Chapter Two #3
Back in May, before Memorial Day Weekend, Celeste had tried to persuade Jeremiah to come to Heart Beach.
Unwilling to tell her the real reason he didn’t want to be in Heart Beach unless absolutely necessary, he’d blurted a lie about having plans with his new girlfriend.
A girlfriend who didn’t actually exist. And because Celeste often made comments about how Jeremiah was pushing thirty but hadn’t yet met a nice girl to settle down with like Percy, she’d immediately dropped the Memorial Day Weekend questions, and instead had peppered him with questions about his “girlfriend.” Jeremiah had remained evasive, claiming that he didn’t want to share too much in case things didn’t work out.
He’d promised to tell Celeste and everyone else more about his girlfriend once he was sure that she was the one.
In reality, he hadn’t gone on a date in almost a year.
All part of his grand plan to work on himself.
But Celeste had been so relieved that he was finally seriously dating someone, she’d accepted his lie.
And she’d accepted it again when he’d told her he couldn’t make it to Heart Beach for Juneteenth because he already had plans with his girlfriend.
He couldn’t tell his mom the truth. That the thought of being at the Heart Beach house was too painful.
Jeremiah didn’t want any of his family to know that on the last night of Pop’s life, he’d come home drunk, and while everyone else had been sleeping, Pop had waited up for him and given him some tough love and encouraged him to get his life together.
Instead of absorbing Pop’s words, Jeremiah had taken offense to them and stormed out mid-conversation, like he was some misunderstood victim who needed an escape from his charmed life.
He’d planned to apologize to Pop in the morning, but sometime overnight, Pop had suffered a heart attack in his sleep.
Jeremiah was too ashamed to talk about that night.
He just wanted to focus on trying to make Pop proud and being a better person, even if Pop was no longer there to see Jeremiah’s efforts.
It was why he made sure to share information about his family’s foundation whenever he came across businesses that could use their help.
It was why he volunteered for a youth mentorship program for high schoolers during the school year and bought their uniforms and school supplies, and he fulfilled supply orders for teachers in the state too.
Thanks to his grandparents, he’d been put in a position where he could help others, and that was what he wanted to focus on doing—what he always should have been focused on, honestly.
And trying to be a better person was why he’d left Smith’s Sweets. He doubted he’d ever be as good for the company as his mom and siblings. They didn’t need him. In fact, he’d only ever been in their way. The best thing for him to do had been to step aside.
Going back to Heart Beach this summer for longer than necessary, having no escape from his grief and guilt, would be too hard. It could upend the progress he’d made. He’d mentally prepared himself to return in August for one night for the gala. Next weekend was too soon. He wasn’t ready.
And that was why he continued with his stupid lie and said, “Uh, yeah, my girlfriend and I have plans this weekend. We got tickets to a show she’s been wanting to see. It’s the last show of the run, and she doesn’t want to miss it.”
“A musical or play?”
Good question. “A musical. Cats, I think.”
Celeste’s brows shot up. “You’re seeing Cats? When did that return to Broadway?”
“It didn’t,” he hastened to say. Why the hell had he said Cats? It was the only musical he could think of, mostly because the movie version that had scared his nieces. “It’s Off-Broadway. An Off-Broadway Cats spin-off.”
“She must really be something if she’s got you seeing a spin-off of Cats.”
Jeremiah cleared his throat. “Yeah, she’s pretty special.”
Celeste fell quiet, eyeing him. Jeremiah tried not to squirm.
He placed his satchel in the passenger seat before sitting at the wheel. He was about to tell Celeste that he needed to start driving and he’d have to call her later—at least this was true. But to his surprise, Celeste smiled fondly at him.
“You look so much like him,” she said. “Sometimes it throws me.”
She was talking about Pop. While Percy resembled and was named after their father, all his life, Jeremiah had been told how much he looked like their grandfather.
He had Pop’s height and jawline, the shape of his eyes and mouth.
When he was younger, he used to make Pop stand beside him in the mirror so that they could point out each similarity together.
“Yeah,” he said quietly.
After a moment, Celeste said, “I miss him too. We all do.”
Jeremiah swallowed thickly. An image of his grandfather flashed in his mind. Pop smiling over at Jeremiah as they stood waist-deep in the ocean, the waves moving around them.
Jeremiah inhaled and exhaled deeply.
“It was hard after we lost Grandma when you were so young,” Celeste continued.
“Now Pop is gone too. Heart Beach isn’t the same without him, I know that.
But we still have each other. I want you to be there with us.
We all do. Is that so much to ask? Spend some time with us in Heart Beach this summer before you move, Miah. Please.”
His mom was a lot of things. Persistent and fierce.
Loving and opinionated. And she was even-keeled.
She rarely let her feathers get ruffled or openly showed signs of distress.
Seeing her shaky expression threw Jeremiah.
It made him feel like shit. He was breaking his mom’s heart and that was the last thing he wanted to do.
“Okay,” he said, deflating. “I can’t promise every weekend, but I’ll be there next weekend for Amara’s party, and then I’ll come back for the gala.”
Celeste’s expression immediately brightened. Instant relief washed over Jeremiah at the sight of his mom’s smile, even if the thought of going back to Heart Beach made his stomach sink.
“Perfect!” Celeste said. “I’ll have your room all set up for you. I’ve gotta go. Good luck at your meeting. Knock ’em dead, honey. Oh! And bring your girlfriend next weekend. I can’t wait to meet the woman who’s kept you so preoccupied!”
Oh shit. He’d forgotten his girlfriend lie that fast again. “Mom, wait—”
Celeste blew a kiss and hung up.
Damn. He could tell Celeste that he’d lied about having a girlfriend, but that would only make things worse and hurt her feelings. Then she’d push him on why he’d felt the need to lie in the first place. She’d dig, unrelenting, to discover his true reason for avoiding the beach house.
As ridiculous as it sounded, it would be much easier if he continued his lie and somehow brought a girlfriend with him next weekend.
Maybe he could bring a friend and have her pretend to be his girlfriend. Problem was, he was short on friends these days. If the crew he used to hang around could even really be called friends.
Maybe he could hire someone.
Nah, that was stupid.
He started his car. He had a meeting to get to, a pitch to land.
And he had to buy Amara’s birthday gift.
He’d done some poking around online and apparently there was a bookstore right here in Jersey City called Hidden Gems Books that had a nice selection of vintage editions.
He was going to swing by there after his meeting.
He’d figure out a plan for his nonexistent girlfriend after.