, this is goodbye for us too. I’m going to slip you under my mattress and see you later. You aren’t meant to go to college, but I am.
Yours Truly,
Lyla Dune, a woman destined for greatness