Today I have a tiny chapter for you. I was tempted to combine it with another, but it’s a perfect gem on it’s own. It’s also the first time the two main character see each other. So, I decided to leave it as is. It’s the first time we have two viewpoints in the same chapter. Thanks again for your patience with this project!

Owen pulled up at the beach house and began to feel the day slip away from him. Today had just plain sucked. Honestly, the last week sucked. He finally told Dave how things stood with the business and what they were going to have to do to get out of the hole they were in. They sat down to figure out what they were active on, what was in the works, what crew they would need to keep and who would get the shove. He hated that part. Laying off perfectly good workers was a crime. At least it was summer and there was more work to be had for them with other contractors.

They went over the Elm Street property and drew up some plans. Dave had a great idea for the bridge over the little river. He needed the engineer to draw it up so he could go before the planning board. Dave was great at this, and Owen began to see the advantages of having someone to work with. It had only taken a few months of doing it on his own to realize he’d rather have a partner. But right now he had to make sure there was still a company at the end of this.

Getting out of the car he noticed Will’s beat up old Land Rover was parked there as well. Will used his driveway any time he wanted to head to the beach. It was fine by Owen. That way the house got some use at least. After he had changed, he headed out across the street and over the dunes and he looked out for Will.

Owen’s house was on the private side of Wingaersheek beach. It had stretches of smooth sand broken up by large rock formations.  He liked to climb the rocks and watch the sun set. As a rule, he thought having any stretch of beach private was a bit too bourgeois, but he didn’t mind taking advantage of it since it meant that this stretch of sand and rock was relatively tourist-free.

The sun was working on setting, so he had to hurry if he didn’t want to be swimming in the dark. He ran down the sand, into the surf and dove under a wave. It was cold, but not mind-numbing. He swam hard for a bit and then lazily while he let his brain shut off. The water shut out the noise in his head. It was the only time he felt weightless in both physical and mental way.

Eventually he headed back in, found his towel and dried off. He looked up and down the beach and spotted Will sitting on the sand by the rock pile, looking out to the ocean. As Owen walked up, he gave him a wave. “Hey. What’s up?” he wondered why Will was just sitting there.

            “Waiting on a friend.” Will pointed up to the rock pile. There was a woman standing on it with her arms outstretched and eyes closed. The wind was whipping her dark hair off her shoulders and around her head. She was wearing some kind of wrap-around skirt over her swimsuit and the wind was streaming it out behind her. Owen was struck by how she almost seemed to be daring the wind to pull her off the rock.

            “Kennedy.” Will offered. “She likes to do that. Standing in the wind. Don’t ask me why. I’ve brought her out here a few times to swim and each time she climbs the rock. She says it feels like flying and something about it letting her head empty out.”

Owen knew exactly what she meant. The wind and the water did the same thing for him. “Are you guys staying a while?” He turned to face Will.

            “No. She has to be home soon.”

“So are you two…” He left it open-ended as he looked back up to her. He had mixed feelings about them as a couple. Part of him honestly hoped Will had found someone to exorcise Ella’s ghost and part of him worried that going for her cousin was making things complicated and bound to bring on more drama.

“No.” Will answered the half-asked question. “What kind of a jackass would that make me? Not that I didn’t think about it.” He looked out to sea again.

“Why would that make you a jackass?” Owen asked, although he could guess the answer.

            “Well for starters, I’m ten years older than her and then there’s being her cousin’s ex and then there’s how her family feels about it.” He paused for a moment. “And there’s the simple fact that every night when I close my eyes, I see Ella’s face and every morning I wake up I reach out for her and at every slam of the door I hope it’s her coming back.”

“Will, that’s just…” Owen trailed off. What could he say to that? Will was still mourning. Because that’s what it was, grief. The end of that relationship was a kind of death. It deserved a period of mourning. They bound their hearts together and then tore themselves apart. Of course he was still bleeding. Owen wanted to think Ella was still the same, that a woman could feel the same pain. But, what did he know?

The silence stretched on while Owen was lost in thought.

Will finally answered.  “I think I can do Kennedy some good and being trapped in my own head hasn’t exactly been working for me.”  He laughed. “I’ve become her tour guide. She’s a total city girl, doesn’t drive, never even been in a boat until she moved here. The aunties gave me a bit of grief when we first started hanging out, but they’ve realized that it’s what I said it is. We’re friends.”

“Okay. I think that’s a good thing. I hope it works out.”  He looked up to where Kennedy still stood. Her arms were by her side and she was looking out to the changing light. Owen watched for a moment as the wind whipped her hair around her head like some kind of crazy halo. “I’m heading to the house. Let me know if you need anything.”

Will didn’t respond.

*********************

Kennedy finally opened her eyes. The wind still tore at her, making a mess of her hair, but she felt better now. The day fell away, and she was free again. Today had truly sucked.  From the moment she got up absolutely everything went wrong. Nothing had gone right and Mrs. Hughes had guests stay for luncheon. Normally Kennedy didn’t sit in if she had guests, but Mrs. Hughes thought these particular attendees might be interested in the work she was doing.

The two women were sharply dressed from their pedicured toes to their smoothly straight hair. As soon as they opened their mouths it was clear they were also well educated. Sitting in that company made Kennedy notice every flaw she had; her ragged fingernails, her scuffed up shoes, the thread loose from the hem of her skirt. It wasn’t anything they said or did, it was more their aura. That and their pointed questions that left Kennedy wondering if they had already sized her up and found her wanting.

 It was amazing how much could be said without uttering a word in polite conversation. They’d gently disparaged Kennedy’s education, kindly dismissed her personal appearance, and sweetly insulted her intelligence. She left the table feeling stupid, homely, and defeated.

Mrs. Hughes hadn’t seemed to notice, or maybe Kennedy was too sensitive. Maybe she was one big raw nerve that kept getting stepped on. In Boston she was able to insulate herself, but up here it was nearly impossible. Everyone seemed to know or at least know of everyone else in their own little social strata. It truly was a small world. She hadn’t figured out yet what strata she was actually in. The Aunties seemed to float through them all with perfect grace while Kennedy found herself stumbling along, at home one moment and thoroughly foreign the next.

She glanced down and saw Will sitting in the sand waiting for her. Thank God for Will. She really appreciated that when it got to be too much she only had to ask, not explain, and he brought her here. The beach with its light, sound and wind created a kind of therapy. She loved to lean into the wind and feel it holding her, almost like she was weightless. The sun warmed her skin and the crash of the waves dulled her thoughts. It was a potent antidote to her anxiety.

Kennedy knew she would have to learn to ignore the kind of torment she experienced today. Her mom used to lecture her about knowing when the opinions of others mattered and when they should be ignored. After all, Kennedy was new in town so of course she was going to be the subject of conversation. Being a Davies added fuel to the fire. Kennedy knew the drill. She had been whispered about enough in her childhood.

Every new town they moved to would question why she was being homeschooled by a single mother, what sort of people they were. She had spent a ridiculous amount of time as a kid redesigning her life in her head. She’d imagine that her mother was married and that her dad was off working an oil rig or maybe he was a soldier, or an astronaut, anything other than simply not there.

Kennedy shook her head and let the wind take that thought. There was no way she was going down that trail since she knew where it ended. Will called out to her. Looking down she saw him standing up, his hands held out for her to climb down. She jumped down to the sand, letting him pull her up. He hugged her hard for a moment and let go. They walked together out to the parking lot. Walking away, she was determined to forget all the nonsense and remember how the sun, sea, and wind felt on her skin. If only she could bottle that feeling.

Image Credit: David Trinks Via Unsplash