“But it’s a Monday, Mom. Lots of places aren’t open on Mondays—even in the city.”
“Yes, I suppose that’s true.”
“That’s open.” He pointed to a grocery store on Beach Avenue, also new to her. “You said to remind you to get some groceries.”
She turned into the parking lot. “Yes, we need eggs and milk and a few perishable things. Let’s be quick though. I’d like to make it to the cottage and get everything unloaded before dark.”
“Listen!” Jackson exclaimed as they walked across the parking lot.
“What?” She looked all around.
“I can hear it!”
“What?” She frowned.
“The ocean!”
She stopped walking long enough to listen, and sure enough the low rumble of the surf could be heard. “You’re right,” she whispered. “That’s the ocean. Sounds a little rough out there too. Guess that’s the edge of the storm we just drove through.”
“Wow—that is so cool.” He happy-danced up to the store.
They went inside, hurrying through a surprisingly well-stocked modern grocery store. Nothing like the stores she remembered from her last time here—and that had been in summer. They quickly gathered what they needed for tonight and tomorrow, but as they headed for the checkout, Wendy couldn’t help but notice the colorful displays set up for Thanksgiving, showing off dressing mixes, canned pumpkin, cranberry sauce—as if the town hadn’t evacuated for the off-season. She wondered what she and Jackson would be doing by Thursday—if the cabin was uninhabitable, they might even be on their way back home.
“New to town?” the young cashier asked pleasantly.
“Sort of.” Wendy ran her plastic card through the machine, trying not to obsess over how she’d covered all the expenses of this trip with credit so far. But once the cottage was sold, she would easily pay it all off.
“Mom used to come here as a girl,” Jackson proudly told the cashier.
“My grandparents had a beach cottage, just down the road a ways.” She signed her name.
“But they died,” Jackson declared. “And now it’sourbeach house and we’re going to live there.”
“Well then, welcome to Seaside—I’ll look forward to seeing you guys in here again.” The young woman smiled brightly.
“Yeah.” Jackson grinned as he picked up the bag. “We’ll probably be back to get more groceries—a lot. But we gotta hurry to our house before dark.”
Wendy smiled stiffly and thanked the cashier. Somehow she needed to get Jackson to understand their situation better. Maybe later tonight, after they got settled in.
“Does everything look familiar?” Jackson asked as she turned the car back onto Beach Avenue.
“Parts of it are. But that grocery store is new.” Then she pointed to a large three-story structure. “Thatis definitely new.”
“SEASIDEHOTEL,” Jackson read from the sign. “Looks like a nice place.”
“I guess.” Hopefully they wouldn’t have to return to spend the night here. She knew the beach cottage might be uninhabitable—and perhaps it would be a blessing in disguise since that would force her to just sell the land and head back to Ohio. Relieved to see a VACANCYsign, she continued down the beach road. There were more houses than the last time she’d been here. Much bigger than the old cottages, probably more expensive too. But maybe that was good—perhaps real estate was on the rise.
“Are you excited, Mom?”
“Excited?”
“You know, about being back here? It must be pretty cool after such a long time.”
“Yeah...” She sighed. “Pretty cool.” She remembered the feeling when Poppa would drive them down this same road for the first time in summer. It was usually mid-June, shortly after school ended. “When we used to come here, back when I was a girl, we’d usually get here late in the day. We’d all unload the car, and eventually we’d have a late dinner out on the deck, overlooking the ocean. Poppa loved to watch the sunset. Our first day here always felt magical to me.”
“It feels magical to me too,” Jackson said quietly.
“Gammi had a neighbor friend, Mrs. Campbell, who always knew when to expect us. She’d go over and open up the house for us that morning. She’d air it all out and put out fresh linens—even stock a few things in the fridge. And sometimes, if it was cool, she’d build us a welcoming fire in the fireplace.”
