We aren’t close enough to see the sea lions yet, but the echo of their barks sound out around us. The mist from the ocean disappears the further we step into the dank cove and a fishy scent infiltrates my nostrils.
I glance down at Charlie, and she’s got her hand cupped over her nose. I chuckle. “Just wait, I promise it will be worth it.”
Her eyes are little slits peeking above her palm and they look hopeful.
When she withdraws her palm, a gasp escapes her. The sea lions are on the rocks, showing off with playful claps and barks. Some are swimming, gliding on their sides, or floating on their backs.
Charlie giggles. “They’re so cute.”
“Told ya.” I smile and squeeze her hand.
I help her weave in between a large group so she can get a closer look. I slip my phone out of my front pocket and take a few pictures while she’s watching the sea lions.
She spins around. “Take a picture of me for Mama.”
“Okay, smile big so she knows you’re having a good time.”
I take a few and choose the best one to attach in a text to Rosie.
“Daddy daughter day out, huh?” a guy nearby says.
I glance up. “Uh, yeah.”
“She looks just like you,” the woman standing next to him chimes in.
I rub at the back of my neck, watching Charlie as she claps along with the sea lions. My heart shifts in my chest. “Yeah…but she looks like her mama more. And her mama is a knockout.”
The woman smiles.
I don’t know why I said it, but I don’t take it back. Because it’s true.
Charlie rushes in through the back door of Dottie’s cottage and I follow behind her, carrying the booster seat under one arm and her backpack in the other. I set them both on the floor in the entryway.
“Mama!” Charlie calls, kicking off her sandals and racing down the hall, now with a stuffed sea lion in her grip and the stuffed mermaid is shoved in her backpack. So quickly her loyalty has changed. That mermaid didn’t even see it coming, the poor bastard.
I shuffle down the hallway and when I step into the kitchen, Rosie is sitting at the table with photos and albums scattered all around her. Charlie is pressed to Rosie’s side, and her arm is draped around her. Charlie holds up her stuffed sea lion and talks a mile a minute. My chest expands, her excitement about the day easing my worries if she had a good time or not.
“And now a stuffed sea lion.” Rosie’s green eyes sparkle.
“What?” I shrug and pull a seat out at the table, dropping onto it.
“You’re spoiling her,” she says, but she’s smiling.
“One time won’t hurt the girl.” I could turn this into an argument. Remind her how I haven’t had the chance to spoil her for six years. But she already knows that, so it’s pointless.
“Sounds like you had a good time.”
“It was the best day ever!” Charlie does a little jump. “After the sea lions, we went to a gift shop and got saltwater taffy and I got to watch how they make it. Oh! Mama, did you see the pictures of me with the sea lions?”
“I did. I’m so glad you had fun.”
“Daddy, where’s my backpack? I need to get my mermaid and introduce my new stuffies to their friends.”
“It’s by the back door.” I pat the top of her head before she zooms down the hall, my attention flickering to the photos scattered around the table. Charlie’s footsteps bound up the stairs. But I’m distracted by the familiar faces haunting me.
A young Rosie and a young Beck, dressed up for prom. Rosie in that spectacular sexy green dress and me in my stupid penguin suit and cheesy grin. Little did that idiot know he was about to get laid for the first time. There’s another photo of us on the porch swing out front. Too many moments spent on that damn porch swing. Too many memories.
I pinch the corner of a photo of Dottie with Rosie on one side of her and me on the other after she won first prize at the quilt show in Ojai. We’d driven up for one night and Rosie and I snuck out of our rooms with a hotel comforter and a complimentary bottle of wine the sponsors of the show had gifted Dottie. We’d lain on the grass beneath a dark sky full of shining stars. We whispered promises to one another about our future. Promises I’d forgotten about until this moment.
