Page 16 of Bluebell Tides

“No. You don’t want to go there,” Sophie said flatly, thinking of her beloved campus, her beloved professors, the beloved mountains that had only just stopped burning.

Lily’s eyes widened with surprise. “Really?”

“Why not try somewhere closer to home?” Sophie suggested. “I know your mom loves that you’re close.”

“Mom’s so busy with Elliott and the flower shop these days,” Lily said under her breath. It was a good thing, Sophie knew, as Ivy had previously relied on Lily for far too much, disallowing Lily from moving out on her own.

Now, Lily said, “I’m building my own life, regardless of what people expect of me.”

Sophie smiled, loving and hating Lily’s naivety at the same time. It reminded her of a version of herself that had existed months ago, a version that had died that night in the fire.

The following morning at the front desk of the Eco-Lodge, Sophie watched as the journalist Ruth Landers came down the stairs for breakfast. “Good morning,” Sophie said brightly.

“Oh. Hi there.” Ruth seemed to try to smile, then give up on it. Sophie was still struggling to read her.

“How’s the article going?” Sophie asked.

Ruth considered this, rubbing the backs of her hands with her thumbs. “It’s taking longer than I thought it would. But my editor’s been understanding, and it’s been a joy to dig deeper into Bluebell Cove.”

“Have you been here before?”

Ruth hesitated, then said, “A long time ago. But it’s really different from what I remember.”

“How so?” Sophie asked.

Ruth gazed longingly down the hallway, toward the breakfast buffet. It was clear that she had no interest in continuing this conversation. “Um, well. It was winter, so I couldn’t experience all the nature stuff back then. I guess that’s the only real difference.”

“Ah. Yes. That is different,” Sophie said. What a meaningless conversation. She couldn’t help but think that each time she chatted with Ruth, Ruth wanted to get away as soon as she could.

“You’re checking out soon, though, right?” Sophie asked.

“That’s something I want to talk to you about,” Ruth said. “Do you think I could stay another month, maybe?”

Sophie was taken aback. It was one thing to extend a guest's stay early in the season, but as things shifted into June, they were usually booked up. “Let me check.”

Sophie dove into the calendar to see that, yes, Ruth’s room was booked starting mid-May. “There’s another room available down the hall. It’s a little bit smaller, but it’s just as comfortable. Would you like to stay there?”

Ruth agreed, thanking her before she flitted away, leaving Sophie stirring with confusion. She had the sense that Ruth was running away from her life, just as Sophie was.

That night at the dinner table with Celia, Landon, Mallory, and Isaac, Sophie was quiet, eating her pasta and listening to the conversations bubble around her. She still didn’t feel she belonged here, although she truly did adore her stepbrother and stepsister. So soon after Landon and Celia’s wedding, they were still strangers, sort of. But she hoped that time would fix that.

And then, Mallory turned to her and asked, “What about Ethan? Is he coming to visit you this summer?”

Sophie’s lips parted with shock. She hadn’t mentioned Ethan, not once, since she’d gotten back to Bluebell Cove, and she’d hoped that everyone had gotten the hint that she didn’t want to talk about him. Now, her mother, Landon, Isaac, and Mallory looked at her as though they’d been aching to ask this very thing for weeks.

“Oh, I don’t know. He’s so busy with an internship,” she said. “But we’re talking about it. I hope we can make it work.”

Her mother seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

“I really want to meet him,” Mallory said. She was endlessly curious about Sophie’s relationship, if only because she wanted to fall in love for the first time herself.

“He wants to meet you, too,” Sophie said. Her relationship with Ethan had been too new for her to invite him to Celia and Landon’s wedding.

“He’s going to love Maine,” Celia said. “We’ll have to take him on a long hike.”

“It’s so cool that you found someone who appreciates nature as much as you do,” Landon said. “Or almost as much.”

Sophie laughed delicately and stabbed her pasta with her fork. “Mom, did you see that Ruth extended her stay again? She’s going to be here into June.”