Beach House Reunion (Beach House #5)(24)

“That’s a good start,” Lovie said a bit winded, and sat back on her heels. “Now let’s see you try.”

“Me?” Linnea asked, incredulous. She hadn’t imagined she’d get to dig.

“Of course. You’re on the team, aren’t you? The trick is to turn your wrist slightly when you scoop. Think of the mama turtle. She uses her back flippers. The left dips to scoop up about a cup of sand, then the right, over and over to about twenty inches deep. So we have a ways to go. Go on, then,” she said encouragingly.

The shell was a beauty and it fit Linnea’s palm perfectly. Linnea began to dig, scooping one shell-full after another until she was almost shoulder deep in the sand. By the time she’d finished, Aunt Cara and Emmi had arrived carrying the red bucket full of eggs.

“Looks good!” Cara exclaimed. “We’ve got one hundred twelve eggs.”

“Cara,” said Lovie, “you might want to round out the bottom of the nest to make room for the eggs. Linnea did a good job.”

“Here’s the shell,” Linnea said, offering it to Cara.

“Oh, no, that’s your shell,” Lovie told her. “I found that one especially for you.”

“We all have our own,” Cara said, and lifted hers for Linnea to see. “But that’s a good one you’ve got.”

While Cara bent over the nest to finish the digging, Linnea went to sit beside her grandmother. Her mother had explained to her that Lovie wasn’t well and she needed to rest. That this was Lovie’s final summer. Knowing that made each day with her special.

“Grandmama Lovie, why doesn’t the mother turtle come back to take care of her eggs till they hatch? Like a bird does?”

Lovie sighed and looked out over the sea. This morning the ocean was serene, rolling in and out in its predictable manner.

“Because a turtle is not a bird!” Lovie answered simply. “For a turtle, it is normal to lay several hundred eggs over the summer. She knows not all of the hatchlings will survive, but the few that do will keep the species alive. A bird has two or three chicks. A dolphin only one calf. Each animal has its own unique instinct for survival. Turtles are more than one hundred and eighty million years old, so that’s a long time to develop very strong instincts. The mother turtle knows that when her eggs hatch, her hatchlings will hear the loud voice of their instincts telling them to run to the sea as fast as they can. And when they reach the water they swim, swim, swim without stopping until they reach the Gulf Stream where there are big floats of seaweed called Sargassum. The hatchlings hide in there from other fish predators until they’re big enough to venture out into the ocean. Instinct tells them what to eat, where to go, who to run from.”

“What do my instincts tell me?”

“Well, do you ever hear a voice in your head that tells you to stop doing something? Or a funny feeling that something’s off and you should be careful?”

“You mean like the ‘uh-oh’ feeling?”

“Yes, exactly. Intuition guides us and the wise person listens.”

“So the turtle listens to her instinct to go back to the sea.”

“That’s her home. Her shell is very heavy and she has to drag it across the beach to lay her eggs. But once she’s back in the water, she’s free of gravity and can swim fast and quite gracefully.”

“Would she die if she stayed on the beach?”

“She would. So would her hatchlings. This is why we try to help their chances to get to the sea as fast as possible.”

Linnea was silent for a while. She finally worked up the courage to ask the question that had been niggling in her heart for weeks.

“Grandmama Lovie, are you going to die?”

Lovie turned her head to look into Linnea’s eyes. Her gaze was thoughtful. Loving.

“Yes, dear girl. I am. We all will die someday, of course. But my time is coming soon.”

Linnea felt her heart break at hearing from her grandmother’s lips what had seemed impossible to believe when her mother had told her.

“Oh, Linnea, don’t cry!” Lovie said and bent to wrap her arms around Linnea and draw her close to her breast.

“But I don’t want you to die.”

Lovie rocked her and kissed the top of her head. “Don’t be sad. A part of me will always be with you. You have my genes. My goodness, you look just like I did at your age.”

Linnea sniffed. “Really?”

“It’s quite remarkable.”

“And I love turtles like you do.”

Lovie laughed lightly and rocked her again. Linnea caught the scent of Lovie’s perfume and felt the bones of her chest against her cheek. Even though she was frail, Linnea felt her grandmother was still strong.

“Yes, you do,” Lovie replied with affection. “You know,” she added, “my going away is like the mother turtle going into the sea.”

Linnea looked at her doubtfully. “How?”

“You could say I’ve spent a long time on the beach. I’ve had my babies, and I’ve been blessed to see my grandbabies. Oh, Linnea, it’s been a good life. And now it’s time for me to crawl back to the sea. I’ll huff and puff a bit,” she added with a slight cough that Linnea knew was from the cancer. “But when I get to the sea, I’ll welcome it. I’ll take a breath, and slip under a wave, and I’ll be home again.”