do?”
Julie laughed. “You mean after she found out and was so mad she took a one-hundred-eighty degree turn and spun out, taking out a stop sign and almost ending up in a neighbor’s pool?”
“What?” Bri shot up. “You could’ve been killed.”
“We were young and thought we were indestructible. Anyway, she snuck out of her house that night, took shoe polish, and wrote all over the school windows that Tom Wallace had herpes.”
Bri covered her mouth. “Oh my goodness, that’s so mean.” She dropped her hands to her lap, as if remembering what he’d done, and said, “Good for her.”
“That’s Wind—protective, giving, loving, and exhausting all in one conversation.” Julie realized something in that moment. “You know, I jumped to the conclusion that Wind wanted to invite those two men out tonight to the beach because she wanted the attention, but that’s not the case.”
“It’s not?” Bri asked.
“No. She did it because she thought that’s what I needed. The woman doesn’t stop to ask. She makes assumptions and pulls the trigger on the craziest schemes before you know what’s going on. That’s what I always loved about her. I never knew what would happen next. She kept life interesting.”
“Until she was gone and you were left behind.” Bri scratched Houdini’s head.
“Is that what you think?” Julie realized she’d been struggling with that same assumption for a long time, but it wasn’t true. “You know, that night that I was dumped for homecoming and Wind made that crazy gesture, do you know who really came to my rescue?”
“Who?”
“Your dad.” Julie felt the warmth bubble up inside her at the memory. “He was a year older and had plenty of girls to choose from, but when he heard what his so-called friend had done, he came to my house and asked if he could have the honor of taking me to the dance.”
“He did that?” Bri beamed with pride. “I knew you two went to the dance and were inseparable from that night forward, but you never told me that story.”
“Yes, that’s what I loved about your father. He was a good and honest man. We had a great life together.” Julie stroked her daughter’s hair.
“I miss him, too,” Bri offered.
Before they fell into the pit of mourning, Julie decided to focus on the positive. “You know, I may have thought about art over the years, but if I had the choice to make again, I wouldn’t change my decision. I’m happy here. This is my home. My friends didn’t feel the same way, and they had a right to live their lives the way they wanted to, so I let them go.”
“Sounds like Wendy isn’t the only friend who put others before herself.” Bri crawled to the end of the bed, stood up, and held out her hand. “I think you need to go tonight, Mom. If not to meet a new guy, then to spend time with your old friend. She sounds great. A little much, but a good friend to have.”
“I think you’re right.” She set Houdini in his favorite little spot between two pillows, stood, and straightened her button-down shirt.
Bri opened the door, but before she could leave the room, Wind bolted in with a gasp. “No, no, no.”
“What?” Julie asked, not sure she really wanted to know the answer.
“You’re not wearing that grandma-frock. You’re too pretty and far too young to be caught dead in that.” Wind opened her closet and rummaged through until she pulled out a sundress. “Here. Wear this.”
“On the beach? With the wind?” Julie shook her head. “I’m not in the mood to be arrested for indecent exposure when that skirt flies up, and how am I going to sit on the sand? I’ll be extracting grains from unmentionable places for days.”
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