The sun sank, illuminating dust particles in the air above the table. The waitress must have noticed it as well, because she leaned across their table to shut the blinds. “Sorry, hon. That sun blasts right in on this table.”
“Can I get an ice cream sundae? One for my friend too,” Mike said. He took another bite of his sandwich.
“Sure thing.”
Asher heard them speaking, but he felt removed from the conversation as he watched a dust speck fly in the one pinprick beam of light that remained.
He tried to blink away the sensation that he was standing on one side of the glass, and all of this was happening on the other.
“My grandpa didn’t tell me any of this,” he said once the waitress left.
“I’m not surprised.” Mike flipped a sugar packet through his fingers. “He hated talking about it.”
A flash of anger flared through Asher. “Didn’t Grandpa see the irony? He was keeping his past from me, while he was digging up everyone else’s history.” His anger cooled just as quickly as it had come. He’d been reading parts of the books on grief that Eliana had subtly placed around the house—some with sticky notes marking chapters. He’d seen how his own actions weren’t always logical—he was illegally living in his grandpa’s house, keeping his boxes like a dusty shrine—not moving, not living, remaining as stagnant as those fake, plastic flamingos that made their way to everyone’s lawns.
He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.
Their vanilla sundaes came heaped with whipped cream, hot fudge and caramel, and a cherry on top. Asher’s stomach growled. Okay, maybe hecouldeat.
“Why did he come to you for help?” Asher asked.
“After the military, I worked for the police department as a detective. When I retired, I went into private investigating, mostly as an independent contractor specializing in insurance fraud and small business embezzlement. I know how to dig up dirt. And I did. Some of it illegal, but most of it just embarrassing. He wanted all of it. I tried to convince him to stop, but I also felt obligated to help, after everything he’d done for me when I was a kid.
“Then one day, years after he moved to Diamond Cove, he told me to stop.”
“Why?” Asher asked.
“Because you were moving to Diamond Cove and had gotten a job at The Palms. Plus, enough time had passed that some of his grief demons were fading. We’d turned in one person to the police, after we had collected evidence of identity theft, but for everyone else, he just sat on the information. Our lunches became less about picking apart everyone’s secrets, and more about him giving me updates on your life. He was so proud of you. It meant a lot to him that you’d move to Diamond Cove after you finished school.”
“Grandpa was my only family.”
“Yes, but he’d lostallof his family in one way or another. He figured it was only a matter of time before he lost you too. But then you came back and stayed.”
It was such a small thing, it broke Asher’s heart. It had never crossed his mindnotto come back.
“He was worried about you. He said he’d pushed too many people away, afraid of the secrets they had and never fully trusting anyone, and sometimes he saw the same instinct in you—something he was sure he’d taught you. He knew he’d be leaving you all alone once he was gone. But he also knew you’d be all right. He used to say you were the best version of a Brooks that could be made. And man, he loved you.”
Asher’s eyes stung. He stared down at the chipped laminate table, allowing his gaze to absently follow one deep groove scratched into the surface. He’d loved his grandpa too. And to learn all of this? It was a lot to take in.
Asher didn’t recall how their conversation ended, only that he rode his motorcycle home in a daze. He didn’t go through his usual, careful, song-and-dance of parking in the trees and making the long walk to the bungalow. He pulled right into the driveway and sat there for a long time.
If only Grandpa was still here. Asher could assuage his worries. Yes, he had walls up. Yes, it was hard for him to trust, and his grief had made him push people away. But Grandpa had taught him how to love. How to apologize and change and be there for someone when they were going through the most devastating thing of their life.
Asher would never want to be the center of attention, or be in a large crowd of people, or become an Eliana-like ray of sunshine. But he didn’t want to be alone either. Not anymore. But how did someone go from being so alone to … not?
Chapter 28
“I've got the key to my castle in the air, but whether I can unlock the door remains to be seen.” —Louisa May Alcott
Eliana,GrandpaHorace,andCameron strolled along the beach in order to give Grandma Winnie and Julia some space for her final dress fitting.
Logan and his best friend, Kai, were down the beach observing the flamingos, which seemed to have less aggressive energy today. Much to Logan’s disappointment and Eliana’s relief.
“I haven’t seen you much this summer,” Eliana said to Grandpa. She linked her arm with his and gave him a side hug.
“I know.” He patted her hand. “I’ve been out with Smitty and trying to stay out of everyone’s way while you all plan this wedding.”
Cameron found a spot in the sand and dropped his towel down decisively. Cameron wasn’t much for wanting to walk along the beach—he’d much rather sit and watch the waves or wade into the ocean.
