doubt God had anything to do with us bumping into each other. But I am glad we cleared the air.”
“We’ll see each other again, won’t we?” he asked.
“Something tells me that would be a mistake.”
“Why? We had something wonderful!” he said. “I thought about you for years! Our passion! Our love was like poetry.”
She might’ve laughed except he was so damned beautiful. And there had been a time her love for him was so overwhelming, she could barely breathe.
“The campus rumor is that you’ve had many passionate loves.”
“Not true. After my divorce, I dated a few women but none were serious. And the campus is a fungus of gossip. It grows like weeds, and only a tenth of it is actually true.”
After two hours of talking, Adele said she had to get home. The place was filling up with college kids and others. Hadley wanted to know when they could meet again.
“I’d like to think about all the things we talked about. I’m not sure we’re a good idea.” He would never know how hard it had been for her to say that.
“Give me your number,” he said. “I’ll call you.”
“No,” she said. “Just give me yours. If I think it’s a good idea, I’ll call you. But really, as much as I once loved you, our history is not great.”
So he had relented and given her his number. On the sidewalk outside Mac’s, he put his hands on her cheeks and boldly kissed her mouth. Memories of hot, steamy kisses filled her and she nearly swooned.
But she pulled away and went to her car. She thought about Ross and her bad husband and passel of kids. She thought of Felicity and her lost husband and child. She thought about the many clients who came into the office, their options few and their hope dwindling.
Then she thought about falling for this handsome, poetic guy and having the whole scenario repeat itself, and she took a deep breath. No way.
But she cried all the way back to Half Moon Bay. Because back then, before it all fell apart, she had been so in love.
* * *
Livvie and Jared quickly became an item at the Half Moon Bay beach, spending most evenings holding hands and having deep talks. Jared’s parents had divorced a few years ago, and he empathized with Livvie’s feelings. Amber made friends as well, but there wasn’t one special boy. Rather, everyone liked her and she became popular at both Half Moon Bay and maintained her popularity at her high school in San Jose. Because of that, she was happy commuting from her aunt Addie’s house. It seemed that after the trauma between their parents early in the year the sisters were finding solace in their family life later in the year. Addie jokingly, or not so jokingly, referred to their house as The Dormitory.
The girls saw their father regularly but briefly. He frequently walked from the kayak shack to the beach where he’d run into either Livvie or Amber. The first time he brought Cat along, Livvie just walked away. Amber followed.
“So rude,” the mistress said, which made Livvie and Amber seethe.
Later, when they ran into Scott and he was alone, he said, “You’re just trying to drive me further away.”
Livvie wasn’t having it. Amber held her tongue, but Livvie said, “Hey, you’re the one who left! What you did was not okay.”
“So now you don’t have any affection for your father? No respect for me and the choices I had to make?”
She straightened her spine and said, “I love you, Daddy. I will always love you. I miss the old days when we spent a lot of time together. I miss the dad who loved and cared for me. And I’m sad that you thought it would be better for you to be with someone else. That’s your choice, I guess. You should have said, ‘No, I’m a married man and I have a promise to my wife and kids.’”
He shook his head sadly. “Maybe someday you’ll understand.”