"You and me both," her grandmother said.
* * *
After all was done,Tina decided to walk the beach behind her grandparents' house. The weather had cooled just a bit the last month, and she slipped on a sweater to take her walk.
Honestly, she was going down to explore her favorite cave. It was one of her favorite places to go when she was upset. She didn't know what it was about the rocks and the colors and shapes, but it was soothing to her soul.
Like the beach was, but different.
The beach was public, sort of. Many residential places sprinkled the nearby area. While the beach wasn't officially private, it had become understood to belong to the residents. Tourists occasionally popped up, but primarily Tina would meet other neighbors on the beach than actual strangers.
The walk was quiet. The tide was low and had receded enough that she could get all the way to her cave without having to get too wet.
She stepped inside the archway of rock and headed inside. She pulled out of her pocket her little LED lantern and flipped it on to light the way as she headed inside. She didn't go too deep. She didn't want to upset the bats that lived further into the cave. They were not crazy about her arrival with her light.
So, she headed to her favorite rock and took a seat.
Comfy and cozy, she listened to the water.
Tried not to worry about her grandfather.
"I thought that was you walking down the beach," came a female's voice.
Tina jumped and smiled as soon as she saw Gianna enter the cave. "Oh, hey, girl."
"Your grandmother doesn't walk that fast," she said as she came over to Tina. "Though I wondered, you wearing that sweater and all."
"My hair is like the exact opposite of Grandma's, though," she said, twirling a dark brown streak in her fingers.
"The hood was up. I wasn't sure at first."
"Fine, I'll take that one."
"How bad was it?" Gianna asked.
"He cut his hand on the window this time." Tina shook her head. "I'm really worried. Not just about him, but about him accidentally hurting Grandma because he fell into one of those dark memories again."
"You know, you don't have to take on all this responsibility on your own, Tina. You have aunts and uncles, cousins, and a mother. It istheirdad."
Tina shook her head. "It's not worth the argument, though. Seriously. I try to get the others involved. Why would they? I'm here to take care of it all."
"What if something happened to you? Like what if you broke your leg or something and couldn't take them to their doctor appointments or their errands? Who would step up?"
Tina shrugged because Gianna was right. "That's the problem. I don't want to see anything happen to them, so I always step up. I don't know if anyone else would help them if I were gone."
"You need to be gone, girl. How many opportunities have you passed up on because you feel like you have to stay here and watch out for your grandparents?"
"Three." She'd had her dream job--NASA--come calling. Other astronomy labs across the country had wanted her onboard. She'd never been able to say yes. Not to full-time positions. Remote work, she'd been able to do, but not anything full-time, on-site.
"Gianna, I don't see you running off from this little beach town."
Gianna shrugged. "I travel. Besides, I can do my job anywhere. All writing requires is an internet connection and a PO Box."
Tina snorted. "I'm sure it takes more than that."
"Well, the travel adds to the creative stuff. Besides, three-quarters of what I do is made-up anyway. I mean, I have no idea if aliens have penises with knots on them that swell when they're inside their mate."
They both started to laugh. "How do you come up with this stuff?"
