SOMEWHERE by the Sea

Resolve

Faith sat on the edge of her bed staring at the painting of Owen and Rex. It had been two days since her meltdown with Baxter, and because of his kindness, she'd felt something shift within her. Somehow, her sorrow wasn't as debilitating, and she was actually contemplating a future in Somewhere.

She studied Owen's face and whispered, "What a sweet boy you must have been." As for her encounter with a child named Owen upon her arrival, she'd chalked it up to meeting a tourist's child who happened to resemble Owen, have the same name, and a similar dog. And the voice she'd heard twice at Stone House was something subliminal she'd overheard and carried over into her conscious mind, just as Baxter had suggested. The final hurdle though—the strange things Gabby had told her—well, they had to be more coincidences, because the alternative was impossible. She reached for the painting to rewrap it. She would store it under her bed and go on with life. That was her resolve.

After supper Baxter called to her as she headed upstairs to spend the remainder of the evening writing her pirate story.

"Faith!"

She turned and admonished her stomach to stop doing summersaults, but instead, it did back flips at the smile he gave her.

"Come walk with me on the beach."

She bit her bottom lip and then realized he might get the impression that she was trying to find a way to say no. "All right. Give me a minute to change my shoes."

"Great. I'll meet you on the front porch."

Two minutes later she was hurrying back downstairs and outside. Baxter was talking to his mother and when he saw her, his face lit with another smile. She glanced at Gabby to see that she, too, was grinning like a Cheshire cat. Gabby said, "You kids have fun."

As Baxter held Faith's elbow and guided her down the porch steps to the sidewalk, he chuckled. "I think I'll be a perpetual kid to my mother, even when I'm fifty."

Faith replied, "You better get used to it. That's how mothers are." When they reached the crosswalk that would take them to the B & B's private beach, Baxter didn't step onto it. Instead, he bent his knees until he was Faith's height. "How are you doing?"

Faith had the notion he was asking because of her comment about mothers. If she'd said something like that a few days ago, it would have been heartrending, but now it was just a remark. She almost reached to cup his cheek. "I'm doing very well and that's the honest truth."

He reached for her hand. "Good. Now let's play tag with the waves." He playfully pulled her across the street and onto the sand. They paused long enough to remove their flip flops and then jogged to the water, splashing up to their knees. Later they walked to the tree line and Baxter asked if she wanted to follow the trail into the woods, but she declined by saying, "I'm having too much fun on the beach."

He grinned and grabbed her hand. "I am too." They ran back to the shore and he splashed her. She sputtered and called out, "You'll be sorry."

For maybe an hour they cavorted until Faith sat in the sand exhausted and Baxter sat beside her. He smirked, "I'm still waiting to be sorry."

She laughed and met his gaze and was about to make a snarky reply, but his expression held such intensity that she couldn't breathe, and when his gaze dropped to her mouth, she felt like he was touching her. He bent and grazed his lips across her forehead. Speaking softly, he said, "I want to kiss you. May I?"

Tears flooded Faith's eyes.

He moved his mouth to her ear. "I want to kiss your tears away."

Slowly, Faith nodded and closed her eyes. She felt the gentle touch of his lips on hers and marveled at her response. She wanted him to kiss her, hold her, touch her, and she wanted to do the same to him. His mouth moved over hers and she whimpered. He deepened the kiss, but not much. She reached to touch his shoulder and became braver, lifting her arms around his neck. After that the sound of the ocean, laughter of beachgoers, cars in the distance, everything faded into nothingness. She and Baxter were the only people on earth.

**********

Gabby stood at the third floor window in her sitting room and watched her son and Faith lying in the sand kissing. A tiny smile lifted the corners of her mouth. Maybe Baxter and Faith could heal each other's sorrow. Maybe someday she would have grandchildren.

She closed her eyes and remembered another kiss that shouldn't have happened, and although it had been decades earlier, in her mind it was as fresh as the day it transpired—and so was her guilt. At that time she had just married a wonderful man that she adored. Was it possible to love two men at the same time? She opened her eyes and a tear trickled. Her luncheon with Leo had been wonderful and she wondered for a moment what her life would have been like had she met Leo before Marcus. Even now, however, she knew she would have made the same decision. Marcus was a man of stability, and since Gabby had been raised by hippies, she needed constancy. And Leo, a young, handsome surfer, was exactly what she didn't need or want.

But what did she want now? Although vestiges of her hippie years remained, she was an upstanding business woman with an orderly life, and well respected in Somewhere. She'd had a wonderful marriage that produced a son she adored. What more could she ask for?

Her wayward mind refused to be silenced. How about a man who adores you and makes your heart race? A man who loves adventure and still surfs. A man devoted to you. A man...

She shut her thoughts down with just one thought: You're too old for this.