“No, you go ahead and join Casey. I get to talk to your sister more than you do. Enjoy the time.” Then, with an animated look on her face—her eyebrows bouncing upward—she said, “I brought the picnic basket! Maybe I can make everyone a picnic lunch and we can eat it on the beach.”
Of course she’d brought a picnic basket. Faith was just glad to have a beach bag, but her mom was prepared for every occasion. She probably had a red and white checked tablecloth to sit on, Faith thought with amusement. Her mother’s preparation was an indication of her excitement, and it was endearing. She loved her mother so much and was torn between staying there with her and going down to see Casey and Isabella. But then, as she thought more about it, she realized that her mother would probably rather she go and see Casey. They had more reason to spend time together.
She tried to focus on the fact that, even though things weren’t perfect between them, Faith had come a long way emotionally. What was left now was the fear that the trust she’d put in her sister had been broken.
After everything that had happened, after the feelings of complete despair, after working through the reality that Scott was going to be her brother-in-law, and finally coming to terms with the whole thing and moving on, it seemed he wasn’t even going to be part of the family anymore. Certainly, he was Isabella’s father, but with his divorce from Casey imminent, she surely wouldn’t see him anymore. It was funny how life played out sometimes.
SEVEN
“May I bury your feet?” Isabella asked, as Faith got comfortable in her beach chair.
“Of course.” Faith wiggled her toes, her sparkly pedicure shimmering in the bright sunlight. Isabella was on her knees, and the bottom of her pink swimsuit was sandy all the way up to the ruffle around her waist. With her tiny fingers, she dug around Faith’s feet, and she could feel the cool sand from underneath the surface against her skin.
Faith looked out at the rolling ocean. On the far left, a sailboat bobbed along, and Faith thought about yesterday. She’d really enjoyed herself. There was something almost magical about being out on the ocean like that, with nothing but blue as far as she could see, the quiet chatter of the crew as they maneuvered the sail, the wind in her hair. And being with Jake.
“I had fun yesterday,” Casey said, following her thoughts, and Faith wondered if she, too, was thinking about Jake.
Isabella had finished burying Faith’s feet, the sand now up to her ankles. The little girl ran down to the water, squatting on the sand to pick up a shell as the water rushed in around her.
“Me too.”
“Jake was so great with Isabella. She looked so scared when we first arrived, but he knew just what to say,” Casey said. “I don’t know if I could have come up with something like that, and I’m her mother.”
Faith remembered Jake saying how much he liked children and even said he’d enjoyed Isabella. She knew what he probably thought of Isabella, but she also wondered what Jake thought of Casey. Did he think Casey was a single mom? Had she made an impression on him? Faith didn’t like thinking about it because when she did, it made her remember what had gone wrong between them. When she was around Jake, having Casey present made her slightly uncomfortable and she didn’t want to feel like that. She wished they could go back to a time before things had gotten strained between them. She missed the sister who used to lie on her bed with her listening to the radio, the girl who offered her Nancy Drew novels when she was finished with them, the girl who spent all those nights with her outside when the weather was warm like it was now.
Again, she tumbled into her memories. As kids, she and Casey had been inseparable. When she was ten, it was Casey who’d convinced her to hike through the woods to the stream she’d found behind their house just as the sun was slipping below the horizon. Faith would reach out to grab her hand, nervous, as her sister tiptoed across the wet rocks to the other side where a tree had fallen in a storm. Faith was terrified that they’d slip, especially after a good rain when the water was higher, rushing around the rocks, making her a little dizzy as the flow of it zipped past her bare feet. When they got to the other side, Casey would open the jar she’d brought in her backpack, and they’d catch lightning bugs. They were like little stars floating around them in the dark woods. Faith missed those times.
She turned to look at Casey, trying to see past her designer sunglasses. Her face was older, more weathered, but she’d worked hard to keep it youthful, and, if she allowed her vision to blur, Faith could still see that little girl.
“I wonder what Jake’s doing up there with Nan,” Casey said, shielding her eyes with her hand and craning her neck to view the cottage.
“I think Nan’s giving him pointers on the construction of the cottage,” Faith giggled.
“She always has to give her two cents. God love her.”
“She’s great, isn’t she?”
“Yeah. I’m so glad she decided to do this. You know, I worry about her and her health, yet at the same time she’s doing something like this: planning a trip to the beach.” Casey shook her head. “I don’t like to think about what things will be like without her. She’s the glue for us, you know? She keeps us all together.” Casey tilted her head toward the cottage. “We should probably save Jake, though.”
“Nah. After seeing how he handled Isabella yesterday on the boat, I don’t think he’ll need any help.”
Both Casey and Faith looked out at Isabella as she stood at the water’s edge, filling a bright orange bucket with wet sand. From a distance, she looked just like her mother. It made Faith want to run back to the cottage and dig out a photo of Casey at five years old to see the similarities.
“He’s easy to talk to, considering we just met him,” Casey said. She sure was bringing Jake up a lot.
“I know.” He’d been so sweet to Faith, bringing her ginger ale to settle her stomach and taking her to the front of the boat. From what she’d seen of him, though, he was like that all the time, with everyone. He’d helped Isabella over her worries, he listened to Nan’s ramblings about things she didn’t know, he joined them for breakfast. No wonder there’d been a crowd around him at Dune Burger when she’d first arrived.
“It’s odd that he’s single, isn’t it?” Casey said.
“Maybe he isn’t,” Faith said with a shrug. She kicked the sand off her feet.
“I’d date him if I were a single woman,” Casey laughed, looking over at Faith, a deviously happy look on her face.
Faith worried about this statement. What if Casey felt the need to get on with her life? She wouldn’t… “Yeah, I suppose I would too.”
“See if you can get him to offer!”
“What… A date?”
