Ex on the Beach

by Kim Law

  But Andie was pissed. At both of them. She felt lied to and betrayed. And it was time for answers.

  She changed from her pajamas into shorts and a T-shirt, then stepped out of her bedroom and headed down the stairs. Her mother and aunt had gone off to Ginny’s room a while ago, but she doubted either of them was asleep. Whenever she’d passed by Aunt Ginny’s room late in the night this past week, she’d heard them talking or laughing softly behind the closed door.

  On the one hand, she was glad they seemed to be making up for lost time. She liked seeing both of them happy. But on the other hand, why couldn’t they have told her years ago who her father was? Maybe if they had she wouldn’t have wasted so much time wondering why her mother didn’t like her.

  Maybe she would have believed there wasn’t anything wrong with her.

  Stopping outside her aunt’s bedroom door, she paused, pulled in a fortifying breath, and then softly knocked.

  Two seconds later the door swung open and Aunt Ginny stood there in cotton button-up pajamas, her face void of makeup.

  “Andie, hon,” Ginny said. “Is everything okay?”

  Andie glanced past her to see her mother with her feet up on the couch, wearing a similar pair of pajamas. Jealousy caught her off guard at seeing them growing closer. She and Aunt Ginny were the ones who were supposed to have the special relationship. Not these two.

  She shook off the thought as quickly as it had arrived. That wasn’t fair. And she wasn’t that petty. She was simply upset and looking for excuses to be more so.

  “Can I talk to you both?” she asked. Her voice was clipped and hard.

  “Of course,” Aunt Ginny murmured. She stepped back and let Andie in.

  Instead of sitting when her mother lowered her feet from the couch and offered the spot beside her, Andie began to pace. Aunt Ginny stood at the end of the bed, her hands gripped together, and Cassie sat stiffly on the couch. Both of them watched Andie guardedly.

  When she didn’t say anything for several paces back and forth, her mother finally spoke up. “What are you most upset about, Andie? We’ve been waiting for you to tell us.”

  Andie stopped in the middle of the room and looked from one to the other, her irritation rising, then planted her hands on her hips. “I want to know why you never told me about my father.”

  Identical expressions formed on the faces of both women. Eyebrows lifted, eyes widened, and the corners of their mouths turned down. With the two of them having the same red hair and green eyes, it was a striking moment.

  She could suddenly see them being close, as Aunt Ginny had said they’d once been.

  And though angry, she found herself glad for both of them that they were overcoming their pasts. They would have a second chance. Maybe neither of them would be alone the rest of their lives.

  Her mother was the first to speak. “We felt you didn’t need the confusion in your life. James was gone, so it wasn’t as if you could get to know him.”

  “But I deserved to know.” Andie pointed her finger at her mother. “And you lied to me. You always told me my father was unimportant. That he was no one who would ever matter in my life.”

  This had bugged Andie most over the last few days. He wasn’t unimportant. The man had paid for her education. He’d left her a house. He was somebody. And she’d been unable to feel gratitude in her heart all these years because these two women had kept him from her.

  She’d been unable to pay her respects.

  Aunt Ginny lowered herself to sit beside her sister, her red head nodding. “You probably did deserve to know. We were selfish. We were busy being mad at each other and didn’t want to deal with you knowing. But Andie, what good would it have done you? Then you would have been upset over the rift between your mother and me all this time. That would have affected you. We didn’t want that. It was our issue. You didn’t deserve to have it dumped on you.”

  Ginny’s words resonated deeply with Andie, causing her take a step back. Would the knowledge have impacted her? She tried to imagine being at Ginny’s for the summer, knowing her mother hated her. Knowing she was there because her father had cheated on Ginny.

  Then she tried to imagine being at home with her mother, calling Aunt Ginny up to talk when all the while knowing her mother hated her. And why.

  Probably she wouldn’t have called as often.

  Or maybe she would have asked to live with Ginny instead of her mother.

  And though her childhood hadn’t been perfect, Andie couldn’t imagine that scenario either. She loved her mother. She wouldn’t have wanted to live year-round anywhere else.

  Tears suddenly appeared from nowhere to pour down her cheeks, and both women rushed to her side. Four arms closed around her. The three of them stood there for several long minutes, Andie crying, both of them holding her tight.

  It was unfair that she’d never known the truth. It was unfair that James had died before she’d gotten to meet him.

  And it was unfair that she felt like this knowledge was now shifting the world beneath her feet.

  The man had been gone for years. There was nothing that could change that. Only, for the first time in her life, she felt as if she had a parent who’d loved her unconditionally. And she hadn’t even known about him so she could love him back.

  “I feel betrayed,” she finally said. A hiccup came out with her next sob. “And I feel like we should have done better for him.”

  Both women nodded against her as the three of them remained clutched together.

  “We should have handled it better,” Aunt Ginny said. She stroked a hand down over Andie’s hair.

  “We shouldn’t have remained angry with each other for so long,” her mother replied.

  At the words, Ginny lifted her head off Andie’s shoulder and peered at her sister. “I shouldn’t have caused it,” Ginny whispered.

  Two sets of green eyes stared at each other with Andie caught in the middle watching. She’d come in to have it out with them, and in the end, it seemed she’d helped them take another step in their recovery. It was powerful to witness the connection build between them.

  It made her wish she’d had a sister to be close with.

  It made her wish she had a bond with someone who would stick over the years, no matter what they went through.

  It made her think of Mark.

  She closed her eyes and cried some more. There was a mix of grieving for the father she’d never known, happiness for her aunt and mother, and sadness that she and Mark would never be more than a couple of weeks. There might be a bond between them, but she wouldn’t wait around for something that wasn’t going to happen.

  And then she realized what else she’d been upset about this week. Her mother was stealing her aunt from her. And Andie had to step back and let it happen.

  The two sisters deserved the chance to renew their bond.

  More tears fell as Andie accepted that her life was changing. Nothing would ever be the same again.

  She only hoped she could eventually figure out a way to make it okay.

  Headlights flashed over the roadside parking lot, briefly highlighting the crowd of people waiting on the beach, then blinked out. Andie’s blood began to pump. The car door opened and closed, and a tall, broad man emerged. He also appeared to be wearing a suit. It was Mark.

  She let out a breath and forced herself not to hurry to his side.

  She’d missed him. And she was really glad he’d gotten back in time for the sea turtle walk. Looking for nesting turtles was one of her favorite things to do in the summer. She’d wanted to share the experience with him.

  The tour guides had already given their presentation, and the group was just about to head off down the beach. They’d been waiting a few more minutes to see if Mark would arrive in time.

  Barefoot, sans suit jacket, and with his slacks rolled up at the ankles, he reached her side, and she grinned up at him, happier to see him than she wanted to admit. She kissed him lightly on the cheek, an
d then he kissed her on the mouth.

  It wasn’t light.

  And she almost forgot they were in the middle of a crowd.

  It had been a long four days.

  “Good trip?” she asked when they’d finally pulled apart. There was some snickering among those in the crowd around them, but she ignored it. She and Mark had talked briefly on the phone a few times over the past few days, but that didn’t compare to having him there with her. It would take the earth opening beneath her feet to get her focus off him.

  “Fruitful.” He snuck in one more kiss, his warm lips grazing the spot just in front of her ear, and he whispered, “I missed you.”

  She melted a little. “I missed you too.”

  The tour guides got everyone’s attention, and the group took off down the dark beach, the moon hidden by clouds. Andie and Mark hung back to bring up the rear. She put enough distance between them and everyone else so they could talk without being heard, then pulled a pair of night-vision goggles out of her bag and handed them to Mark. The guides had a couple of pairs to share with others in the group, but these were her private set.

  There were also turtle-safe flashlights that had been passed around to at least half the members of the party, which meant the lights had red filters over the bulbs. Red light doesn’t confuse the turtles’ sense of direction the way the white light does.

  Mark held the goggles up to his eyes. “These are amazing,” he whispered. “I feel like I’m spying on everyone.”

  Andie laughed lightly as she walked by his side. She wanted to wrap her arm around his waist so they were touching, but she kept reminding herself that what they had was temporary. There was no purpose in acting like it was more. “You’re supposed to use them to look for turtles,” she told him.

  “Yeah, yeah,” he mumbled. “That too, but is that your mother and aunt I see up at the front? They’re walking so close together they’re practically holding hands.”

  “They seem to be making up for lost years,” Andie informed him. It was still odd, seeing the two women hitting it off so well. But after their talk the evening before, the new closeness between them was beginning to feel more natural. “I ended up spending Sunday with Mom,” she said. “And then she moved into the house.”

  He pulled the glasses from his face and peered down at her. “She moved in?”

  “Aunt Ginny invited her.”

  “Wow,” he said. “Big strides. How did your day with her go?”

  She nodded and slipped an arm through his, unable to help herself. “Really well, actually. She seems legit in saying she wants to have a relationship.” She shrugged. “We’re working through it. The three of us had another good talk last night.”

  “That’s good, babe.” He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him, and she rested her head against his shoulder. He felt so good next to her. “Having your mom in your corner will be nice,” he said.

  Just like Celeste had always been there for him and his brothers, Andie remembered. She’d once been so jealous of what Mark had with his family. He’d even had the fatherly support she’d never known.

  She took the goggles and lifted them to her face. Instead of scanning the dunes, though, looking for a nesting loggerhead, she watched the crowd, as Mark had. It was a relaxed group tonight. The men had played golf most of the day while the women had enjoyed a spa day. They would end tonight with a fire pit, s’mores, and more than likely, too much beer.

  The majority of the wedding guests had arrived, but tonight was a wedding-party-only event — though a tour for other guests would follow this one. Tomorrow would consist of the rehearsal dinner, and then the bachelor and bachelorette parties.

  And then the wedding.

  There was little time left to do anything but wedding activities, but Andie would be finished with her duties for the day at the conclusion of the walk. She only hoped Mark wasn’t interested in s’mores. She was itching to get him alone.

  She was also upset with herself for making the decision not to mention Rob’s lack of love to his soon-to-be bride.

  The thought that she was the kind of a person who worried more about herself and her business than to help someone see the truth caused a weight to settle heavily in her chest, but she consoled herself with knowing that she was merely the service provider. It was not her job to counsel the couple on the intelligence of their decision to marry.

  And maybe she wouldn’t rot in hell for helping send a sweet girl like Penelope into a marriage with a cad like Rob.

  “You okay?”

  She could sense Mark looking down at her in the dark, and she pulled the glasses far enough away so she could see him. She nodded. “Just thinking about Penelope,” she said. “And Rob.”

  Mark grunted. “He do anything else stupid while I was gone?”

  “No.” Though nothing would surprise her at this point.

  She lifted the goggles again and focused on Rob and Penelope. They were walking hand in hand, but from what she could see, they weren’t talking. Rob called out to one of his groomsmen and they talked a bit, but he said nothing to his bride.

  The man was an ass. She should have maimed him years ago when he’d come on to her.

  As she scanned the group, her gaze zeroed in on her mother and aunt, and she noticed something about Aunt Ginny that she hadn’t before. She zoomed in on the woman’s ankle and sucked in a short breath. She was wearing the matching ankle bracelet. The one that supposedly had a star to go with the moon on hers.

  Apparently old wounds could heal.

  She didn’t know if she and her mother would ever completely get there, but knowing that the gap between her mother and aunt was being bridged did good things for her heart.

  “I have a surprise for you,” Mark murmured in her ear.

  She glanced over and gave him a wicked smile. “Does it involve me and you and none of our clothes?”

  Heat suddenly burned in his eyes, and she couldn’t wait to get him alone. They might still have a tough conversation or two ahead of them — she deserved to know about his past after all they’d been through together — but talking was not the priority tonight.

  She just wanted him.

  He pulled her closer and heat from each of his fingers burned into her waist where he kept a tight grip on her. “That’s a given, sunshine.” His voice was low and throaty, and she began to tingle from the inside out. “But I actually had something else I wanted to give you first.”

  He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small Ziploc bag. “I shouldn’t have it,” he said as he held it out. “So I’m giving it back.”

  Curious, Andie exchanged the night-vision goggles for the bag, and she and Mark separated as she worked to see in the dark. There was something small and hard inside the bag. “What is it?” she asked.

  She held it up, trying to make out the contents in the dark night while rubbing her thumb and fingers across the small shape. Then she realized what she was touching. It was the sea turtle charm he’d once given her. She caught her breath. The one Aunt Ginny had not returned with when she’d come back from Boston.

  Andie turned to walk backward in the dark so she could see Mark. “You kept it? I thought it was lost.” Then she whispered, “I thought it was fate telling me I didn’t need the reminder.”

  He gave her an embarrassed shrug. “I didn’t want to let you go. So yes, I kept it.”

  His words hurt. He sure had an interesting way of treating someone whom he didn’t want to let go.

  She faced forward again, thinking about the day he’d given it to her. It had been the beginning of their relationship. She’d taken a look at the small charm and had seen a man who “got” her. He’d asked her out a few times before that but had gracefully accepted her nos and backed off. Only that night he’d brought her something that had touched her heart.

  He’d said her moon charm looked lonely, so he’d wanted to give her a new one to add to it. Then he’d looked at her as if h
e’d made a decision. One that meant he was in her life to stay. She’d known he wouldn’t be hearing “no” that night. And that had been okay with her. She’d been so ready for him.

  The fact that he’d picked the loneliest day in her life to do all this had seemed like a sign.

  She’d probably fallen in love with him that very day.

  Tucking the sadness from all they’d lost back inside, she gave him a tight smile. “Thanks for returning it. I always loved it.”

  The thought struck her that the first time he’d given her the charm, it had marked the beginning of their relationship. This time, it felt like the end. They might have a couple of days left, but that would be it.

  She wouldn’t do anything long-distance, and she especially wouldn’t drag out a relationship that in the end would hurt her. Because whether she lied to herself or not, she knew that deep down she’d never gotten over him. She still loved him.

  Her chest squeezed hard.

  Life was so freaking unfair.

  Mark hadn’t changed… and she still wanted more out of life. Nothing was different. She would enjoy what time they had left. Then she would say good-bye.

  They walked in silence a couple more minutes before Mark lifted the glasses and peered through them once again. She could tell he was people-watching instead of seeking out the elusive turtles.

  “You’re totally not getting the hang of what we’re doing out here, you know?”

  She saw his mouth curl up in a smile, and her heart thumped heavily.

  Oh god, she loved him.

  It already hurt.

  Mark stopped walking and brought his other hand up to hold the goggles steady. Andie noticed his stance was feet shoulder-width apart, chest out, as if ready to defend against a threat. He seemed to have grown in size right before her eyes. And he looked intimidating. Before she could ask what he’d seen, he lowered the lenses and stared at her, his expression blank.

  “What?” she asked, her voice a worried whisper.

  He handed her the goggles and motioned with his chin. His jaw was clenched tight.