“Oh Lizzy, it’s hard not to love you,” Donna says.
Lizzy looks at me and shrugs her shoulders before turning back to her conversation with Tony and Emmett.
Donna’s eyes are focused on me, like she’s still waiting for me to speak, but I don’t know what to say. I’m not the one for casual chitchat. I speak with purpose.
“I don’t really know what to say that you don’t know.” My eyes stay focused on Everlee and Callum out in the water. They are getting further out, but are still in front of us for the most part, although it looks like they are fighting for that position. Why did he want to go out there today? The wooden edge of the handle bites against my clenched grip.
“You seem to care about her,” Donna says, pulling my focus.
She’s looking at my hands with a death grip around the handle of the chair, so I release my grip, rubbing my hands on my knees and admit, “Yes. I do. She’s an amazing woman.”
“She is. Her ex…” she shakes her head. “I thought he was going to be the one, but…” her words fall off.
“He wasn’t the one for her.”
“You know Rich?”
“I know enough about him not to like him.”
Donna chuckles, but doesn’t say anything for a minute. “Yea, he did a real number on her. Took away the shine she once had, but… I’ve seen it come back in recent months, and I wonder who I have to thank for that.” She tilts her chin up like she’s expecting me to jump at the chance to claim that title. Unfortunately for her, I’m not the braggadocios type.
“You know,” she continues, “I just worry about her. Marriage and kids. She’s not getting any younger.”
“Is that what she wants? Marriage and kids?” I can’t stop myself from asking the questions before my lips are moving and the words are tumbling out of my mouth.
She smiles at me. “She says no, but that seems to be a newer thing. She’s always talked about her wedding day and starting a family. She was over the moon about it when she was with Rich. But lately, she’s said it’s not really in her cards and I can’t figure out why.”
Because of us, my subconscious chimes and the words sting.
“Could you imagine, little Everlee’s running around?”
The image of little toddlers wobbling around runs through my head, causing me to smile.
“Or little Lizzy’s?” Lizzy butts back in. It takes me a moment, but I realize she’s trying to run interference between Donna’s questions and me.
“I would rather have a dozen little Everlees than even one little Lizzy,” I laugh.
“You better tell Ev that!” Lizzy chuckles.
“Uh-oh,” Donna says, standing up.
“What?” I ask, following her gaze and see that Callum and Ev have flipped over.
A wave crashes on top of her, pushing her head under water. Callum is there, fighting the waves, calling out to her, but she can’t hear him. Another wave crashes and her head disappears under the surf while pushing Callum further from the kayak and Everlee.
“Shit!” I shout out, tearing across the beach.
Panic grips my heart like a vise.
Fuck!
The sand is like weights on my legs, slowing me down and preventing me from getting to her.
Her head falls under again, like she’s fighting with an invisible monster.
“Everlee!” I shout out.
Why did they have to go out there today? The wind was picking up when Beckett got back and even said it was getting more rough!
