“I’ll handle things.” She stood and gave him a hug. “You’ve been a wonderful doctor and a dear friend all these years. To me. To Mom and Daddy. Thank you.”
She got up, grabbed her things, and walked straight out of the office. There was no reason to make another appointment to follow up. Everything from here forward was just a matter of time. She’d make the best of what she had left. What else could she do?
Outside the rain had stopped and a beautiful rainbow soared over the buildings in front of her. From here it looked like one end led straight to her house. She walked slower going home. Not from the news, but more to savor every step, every memory, along the way.
She stopped and took a seat on one of the benches around the flagpole in front of the post office. Someone had come and switched out the flowers since the last time she was here. Soon they’d be trading out all the red, white, and blue for fall-colored mums and pumpkins.
A clump of small shells, mostly bivalves, lay near the outer edge of the planter in the fresh potting soil. She scattered them with her hand, then sat there with her fingers still hovering as she noticed the words carefully scrawled inside one of them.
Say goodbye to the past,
because it’s time to move on.
She picked up the shell and squeezed it in her palm. Her heart raced. It was possible she’d written the message in this shell at some point. She’d penned so many over the years she couldn’t really say for sure, but this message, at this time?
She swallowed hard. The shell was small, but those few words held so much power.
It didn’t matter where the shell had come from. This message was meant for her.
“Well, what do you know? I guess it really is time to call you, Judy.” She looked up the street, then back up at the rainbow, thinking of Jarvis.
—
Amanda couldn’t believe the amount of foam on the beach.
“It snowed!” Jesse leaped in the air. “Can I go see?”
“Take your sister with you.”
They didn’t have to get all the way down to the water to see it. The tide was receding, and mounds of foam covered the sand. Some of it blew across the beach and into the air, almost like snow.
“Wow! It’s like Christmas!” Hailey chased Jesse through the foam.
Amanda set their things down and jogged down to join them. “Is it fun?”
Jesse picked up dissolving handfuls and flung them in the air.
Hailey cupped her hands, blowing the foam like it was a fluffy dandelion.
“What a surprise! I’ve never seen anything like this.” Amanda chased and played with them at the edge of the surf line until they were all out of breath.
“Snow is good anywhere and any day.” Hailey sat in the sand, sweeping her hands through it. “Too bad you can’t make a snowman out of this kind.”
“You could make one out of sand and cover it in the sea foam.”
Hailey’s mouth dropped open. “Yeah. Jesse, come help.”
Jesse came over and flopped down next to Hailey and started to dig. Amanda watched the two of them pile and slap together the sand into something that looked more like a bowling pin than a snowman, but she gave them an A for effort. Getting the foam to stay on their creation was another story. The more they patted it, the quicker it dissolved. Finally, Hailey added shells for eyes. “I think he’s done.”
“This is Frank.” Jesse put his hands on his hips. “Frank Beach Snow.”
“Hi, Frank.” Amanda loved how much happiness they found on this beach each day, and it was free for the taking. “Come on, kids. Let’s get some sunscreen on before we get sunburned.” The rain that had come through this morning had given way to bright sunshine.
They followed her and stood like soldiers, spinning as she sprayed them.
“Ready to roll,” she said, spreading the excess over her own face and arms.
Jesse picked up his toy bag and dumped three small trucks and a tractor out into the sand. “Let’s make a race.”
Hailey took the big lime-green tire truck and carried it off to the side, where she made long sweeping movements. “I’m making the big turns.”
With a truck in one hand and a tractor in the other, Jesse rushed to her side and started creating a mound of dirt.
Amanda sat and closed her eyes, satisfied with their purring motor noises and collaboration nearby. Every time Jesse made the beeping sound imitating the backup alarm on his truck, she shook her head. How did he even know that?
“Back it up, bub.” His voice was gruff and insistent. “Hurry along.”
Amanda loved how creative they were. They could entertain themselves for hours.
She was just beginning to exhale when a scream pulled Amanda out of her zone.
Hailey? Her eyes popped open. Her heart pounded as she scanned the water. She’d only taken her eyes off them for a moment. The ocean was dangerous. Frantic, she jumped to her feet.
Another scream. Another high-pitched pulsing sound.
Jesse stood at the water’s edge with his trucks in his hands, staring back toward the beach. His tummy poked out as he watched, stunned.
Hailey ran, her feet pushing sand with each step, her arms out and fingers splayed as she moved.
Amanda raised her hand over her eyes. The silhouette of a man in an easy jog down the beach made her heart catch in her throat.
“Hailey!” Amanda spun, tripping in the twisting sheet beneath her. “Wait!” She struggled to her feet, trying to get traction in the deep sand. “What happened, Jesse?”
His mouth was in a soft O.
Amanda realized that it was Hailey screaming, and then it registered. She was screaming “Daddy” and running toward a man on the beach.
“Hailey!” The harder Amanda tried
