Bri smiled. “I don’t know, Mom. I think you’ll look nice.”
“Great, now you’re ganging up on me?”
“It’s settled. Wear the dress. Bri, get my makeup bag off the dresser in my room.”
Julie eyed the sundress she’d bought two years ago but had never worn. “Fine.” She took it, knowing they were both right, that hiding in her home the rest of her days wasn’t a way to live. But the idea of meeting a strange man on the beach after all these years churned her stomach up into knots.
“Stop that,” Wind said bluntly.
“Stop what?” Julie slid on the dress, feeling the silky fabric against her skin.
“Overthinking it. We’re going to the beach to roast some hotdogs and watch the stars and surf. To have fun. That’s it.” Wind cleared her throat and took off in another conversation direction. “Your daughter’s cool. Good job on that one.”
Julie chuckled at her sideways compliment and eyed herself in the full-length mirror. If she was honest with herself, she did look pretty in the dress. The way the material was cut made her waist look tiny, and it was long enough to hide her slightly loose skin on her thighs.
Wind shoved Julie into a chair, snagging the makeup bag and a hot iron before Bri could step into the room. They attacked as if commencing brain surgery on a dying patient. Memories flooded in of their high school makeover nights, where the four of them would do facials, nails, and hair for one another. They had been the best times of Julie’s young life. And she’d missed them more than she’d allowed herself to believe. In a week, she’d be facing all three of them, though. Would it be a blessing like before, or a curse to show her how much she’d missed in life remaining in Summer Island while they had all gone off to live full lives?
Despite everything she had said to Bri, she still worried that in the end, she’d face a different truth. That now that Joe was gone and her friends and daughter had lives, she had nothing in this world left. At forty-nine, she’d lived her life, and that was a depressing thought. One she knew she had to face and change, despite how scary it was. Tonight would be the first step in the right direction. A step toward a new chapter.
She only hoped her book had a second happily ever after.
Chapter Five
The surf pounded onto the shore at a steady beat that calmed Trevor’s soul. He enjoyed the sounds of nature in this small corner of the Sunshine State. Waking in the morning to the seagulls’ song and falling asleep to the beat of the surf had agreed with him.
Trevor dug a ditch beyond the reach of the surge, and Dustin dropped driftwood into it. The night sea air was pleasant and invigorating, making Trevor feel alive and free, like he could take on anything, even a broken-down boat. Well, after Dustin paid to have the motor fixed.
“Don’t even think about ditching me to go be alone with your newest crush,” Trevor warned.
“Relax, we’re just a couple of friends having dinner under the stars. You brought the wine, right?”
“Yes. Beer and soda, too.” Trevor shifted the cooler so it would be out of the way.
Once the fire grew to hearty flames, they pulled two old logs onto the beach to sit on and spread out a blanket for the food. He eyed his watch, realizing it was five-thirty-five. He didn’t really care if they ditched them, except that he was hungry and didn’t want to wait any longer to eat. At least, that’s what he told himself. “If they don’t show in a few, we could go hit that little place on Main.”
“Already trying to run away?” Wind, the vivacious woman with painted lips and nails, trudged onto the beach and straight for Dustin. Trevor thought to warn his friend that he was wrong, sharks could walk on land and one was circling him now, but he kept his thoughts to himself.
Julie, the woman who’d been wearing baggy clothes and a hat earlier, sauntered from the road to his side wearing a sundress that was formfitting on top and flowed from her hips around her legs. The shock at her transformation stole his speech.
She stopped a few paces from him and held up a box. “Food?”
“Right. Sorry. I, um, didn’t recognize you.” Trevor stumbled over his words and the log, nearly face planting into the fire.
“Smooth,” Dustin said under his breath.
Trevor shook off his surprise at the frumpy woman turned beach goddess in a matter of hours and focused on the food. He rummaged through, expecting frou-frou afternoon tea–style sandwiches and scones but found hotdogs and chips. Before he even opened up the package of hotdogs, Dustin was off for a walk with Wind, leaving him alone with Julie. No surprise there.
Before he had a chance to settle into awkward silence, she knelt on the blanket and pulled the skewers from the box. “We can get them ready for when they return. Don’t worry, she’s harmless. Promise. She won’t be too much for your friend Dustin. The girl’s all show with no pause button, but she’s harmless.”
“Too much for Dustin? Ha. More like the other way around.” He shoved a hot dog onto the skewer and held it over the fire. “I’m starved. Dustin can make his own when he gets back.”
She followed his lead and slid a hotdog of her own onto a skewer and held it over the fire. “Now that you mention it, I’m famished. Wind is on her own, too.”
“You’re not worried about her walking the beach with a strange man?” Trevor studied the flames licking at the sides of his dinner, plumping it up. His mouth watered at the aroma of hearty meat over
