Working On Happily Ever After

The breeze rippled the green-brown water as the sailboat glided out of the creek. Sunlight flashed across its surface like the laughter of a child—bright and pure. The last knot of control she had so carefully tied around her memories and emotions loosened. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back to catch the light and the heat and let a few—just a few—escape.

The kiss of waves splashing over her toes as she ran down an endless stretch of beach; the shift of wet sand under her feet; the coconut smell of suntan lotion on hot skin. A squeal from behind and she glanced over her shoulder at the grinning boy chasing after her and the couple following hand and hand. She could run ahead, satisfy her curiosity, dive into new experiences because they were there; would always be there for her when she returned. Love, belonging, safety, happiness. The emotions that had defined her life. So important. So quickly lost.

“A sense of homecoming.” She opened her eyes at the soft words and looked at the man sitting beside her. The man who had filled part of the hole in her heart. “I feel it as soon as I’m on or in the water.” He laughed. “Born and bred in the mountains of Kentucky but the sea is where I feel most at home. Strange isn’t it.”

“Not so strange. Life began in the sea and it runs through us with every beat of our heart.” She leaned back against the arm he’d wrapped around her waist and rested her head on his shoulder. He wouldn’t know—couldn’t know how out of character that was. “Thank you.”

“For what?” He glanced down. She reached up and traced his arched brow with a fingertip and he smiled.

“For bringing me home.”

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