To the Sea (Follow your Bliss)
Page 23
“Whatcha thinking?” Ian said sleepily.
“I never expected to be sleeping and living on the water.”
“I never expected that I’d love someone as much as I do you,” he replied.
She snuggled close to him.
“Me neither. I love you too,” Kira whispered, letting the word out at last, just before she drifted to sleep.
***
The next few days they spent unpacking and taking care of Jewel, but when the dust settled, they loaded up their boards and headed to the beach.
Ian directed Kira to the first break he’d ever surfed, but said the waves weren’t good that day. While they drove to the next spot, he told her about his early days surfing there with his grandfather and his dad.
“It’s in your blood then?” she asked.
“We’re water people. My father’s from here, the Pacific coast, my mother from the Atlantic.”
“When I went to college for journalism and English Lit inland, those were the toughest years of my life. My roommate and friends thought I was nuts for surfing, but it’s as if my body requires the salt water. I can’t explain it really, but the ocean is in my blood. That much I’m sure of.”
They continued to another spot Ian said might be promising, but the water lapped the sand, with no sizable waves. Then a third, though they couldn’t quite see the spot from the parking area.
“Stay here; I’ll go check it out.”
Kira breathed in the salt air. After nearly five minutes, he returned, wearing a huge, dimpled smile on his face.
“Perfect. Let’s go.” They got the boards down from the roof, put their wetsuits on, and followed a well-trodden path down toward the sand. The waves looked great. Kira was eager to get in after the last few chilled forays back east and the long waterless journey across the country.
When the soft sand turned to wet hard pack from the tide, Kira noticed a ring of salt spray roses, poppies, daisies, and seashells a few paces away. Ian stopped by her side. In the center, someone had written something in the sand. Kira read it.
Please say yes.
Ian turned to her.
“I love you. I know getting married isn’t on your mind. But I want to be together with you.” He pulled out a silver necklace strung with a piece of polished blue sea glass and a shell pendant. “This is a symbol of our union. Our relationship was born out of the treasures of the ocean. My pledge to you is always to be honest and true. I love you Summer Kira Speranza. Will you wear this necklace and promise me the same?” Kira threw her arms around him, and they kissed, lips melting together on that private stretch of beach.
“I love you too. Always.”
Ian clasped the necklace as she held her hair up. With the sun high overhead and her soul aglow, Kira clutched her surfboard under her arm. She linked her other arm with Ian’s, and they stepped into the ocean.
Acknowledgements
Thank you for reading To the Sea. I also offer my utmost gratitude to Mr. Fantastic, Little One & Little Two, Dad, my wonderful family, and my K-Girls: you help me get to my desk, never mind make it through the day. Tamar, hugs for the early read and title.
Additional thanks to my local librarians for fulfilling my exhaustive requests and going above and beyond, to all the wordsmiths who’ve helped me along the way; you’ve bolstered my confidence and kept me humble, and you’ve helped me refine and polish my work.
To God and the many teachers, including patience, I’ve been fortunate enough to have, I’m forever thankful.
About the Author
Throughout her teens, Deirdre Riordan Hall acquired a wanderer's mindset, traveling the US and throughout Europe as far east as Turkey. Now she satisfies her traveler's heart and longing for faraway places, their unique smells and sights, customs, and languages through story and connecting with worlds—imagined or real—on the page and with readers. She lives with her family in New England, spending as much time at the beach as possible, pretending to be a mermaid.
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