leading all the way to the road where they’d propped open the wrought-iron gate.
“I really am. I’ll be shopping for new pieces. Hey, you could come with me if you want.” She didn’t know why she said that, but there it was.
“You don’t need anything in the tool shed for that hammock. I’ll come over and help you maneuver it through the door.”
“Oh, I don’t want to impose.” She placed a hand to her heart. Of course he would offer to help. She should have known that and left the hammock for tomorrow. But it felt so good, so empowering to haul that furniture right out her front door. Once they’d started, she didn’t want to stop.
“It’s no imposition at all. If you’re erasing bad memories here and creating new good ones, well, I’d love to be part of it. Let me slip on some shoes and I’ll be right over.” He started to turn but stopped. “But are you sure you need to throw away the furniture?”
“I’m sure. In the morning I’m calling the island thrift store to pick it up.”
He nodded, slowly.
“I promise I’m not crazy. Jesse, everything at this beach house was chosen by Brice … or his mother. How can I start fresh when everything I look at, use, or sit down on belonged to him, was hand chosen by him, and adored by him?”
Jesse pressed his lips together. “I reckon you can’t. I’ll tell you what. If you really want to get rid of all this stuff, I think I can get it out of your way tonight.” He looked up at the star-studded sky. “We’re going to get a shower later. That can’t do these things any good. I know someone who will come pick them up and get them to the right people.”
“Great!” Angela said.
Jesse held up a finger. “Now, you make sure you’re not going to change your mind?” It sounded like a question.
“I won’t be changing my mind.” Angie shook her head, solid in her resolve. “All that’s left to move is the hammock and Brice’s heavy chair.”
Jesse clapped his hands together. “I guess we’re in business, then. I’ll be right over.”
Angela waited for Jesse to meet them at to the back of the house where wet beach towels and half empty drinks littered the lanai. Throwing out Brice’s furniture was liberating beyond her wildest dreams. She felt alive. Reckless. Primal.
The hammock was easy enough to unfasten and cast aside, but when they went to lift the frame, it shifted causing Jesse to slip on the wet pool tile. The shift startled the girls lifting the other end, they pushed instead of pulled and Jesse tipped backward, arms flailing to regain his footing. In the end, gravity won dragging him into the pool.
He came up sputtering.
“Are you okay?” Angela reached a hand toward him.
He climbed out and first felt his front pockets for his cell phone. “Guess I left it at the house. Good.” He reached to his back pocket and withdrew his wallet. Water ran out of the shiny leather corner.
“And your watch.” Angela stood with her hand out. He handed her his wallet and unbuckled his watch. “Mims, hand me that towel,” Angela ordered. She took the wallet from Jesse. “I’ll dry these things out. Jen, will you see if you can get his watch dry before it’s ruined? There’s a hairdryer in my bathroom.”
“Where are my helpers?” Jesse lifted his end of the hammock frame, the two girls hurried to pick up their end. Mimi and Angela spread the contents of Jesse’s wallet onto the patio table. Ginger had grabbed a roll of paper towels and the three of them blotted at the cards and bits of paper.
“What’s this?” Angela withdrew the small square photograph.
Mimi peered over her shoulder. “Pretty. Who is she?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen her before.” She gently dabbed the photo, careful not to ruin it. Angela flipped it over and examined the unmistakable curlicues that had once been words, but they had long since faded. Holding it in the light, she saw something near the top corner.
“That’s a heart,” Mimi said.
“Aw. Do you think they were in love?” Ginger’s voice turned dreamy.
“Jesse has never mentioned her. I don’t know.” There was a lot she didn’t know about Jesse. Like why a sixty-year-old man was reading law books for entertainment.
The girl in the photo had a perfect smile and long blonde hair cut into a late seventies or maybe early eighties style.
When Jesse and