Chapter 38
38
T here were hardly any waves as Sam and Damon stared out at the water. They’d spent the night on the beach, cuddled on a striped blanket as they talked through their hopes for their futures—together and individually. Sam wanted to continue operating as an international flight pilot, and Damon wanted to take his small-town beer and distribute it globally. Sam needed to spend more time with Grandma Pearl that didn’t involve her having to travel, and Damon would need to be in Tybee regularly to continue operations at the brewery.
But they would live together. They’d spend six months in Paris, then six in Tybee, to start, and reevaluate from there. While Sam flew, Damon would travel to new European locations to make relationships with restaurants and distributors to introduce them to Band Practice Brews. When they were based in Tybee, Sam could still fly out of the Atlanta hub, but make use of her time off to spend with Pearl and Damon. They had an initial flight plan and, maybe more importantly, they had each other.
There was something between them, though. More specifically, it was the CD player. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so torn about a CD,” Damon said.
“Not sure that’s true. Remember when Farrah got pissed at you for eating all of her Cocoa Puffs and then broke your New Found Glory CD in half?” Sam cringed at the memory of Damon’s face when he found it.
Damon bit his lip, perhaps remembering the same moment. “That was my favorite CD. She knew that.”
“I remember tears.” Sam let her head rest on his shoulder. “And you refused to throw it out. It just sat on your desk, snapped in two, like a memorial.”
“I don’t think I ever did throw it out. It’s probably still somewhere in my parents’ house.”
They hadn’t intended to catch the sunrise, but the warm light sliced across the top of the water as Sam dug her toes into the sand. Soon after, Byron made his usual trek down the beach, whistling the same wakeup call he’d soon play.
“Morning to ya,” Byron called out to them, and Sam waved back.
The silence stretched comfortably until Byron placed his lips on the bagpipes and began to play. Sam nestled herself against Damon, rubbing her forehead on his arm like a cat looking for pets. He obliged by tucking her in close to his side.
When she’d arrived in Tybee, her whole body had buzzed from the lack of control she felt over her situation. But now she found herself humming pleasantly from the closeness to Damon and the rhythm of this place.
Byron finished his set by saluting the sun, then turned and walked back up the beach. Sam would miss waking up to the sound of his music.
“Don’t worry,” Damon said with a squeeze to her shoulder. “I recorded the whole thing on my phone so we can play it when we wake up in Paris.”
“You did not.” She sat up with a smile. “I wonder if he knows we’re his biggest fans.”
“The man has many fans, Sam. Of course he doesn’t know.”
Then, like the elephant in the room that it was, they both glanced at the CD player. On the one hand, this was the thing that had shown Sam a way back to Damon, and Tybee, on her own terms. On the other hand, it was possessed and had to be destroyed.
“Okay.” Sam tucked her hair behind her ears. “So our options are burn it, bury it, lock it in a safe or sell it on eBay.”
“Do you know how many hours I spent making that CD for you?” He leaned back in the sand, and the sun made him glow, and Sam hoped she would never forget the way he smiled out of the side of his mouth at her.
“Putting ‘Want You Bad’ on the mix was a little forward,” she said.
“You noticed that, huh?” He raised a playful eyebrow.
And then she had an idea. Sam popped open the lid of the player and gently removed the CD. It had once been the thing that marked the end of them, and now destroying it would mark a new beginning.
“You remember those friendship necklaces that were a broken heart, and one person got the half that said best and the other got the half that said friends ?”
“Vaguely,” he said.
“Maybe this could be our version.” She handed the CD to Damon, and he took it. “Our more than friends CD. You always keep one half, and I’ll always keep the other.”
“I like it,” he said. “But what about the player?”
Damon pushed himself up and held his hand out for her. She took it, and the warmth and strength in just his palm reassured Sam that she didn’t need this CD anymore. It was a thing that only showed the past, and she was ready to embrace her future with Damon.
“Maybe we keep it as a little reminder of what brought us back together.” She tucked the CD player under her free arm and held on to Damon’s hand as they walked the short distance down the beach. Their toes reached the point where water met earth, and the cool waves lapped gently across their feet.
“You can hold one side, and I’ll hold the other?” Damon pinched one side of the CD and held it out to her.
She grabbed the other side. “Let’s count to three, and we’ll snap it, okay?”
Sam rolled out her shoulders, ready to finally say goodbye to the what-if playlist.
“One, two, three,” they said together, then snapped it in half. There was Damon’s handwriting, and his drawings, cracked down the middle, forever changed.
He raised the broken half of the CD and slapped it against his open palm. “Now we have to make a new playlist.”
“I think we’ve seen what happens when we make music together.” Sam cringed at her own bad joke.
Damon raised an eyebrow. “I sure hope that’s the innuendo I think it was.”
Sam rolled her eyes.
“I’m serious, though.” Damon slung an arm around her. “Let’s start fresh, with new music, new meanings, and it can be a mix you can listen to when you’re flying and missing the hell out of me.”
“You really think I’ll be missing you when I’m forty thousand feet up and cutting through the clouds?” Sam said.
“Yes, I do.” He smiled broadly.
“Yes, I will,” she confirmed.
Damon shook out the beach blanket, and a spray of sand flew in the air. “How about Paramore’s ‘Still Into You’ for the first track?”
“I’m thrilled to hear my performance moved you so deeply.” Sam helped him fold the blanket. “What about ‘With Me’ by Sum 41?”
“Yeah.” Damon squinted against the brighter light. “But since this is a love album, I think we also just need a Celine Dion banger. Like, ‘My Heart Will Go On,’ just to round it out.”
“Nah,” Sam said. “If we’re doing a Celine song it’s ‘I Drove All Night.’”
“‘I drove all night,’” someone loudly sang.
Sam and Damon turned to see Alligator Alice power-walking behind them and singing the song’s title.
“Love that song!” Alligator Alice widely smiled. “Great morning for a walk, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely,” Sam said, holding back a chuckle.
Damon gave a cocky smile as he pulled Sam in toward him. “Making you this CD was the best thing I ever did, as it turns out.”
“And avoiding you for over a decade only to return and discover it was haunted was the best thing I ever did.” Sam started back up the beach.
Damon closely followed. “Sam?”
She turned at his voice, and he grabbed her hand. “Should I get the red-dyed tips again?” he asked, all serious.
“They’re coming back now, I hear.” Sam was equally serious.
Damon bent his head slightly, and she reached up toward him. Their lips met and Sam knew he would be her home, no matter where she went.