The Newcomer (Thunder Point #2)(88)

“So people don’t get back together?”

“Sure they do, but if they operate under the old rules they’ll revisit the old problems. You can’t keep doing the same thing over and over and expect different results.”

“Yeah, my mom said that, too.” She turned to look at him. “You must have had to make a lot of changes.”

He laughed without humor. “Yeah. I hate when that happens.” The young man on the board was coming in. Eric watched as he dragged the board out of the water. “We only lived here a couple of years when I was a kid. I never learned to do that.”

“Popular sport around here,” Ashley said. “The bay is a great place for it—it’s almost always calm. Sometimes when the tide is out you can even get on the ocean. Want me to teach you sometime? Cooper, the guy who runs the bait shop now, he doesn’t have bait anymore but he has some paddleboards and kayaks instead. He rents ’em. And my mom and I—we have boards.”

Eric smiled. “How about now?”

“You’re not exactly dressed for it,” she said. “You could get wet, unless you’re like a natural. And I bet you’re not.”

He laughed loudly at that. “I can almost guarantee I’m not. But if I get wet, I’ll dry. Let’s go get a couple of boards.”

“You’re sure?”

“Why not? I’ve been trying to think of something we could do. I mean, you probably don’t like popping dents out of cars or sanding them down and painting them. And you know—I always used to envy the kids who had their boards or skiffs out on the bay.”

She grinned at him and his heart melted. “You’re kind of goofy.”

“One of the things I changed. I exchanged idiot for goofy.” He stood up. “Come on, we’ll give it ten minutes. And if you’re not completely sick of me, maybe I’ll come back at a prearranged time and wear a pair of shorts.”

She stood. “All right, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

* * *

Gina’s shift should have been over before three, but she hung around the diner waiting for Ashley and Eric to come in for a Coke. An hour had passed. She hoped they’d gotten caught up in talking. She beat down the fear that something had gone terribly wrong. She knew Ashley wanted to meet him, believed that Eric was a safe man, but still...

Finally, unable to bear the suspense, she said goodbye to Stu and the teenage waitress on duty and walked down to the beach. What she would give for Ray Anne’s binoculars! They didn’t seem to be on the beach and a glance at Cooper’s deck showed that place didn’t seem occupied. Where could they have gone?

Then she heard a distant laugh that was clearly Ashley’s. She looked out on the bay and there they were. Eric had removed his shirt and shoes, his pants were rolled up to his knees and he was trying to paddle the board, very clumsily, very slowly. And—he was soaking wet. His burnished red hair had curled up just like Ashley’s did, water was dripping off him. His balance wobbled and, with a giant splash, in he fell into the sound of Ashley’s wild laughter.

Gina wanted to sit on the beach and watch them, but she turned and left. This was something her daughter had never had in her life—a man in the family. No father, no grandfather, no steady guy. Mac had always been there for the girls, just as Gina had been, but this was different. And what were the chances that that irresponsible jerk could turn into someone decent? She didn’t have any illusions that this could turn into a powerful and intense father-daughter relationship, but even if Ashley could have the knowledge that she didn’t come from a total loser, Gina would be so grateful.

She looked upward and said, “Oh, thank you, God. Thank you. And please let it be real.”

* * *

It had been about two months, but Ashley had finally gotten to the point she could resist reading about or listening to stories of her ex-boyfriend’s grand achievements in baseball. About the same time Thunder Point High School was celebrating graduation, Oregon State was making it to the playoff championships. She was one of the few not planning to follow the playoffs or trying to attend home games.

Ashley was, however, concentrating on work. She wanted to earn money—her future depended on it. There were very few Thunder Point kids who didn’t have to work to pay for their own activities or cars or car insurance, not to mention saving for college. In fact, most of Ashley’s friends used their part-time job or babysitting money to buy their clothes or cheerleading uniforms or prom formals.

Ashley worked afternoons at the diner, relieving her mother, and some mornings she worked with her grandmother at the deli. All her friends were working—Landon was helping at Cooper’s almost every day and Eve had gotten herself a part-time job at Pizza Hut. They wouldn’t be spending the long days of summer on the beach this year, but rather catching moments here and there to hang out. And even finding time to spend with her mom and Gram wasn’t easy. Sometimes they met at the diner if Ashley went in a little early for her shift and Carrie took a break from the deli before heading home.

She started at the diner on Memorial Day weekend, the end of May, and she’d only been there a week, the third generation of James women to work there, and she loved it. Gina trained her herself and just based on that and what she already knew from her mother, she was excellent at the job. In fact, although her previous plans had included going to State, living there in a dorm or apartment, she was reconsidering. It might be a better idea to stay in Thunder Point for her first year of college, borrowing the car to drive to Coquille to the community college and keeping at least one of her jobs. It would not only give her a chance to get used to the whole college experience, but it was also far cheaper and she could sock away more money.