19
The next morning, Amanda read another passage from the book Ginny had given her. I should have read it sooner. She picked up the phone and dialed her. “Hey, gal. How are you? Did I catch you on your commute to work?” Amanda asked.
“Yes, lady of leisure, lounging on the beach. Some of us do have to work.”
That was the nice thing about Ginny. No matter how much time passed between their chats, they were always easy. “I’ll be doing it come fall. Of course, my commute is like two miles. I could ride my bike if it weren’t for Hailey needing to get there too.”
“You could get her a bike with a basket and a cute little pink helmet. You two would be adorable. Pink streamers on the handlebars, and playing cards clothespinned to the spokes.”
“Yeah, that went out with our parents’ generation.”
“My dad put them on my bike,” Ginny said. “I thought it was cool.”
“Well, you always were a trendsetter.”
“Thanks. So, what’s new?”
“Settling in. Good routines. We love it here. The kids seem so happy. We spend a lot of time on the beach. It’s heavenly.”
“What’s not to love?” Ginny teased. “Playing on the beach every day? I could suffer through it.”
Amanda had thought to keep it to herself about Paul showing up, but she couldn’t hold it in. “Guess who I ran into on the beach right in front of my house? You’ll never guess. It was so unexpected.”
“Don’t tell me your parents finally came down.”
“No. Not in a million years. Paul.”
“Paul Grant, Paul?”
“Yep. Almost jogged right by us near the water one day. I was shocked.” She didn’t go into the whole we-thought-he-was-Jack part. That just made it sound a little too weird, even in her own head.
“You didn’t bury him in the sand, did you? Is this the hey-best-friend-we-need-to-hide-the-body call? I’ve heard of those.”
“No. I apologized for the way I acted.”
“Thank goodness,” Ginny said. “You needed to apologize. You were horrible to that man. I really felt bad for him.”
“Misplaced anger. I know.”
“I was just thankful it wasn’t me you were shouting at. I’d never seen you like that.”
“I can’t believe he even wanted to talk to me.”
“Especially after you told him he was just as dead to you as Jack was.” Ginny sighed. “He knew you were hurting. I’m more surprised he never tried to contact you.”
“No, he promised, and one thing about Paul—that man doesn’t break promises.”
“Even the promise to keep Jack alive?”
“Jack made that decision. Paul begged him to move over to another division with him, but Jack thought getting deployed for a shorter stint was a better trade-off. If he’d gone, maybe they’d both be here today, or maybe I’d have lost them both. I’ve made peace with that now. I knew it then, but I needed to blame someone.”
“Honey, you’ve been through so much. I’m glad he’s around. Paul’s a great guy, and he was always a good friend to you.”
“It’s been really nice to see him.” The words came out a little more wistful than she’d meant.
“Amanda, you deserve something nice. Something fun and happy. You’re okay, right?”
“Yeah. I’m great. A little cautious maybe, but I’m fine.”
“How’d he look?”
Like Jack. “Amazing. Better even, if that’s possible.”
“That’s just wrong. How can a man be that good looking, and nice? And single?”
“He’s just the same ol’ Paul. Fun, sweet, thoughtful Paul.” And I can’t wait to see him again, even though that feels so wrong.
“Oh, sweetie. This is good. A big step. I’m really proud of you, although I feel slightly threatened about losing my position as best friend. I always thought he was sweet on you. This could be your second chance.”
“Ginny! Stop that. I’m not looking for someone to fill a gap. I have the children to think of. Paul is a friend, but you’ll always be my best friend. No one can take that from you.”
“I’m holding you to that promise.”
“You can. As long as you promise to come stay at the beach with me this year. Even if it’s off-season and only two days.”
“I will do that. I promise. Look, I’ve got to run. I’m in the parking lot. I can call you back when I get home from work if you need me to.”
“No, no, I’m fine. I just wanted to tell you, and to thank you for always being there for me. I also wanted to thank you for the book you sent me.”
“I didn’t send you anything.”
“Yeah, you did. Not recently, but back when Jack died. Honestly, I couldn’t even bring myself to get through the whole inscription then.”
“Girl, that was two years ago. I can’t even tell you what the title of that book was if my life depended on it. I just didn’t know what else to do.”
“Yeah, well I couldn’t bear to read it then, but it has been helpful lately. I’ve been reading a page a day. Thank you. It’s been a long time coming. Might’ve been helpful if I’d read it when you gave it to me.”
“You probably weren’t ready then. Books are funny like that. If it doesn’t seem right, set it aside and it’ll be there when you’re ready to hear the message.”
“Thank you for the sweet words inside. They really mean a lot.”
“I love you, Amanda. I’m so glad it helped, even if it did take two years to kick in.”
Amanda disconnected the call and sat there curled at the end of the couch. She was lucky to have such good people in her life.
Hailey walked into the living room, wearing her polka-dot bathing suit and a pair of star-shaped sunglasses she’d begged for at the pharmacy checkout.
“Hey, glamour girl.”
“Hello, dahling,” Hailey said, dragging out the words in the most Southern of drawls.
“Oh my. Is it like that?” Amanda pretended to blow on drying nails. “I see. What can I do for you, Ms. Hailey Whittier?”
“I’m here to see if we shall go to
