All Grown Up(16)

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s Bella—Annabella Donovan from next door.”

“Oh.” My hand held my chest. “Hi, Bella. I didn’t see you there.”

Our beachy neighborhood didn’t have fences, just a sand pathway between the elevated houses. Bella stood on the beach at the bottom of the stairs leading up to my deck.

“I didn’t know anyone else was out here,” she said. “I wasn’t even sure if you owned the house anymore. I haven’t been out here in years. But I’m glad you guys are still around. It’s so quiet at night out here.”

“Actually, it’s just me now. Ryan and I divorced, and my son Ryan is staying at college for the summer to do an internship.” I held my breath for a moment before asking the next question. “Are you…out here alone?”

“Yep. I drove my brother crazy enough that he let me come out for a long weekend. I wanted to stay the entire summer, but God forbid he trust me out here alone.”

A confusing mix of relief and disappointment hit me. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about Ford often over the last couple of weeks—he’d made sure of it with a text or two each day. But I hadn’t answered since the night I’d come home from study group.

“So it’s just us girls then,” Bella said.

“I guess so.” I smiled.

“Until my pain-in-the-ass brother shows up.”

My skin prickled, and it wasn’t because of any chill in the air. “Are you…expecting him?”

“He’s not supposed to come out, but he doesn’t trust me. He’s away on a business trip right now, although I get the feeling he might show up when he gets back. He called me five times today and had an alarm system installed at the house.”

“Well, I suppose that’s what big brothers are supposed to do, watch out for their sisters.”

She shrugged. “Hey. Would you want to do a sunrise yoga class on the beach with me? It’s only a few houses down. I’ve been getting up a half hour before and walking to warm up. I have a free pass for a friend if you want to try it tomorrow.”

I felt rather out of sorts from the surprise of Bella being next door, not to mention the prospect of her brother coming out to check on her. So I failed to think of a quick excuse why I couldn’t do sunrise yoga.

“Umm... Sure. I’d love that.”

“Awesome. I’ll meet you back here at six?”

“That sounds good.”

“Okay, then, I’m going to go shower. I have sand in places there shouldn’t be sand. ’Night, Mrs. Davis.”

She smiled and had begun to walk toward her house when I called after her. “Bella?”

She turned back.

“Call me Valentina or Val, please.”

“Okay, Val. See you in the morning.”

***

I walked out onto the deck with my morning coffee and found Bella stretching on the sand behind our houses.

“Am I late?” I called down, checking the time on my phone.

“Nope. I’m early.” She bent to the right and stretched her left arm over her head. “I woke up an hour ago hearing what I thought was the sound of rain hitting my window. But when I came out, it wasn’t raining.”

“Do you want some coffee?”

“I’d actually love some. I ran out and had to make decaf this morning, which is like taking a shower with a raincoat on. What’s the point?”

“I couldn’t agree more.” I nodded my head in the direction of the house. “Come on, let’s get you properly caffeinated.”

Inside, Bella looked at the small picture frames lined up on the kitchen windowsill while I poured her a steaming mug of coffee.

“So you and Mr. Davis are divorced now?”

She focused on an old picture of my ex-husband and our son. I’d eradicated the house of all other traces of Ryan Sr., but it didn’t seem right to get rid of that picture. My son wore his Little League baseball uniform and looked up at his father in admiration. A part of me hoped keeping that photo around might someday remind my son that he was missing out by pushing his father away since our divorce. The things that happened between Ryan and me shouldn’t have to ruin the relationship of father and son—but my son was protective of his mother.

“It’ll be two years this fall that our divorce was finalized.”

She crinkled up her nose. “He wasn’t very friendly, was he?”

I chuckled. Ryan had never been a fan of the Donovans next door. He’d complained that they played their music too loud and let their kids run wild. He’d rolled his eyes when Bella’s parents danced on the back deck together, while I often secretly wished I had that type of marriage.

“No. He wasn’t the most friendly neighbor, was he?”

We shared a smile as I handed Bella cream for her coffee.

“I mean, I haven’t seen him in years. But I remember he always looked like he just finished sucking a lemon.”

That was a perfect description of Ryan the last ten years. Bitter.

After Bella fixed her coffee with cream and enough sugar to induce a diabetic coma, we sat on the chaise lounges on my back deck. The morning dawn was magical out over the beach.

“So what are you studying in college?”