The quiet on Friendship Beach welcomed the girls to their five different-colored chairs. Bri spread out the blanket, Wind the daiquiris, Jewels the sunscreen, and Trace the copies of Anne of Green Gables. Sun bathed her in warmth, and she relaxed, welcoming book club and conversation.
Wind poured a drink and handed it to Trace. “Toast to the free girl.”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but I did hear from Matt’s parents, thanking me for coming out with the truth. I told them they should thank Kat for figuring out how I was able to come forward without ending up in more trouble.” Trace took a sip of her sugary beverage, her arms and legs relaxed from their months of tight tension.
Kat plopped down in the red chair. “You’re welcome. This would’ve been easier if you’d come to me in the first place.”
Trace drew a line in the sand with her toes. “I think I didn’t want you all to know what happened. I was embarrassed. I’m an almost fifty-year-old woman, and I was tricked by some man.”
“Please, we’ve all suffered that ailment, hon.” Wind twirled, her beach cover-up ballooning out around her, and handed Jewels a drink. “Except this one who gets it right every time.”
Jewels lifted her glass. “Lucky, I guess. What about you? I hear you were spotted with your old high school sweetheart, Damon Reynolds.”
“Hush, now. That’s only rumor.” Wind poured another daiquiri and handed it to Kat. “But what I know isn’t a rumor? I heard one amazing lawyer speaking with a man about marriage.”
Kat choked and coughed, red liquid dripping from her lips.
Wind laughed, pouring a drink for herself and settling into her own chair. “Told you so.”
Jewels sat forward. “Is this true? Are there wedding bells in your future? When can we meet him? What’s his name?”
“No. Never. Not telling.” Kat dabbed at her lips and scowled at Wind. “I think I’m actually going to hang out here for a while anyway.”
“Is that to avoid your partner turned lover turned marriage proposal?” Wind said loudly enough for the fisherman across the river to hear.
Kat rested her drink on the chair arm and narrowed her gaze at Wind. “Do you have a tap on my phone or something?”
“Nope. A secret sleuth. Houdini told me,” Wind said as if that was enough.
“I think you’ve been injected one too many times with filler,” Kat grumbled.
“It’s true. You got up to get water the other day, and Houdini hopped up and pointed at your laptop. I went to investigate, and what did I see? A passionate, loving email promising to love you forever if you’d have him.” Wind stood and held open her arms for dramatic flair.
“He’s one crazy little ferret,” Bri said with a chuckle.
“Email?” Trace tsked. “I’d think he’d be more romantic than that.”
“We’re lawyers,” Kat said, as if that explained it all. Then she abruptly changed the subject. “I thought we were here to talk about Anne of Green Gables.” She retrieved the book and held it up. “Did you figure out why your dad left this for you?
Trace eyed the book in her lap and then looked to Kat. “I think so. It was Dad’s way of telling me that he understood I was different than most people in town and that he wanted me to follow my dreams and be someone who mattered to the world and myself.”
Jewels reached out, touching her arm. “And he told me once that you were what he’d always dreamed of being but never had the courage to pursue. I think that’s why he didn’t send for you. He never wanted to get in your way.”
“I wish he had, but I know that not sending for me wasn’t because he didn’t love me. He did it because he loved me more than anything in his life. Dustin made me see that when we were going through my father’s things. My father had saved every little trinket that I ever made or gave to him growing up.” Trace held the book to her chest as if to hug her memory of him.
They sat around Friendship Beach, chatting, sipping their drinks, and watching the boats go by. Anne of Green Gables turned out to be the perfect read. Trace submerged herself in the conversations of their youthful indiscretions and how each of them had a little Anne with an E in them. But she was the redheaded orphaned girl without the red hair. The too skinny, short-tempered, high-energy girl who grew up to be an activist her friends were proud of.
The sun dipped below the trees on the other side of Banana River, driving them to leave their book club behind and return to the world before the mosquitoes assaulted them.
At the edge of Trevor’s dock, he and Dustin stood waiting for them.
Trace took Dustin’s hand and followed him to the end. “I thought you wouldn’t come out this far over the water?”
“For you I will.” He reached into his pocket and handed her his phone. “They won.”
“What?”
She glanced down to find a text from one of the attorneys he’d hired to represent Matt’s family.
We received a settlement without going to court. Remming Enterprises has received hefty fines and will no longer be allowed to partner with the Brazilian oil company. Also, their stocks are plummeting from the bad publicity. Rumors are that Robert Remming is filing for bankruptcy.
“It’s over?” Trace looked up at him.
“Yes.” He pulled her into his arms and held her tight, making her believe in the world and herself again. “But it’s just beginning for us.”
She raised onto her toes. “I’d say we’re in the middle.”
“You’d tell me the sky was black if I said it was blue.”
“Can you handle my challenges?”
He leaned over, his lips hovering over hers. “I embrace them and you.” He kissed her, and she knew that today, tomorrow, and for the rest of her days, she’d be happy because she had found real love and friends and purpose at home in Summer Island, where new beginnings and happy endings were guaranteed.
The End