HOW LONG DID IT TAKE you to figure him out?” Allison asked as she stood with Micah and Sarah on the deck of their home four miles south of Cannon Beach. “Who Rick or Richard or Abraham was?”
“A lot longer than it took you.” Micah’s smile was melancholy. “That was a tough day when he left. We were on the beach at Oswald West State Park seven miles south of here. I didn’t think I’d ever see him again. But then he showed up a few years later. Then again a year after that. The next time it was a month. The next, three years. He’s not predictable and there’s never any warning.”
“He changed my life.”
“I disagree,” Sarah said.
“Oh?”
“Yes, Rick helped you, pushed you, challenged you, gave you the chance to be standing right here in this moment, but you made the choice to believe all you’ve come to believe.” Sarah gave Allison’s hand a quick squeeze. “You wrote in the journal, you faced the truth, and you were willing to stand up to Derrek in the end. You.”
“I agree,” Micah said softly. “You were the one who stepped into who you truly are. You’re the one who chose to accept it. You’re the one who decided to start living it out.”
The three of them watched the seagulls canter on the wind and took in the briny ocean air. After a time, Sarah wrapped her arm around Allison’s shoulders and said, “Are you sure you want to go on this crazy adventure with Micah and me?”
“Yes. No question.”
“Then we’re going to build some spectacular homes together.” Micah grinned. “Give them away to many, and watch the pages of their lives turn into stories far greater than they could ever imagine.”