Life Unexpected
Page 22
Corey paused and let the silence stretch out for a moment. “Yeah, I know what you mean. I often wonder how I ended up a widowed, single mother. I certainly never planned for my life to turn out this way.”
“There wasn’t much you could do about your husband getting cancer.”
“Perhaps not, but I sure could have avoided becoming a single mother.”
The stain of embarrassment colored Tripp’s cheeks, and after a long pause, he said, “What do you want, Corey?”
“I’ve been trying to figure that out myself. I’ve spent most of my life not really thinking about what I want, or what makes me happy. I went to law school because of my dad. I moved to Atlanta because of Luke. I didn’t even realize how unhappy I was in Atlanta until I moved from there. I think choosing to have Stella was the first decision that was one hundred percent mine.”
“Well, it was a good one.” Tripp looked over at their daughter, who lay sucking her thumb contentedly.
“I agree. Look, this is all I know for certain. I don’t miss Atlanta. I don’t miss my old job. I do miss Luke sometimes, but not nearly as much as I used to. I want to be the best mother to Stella that I can possibly be. I want to be close enough to Diane and Jack to see them often. I want to feel passionate about my work. And I want to live at the beach. That’s the full extent of all I know.” Corey smiled at him crookedly. “And tomorrow, I may not know half that much.”
“I was hoping I rated at least an honorable mention.”
Corey smiled at him carefully without saying anything.
“But what about me and Stella?” Tripp asked. “What are your plans as far as my relationship with Stella goes? I’ve missed her so much these past few months. It’s hard to believe that I could miss her so badly after knowing her for such a short time. And looking at her now, it’s hard to believe how much she’s grown. Now that I’m free, I want to spend as much time as I can with her to make up for the time that I’ve missed.”
Corey took a deep breath. “That’s not for me to decide. It’s really your decision. You are her father. You do have legal rights, and I can certainly understand if you want to formalize those legal rights and make your relationship with Stella public. However, I hope you know that you can see Stella as much as you want, and that I would never keep her away from you. Stella loves you, and that isn’t going to change. I guess I’d prefer that we just kind of go on like we are for now. I just want to let life happen for a while without any sort of plan.”
“That doesn’t sound like the Corey I know.”
“I know, but I’ve changed. My goal now is to focus more on living. Besides, none of the plans I ever made prepared me for where I am today.”
“I guess I’m okay with things remaining like they are for right now as far as Stella is concerned.”
Corey ran the sand through her fingers. “Okay, we’ll take it one day at a time and see how it goes.”
Tripp looked up at the sun sinking lower on the horizon. “I’m going to do a little fishing. I’m not going out far, just trolling along the shoreline. You and Stella want to come?”
“It gets so choppy in the afternoon. I’d kind of like Stella’s first trip on a boat to be smooth. Invite us for a morning trip sometime.”
“You got it. Can I see Stella tomorrow?”
“Of course. Hey, Tripp, why don’t we apply my new philosophy to our relationship as well? Let’s forget about everything in our past. Let’s start fresh, get to know each other as adults, and just take it day by day. We don’t have to rush into anything.”
Tripp nodded and said, “So . . . as an adult asking another adult, would you and our lovely daughter like to accompany me to dinner tomorrow night at the Sunset Grill?”
Corey started to refuse because Diane was coming down to the beach tomorrow. But then she changed her mind. Why not? They might as well start their new relationship sooner rather than later. “Sure, sounds great. But if we’re taking Stella, we need to go early.”
“Five thirty?”
“It’s a date.”
Tripp stood up and gave a slight wave. “See you tomorrow.”
Corey watched Tripp go up the path, then turned back to her sleeping child and watched the brilliant afternoon sun sink lower and lower toward the horizon. Movement down the beach caught her eye. As the people came closer, she realized they were the same elderly couple she’d seen on the beach several years ago. She remembered how she’d cried, watching them, longing for the years of happiness that they’d spent with each other. And they still appeared to be just as much in love as before. They were holding hands and talking animatedly to each other as they walked. Corey felt a sudden urge to talk to them. Love like theirs deserved to be acknowledged.
She looked down at Stella, who was still sound asleep. She waited until the couple was directly in front of her, and then she jumped up and walked toward them, waving. The couple stopped and waited for Corey’s approach.
“I’ve seen y’all walking on the beach before, and I just had to tell you how special it is to see two people in love like you are.”
The couple looked at each other, confused as to her meaning.
“I mean, you’re so obviously still in love after all these years. Do you know how lucky you are to have spent your life with your soul mate?”
The couple looked at each other, and something was communicated wordlessly. The man looked back at Corey and said, “We hate to disillusion you, but we didn’t find each other until about five years ago. Both of us had previous marriages that didn’t turn out so well. But you are right about one thing—we couldn’t be happier now. And we are very lucky to get to spend what’s left of our lives with our soul mates.”
Corey felt her face flush. “I just thought . . . well, I’m sorry to have bothered y’all. Anyway, you do inspire me with your happiness now.”
“Thanks. We’re glad,” said the woman, with an adoring look at the man, which held more meaning than anything she could have said. “Well, we better turn around; we walked farther than we had intended, without realizing it.”
Corey nodded her head. “That’s easy to do, I know. Hope to see you around again.”
The man nodded in agreement. They turned and started ambling back the way they’d come.
Corey went back to her beach towel and sat down. Once her embarrassment started to fade, she couldn’t help but start laughing at the awkward situation she’d just created. Stella must have heard Corey laughing because she opened her eyes and looked at her questioningly.
“Hello, dear. No, Mommy’s not going crazy. It’s just that I’ve realized something. A long time ago, I saw those people on the beach, and I cried and felt sad because I wanted to be living their lives—well, at least the fairy tale of their lives that I’d created in my mind. Not that those people aren’t happy now, but their lives haven’t been the ‘happily ever after’ I imagined. You know what, Stella? I think we’d all be better off if we focused more on living in the now.”
Stella rolled over and sat up, rubbing her eyes and making little grunting waking-up noises. Corey reached over and brushed some of the sweaty hair out of her eyes. A feeling of love swelled in her heart as she looked at Stella’s sleep-swollen face. “Look, Stella.” Corey pointed to where the sun’s setting had suddenly turned the sky into a blaze of orange. “Isn’t it amazing?”
Stella didn’t seem impressed. “Juice!” she demanded.
“Okay, Stella, let’s go get you some juice.” Corey threw the toys into the middle of one of the beach towels, picked up her daughter, and grabbed the towel full of toys with the other hand. “And then, how about you and I start to work on a real happily ever after?”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in the small town of Marianna, Florida, J.A. Stone left home for college at Auburn University. After completing her degree, she moved to Atlanta, where she took a job as a technical writer for an insurance trade association. Although she’d always loved dreaming up stories as a child, it wa
sn’t until she turned fifty that Stone began writing Life Unexpected, her debut novel and her first book published by Lake Union. J.A. currently resides in Augusta, Georgia.