Chapter 20
Tessa settled into the teak lounge chair big enough for two and pulled the oversized blanket over her legs.
“Warm enough?”
She jerked her head up. Between learning her entire life was about to change and nerves about reading Sam’s letter, she hadn’t heard Hudson come out.
He crossed the terrace and sat beside her. “Which part do you want to open first?”
“You said you know what’s in the box. I think I do too, so let’s start there.”
“Do it.”
She popped open the velvet lid. “Just as I thought.” Taking his hand, she slipped the man’s ring that matched her own on Hudson’s finger, the perfect fit like a homecoming. “Do you know why these rings were so important to Sam?”
Hudson held up his hand and examined the dime-sized ruby under the glow of the heat lamp. “Pop showed this to me once when I was a teenager and said it would be mine someday. I didn’t press him for more details and he didn’t offer.” He handed her the envelope. “Let’s find out the story.”
She shook her head. “No, you open it. Read it out loud.” Nerves pinged in her belly as he slid his finger under the sealed flap. She couldn’t retreat from whatever waited inside.
Carefully, he pulled out several pages of thick ivory paper.
Dear Hudson and Tessa,
She inhaled as Sam’s bold handwriting unfurled in front of them.
So, you two have met. If you’re reading this, I wasn’t there in person to see it, but trust me, I’m watching.
Hudson, stop touching that scar on your palm that reminds you of my last attempt to set you up with a pretty girl.
Tessa laughed as she caught Hudson snatch his finger away from his palm like he’d been burned. A fat tear, then another, landed on the scar.
Her tears landed on her hands clasped in her lap.
Don’t worry, boy, I’m not matchmaking. Just making sure the two most important people in my life know about another important person in my life who I lost a long time ago.
By now, both of you should have the matching ruby rings I bought when I was in Vietnam.
I never said much about the ring I wore around my neck, and I can’t pinpoint a reason why.
The only person who knew the story was your grandmother, and bless her heart, that woman didn’t mind if I wore the ring I’d intended for another woman around my neck.
Hudson sniffed. Tessa reached for his hand like she’d been doing it for years. Heat enveloped her palm as she wrapped her fingers around his and squeezed. “Sam asked me to make sure fresh roses were always in the vase on the windowsill next to your grandmother’s picture in the Belmarva house.”
“They were her favorite.”
“Mine too.”
He inhaled. “I know.”
Hudson tucked the page behind the stack and sniffed again.
One ring was supposed to be an engagement ring for Ruby, the first woman I ever loved. The other was to be my wedding band.
Ruby grew up on my side of the duplex. The night I met her on the boardwalk just weeks before I left for boot camp, I knew I would make her my wife someday.
I was planning on asking her to marry me when I returned, but she died in a kitchen fire at the restaurant where she worked just days before I got home.
Tessa swiped at her eyes. “Oh, Sam.”
When I saw that the house where we held hands for the first time on the porch was on the market, I didn’t think twice about buying it.
Tessa, you reminded me of Ruby when I met you. I like to think if we’d had a daughter, she would have been strong and brave, caring and kind, and beautiful inside and out, just like you.
Tessa covered her mouth with her hand as a sob escaped. She melted as Hudson wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side.
This ring is a reminder that you are all those things and so much more.
Again, if you’re reading this, we didn’t have nearly enough time together, but never question the depth of my love and respect for you.
Even though I’m not by your side making sure you don’t let out too much line and lose a nice catch, I’ll always be with you, and always be your grandfather.
Hudson, your ring is a reminder not to wait for when the time is right, or safe, or ideal. I listened to my head instead of my heart and lost the opportunity to make Ruby my wife.
I won’t get all sappy with you, boy. You already know being your grandfather has been my greatest honor and an eternal source of pride and happiness. Just ask anyone on PBI.
Tessa poked Hudson’s good side. “It’s true.”
A wet sigh bubbled from his throat. “I know.” A tear stained the paper as he revealed the last page.
The terms of my will may have been a surprise, but please trust me. This old man knows what he’s doing.
Hudson, I have loved you since the day your parents told me I was going to be a grandfather.
Tessa, I’ve loved you since before we became neighbors.
Until I can fish and drink with both of you again, take care of Ralphie, and Josie, and Vivian, and even Shayla.
(I don’t give a rat’s ass about Nathaniel.
Trust me, it won’t be long before Vivian kicks him out.) Please tell the family about Ruby and keep her memory alive.
And most importantly, take care of each other.
Your grandfather, Sam
P.S. I swear I’m not matchmaking from the grave!
Hudson dropped Pop’s letter in his lap. “Bullshit.”
Tessa sat up and wiped her eyes. “Agreed.”
“Fucking, Pop.” Hudson raised his gaze to the beach. “I believe in mermaids more than I believe that the old man isn’t matchmaking from the grave.”
Tessa shifted to her knees as she picked up the pages and faced Hudson. “You know why he ended his letter that way, don’t you?”
“Yeah, so I’d get pissed and not all weepy. He was good at distraction.” Hudson looked up at the stars. “Well played, old man. Well played.”
She slowly folded Sam’s last words and slipped the pages back in the envelope. “Did it work? Are you distracted?”
He lifted the letter from Tessa’s fingers and pressed it against his heart.
“This ache, it’s visceral. It hurts and burns, and there’s not a goddamn thing I learned in medical school to make it go away.
And all the things I needed to tell Pop are like an ocean’s worth of salt in a wound the size of a volcano I don’t think will ever heal. ”
Wetness gleamed in her eyes as she touched the envelope he held against his heart.
He dragged a hand over his face. “I can lead a Naval field hospital in the middle of a war zone. Make life or death decisions without hesitation while the world burns around me, but dammit, I was counting on Pop’s advice to help me figure out some shit.”
She blinked back tears, but like the tides that couldn’t be harnessed, fat droplets rolled down her cheeks. The shake of her shoulders broadened the chasm in his heart.
“I’m so sorry, Hudson. I only knew Sam for a short time, and I can’t breathe without him. He was your grandfather. The depths of my grief must be shallow compared to yours.”
“Hey.” He reached out and caught a tear with his thumb. “Pop’s letter taught us that time has nothing to do with how much you love someone. He fell for Ruby after only a few weeks. Don’t you dare downplay what you felt for him, or what he felt for you based on a calendar.”
She nodded. “You’re right, but I’m still sorry.”
“I was jealous. I’m not anymore, but I was when I found out about you.
” His confession came out sharper than he’d intended.
He leaned forward and traced the curve of her jaw with his fingertip to temper his tone.
“Everything you shared with Pop this past year reminded me of what I missed. I regret not finding the time to see him, but that’s my issue, not yours. ”
“You know that he supported every one of your decisions, right?”
“I know. The last time I talked to him he said he was proud of me.” Hudson shook off the burning shroud from that night and clung to the sound of Pop’s voice.
“He said when I came home he wanted me to meet you because you’d become special to him and that—" He clamped a hand on her thigh. “I just remembered something.”
“What?”
“He said he had some things to tell me when I got home.” Regret clanged in his brain as loud as the radio that had cut off what Pop had been about to say.
She leaned closer. “Tell you what?”
“I don’t know. I got called to an emergency and we didn’t finish the conversation. I got the feeling it was important. Maybe he wanted to tell me he’d changed his will.”
“He never mentioned anything about the will to me, but he’d been acting funny for weeks. I think he was—” Her lips lifted at the corners.
He hooked a finger under her chin. “He was what?”
Sunshine peeked through her watery smile. The rays shot warmth to a place deep inside him even the heat lamps couldn’t penetrate.
“Sam was excited to introduce us. He invited me here dozens of times, but I always said no.”
“Why? Place not grand enough for you?”
She jabbed him in the arm. “Shut up.” She sobered from her laugh quickly. “I was afraid Frank would somehow know and show up and ruin everything. But I planned to say yes when you came home. I would have done anything to make Sam happy, except let him choose my fishing lure.”
“I know. He always used the same rusty ones, and when he caught a whopper, he’d say, ‘told you so.’”
“And he always gave away his new lures to strangers at the pier.” She sat up straighter. “Who’s going to teach the tourists how to fish now?”
“That’s their problem. I’ll miss fishing on the beach with just him. Most of the advice he gave me was when we had poles in our hands and eyes on the water.”
They stared toward the inky ocean they couldn't see, but could still hear.
“Tessa.”
“Yes.” She smiled into the darkness.
He didn’t turn her way either. “Were you excited? To meet me?”
Everything inside him stilled and simultaneously rioted as he held his breath.
“Yes.”