Chasing Abby(48)

I stand up after her and turn around when I get to the door. “I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I close her bedroom door behind me to give her some privacy, then I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial Senia’s number. I called her this morning after Chris left to meet Tristan, and I told her everything. She wanted to come to my house right then and there, but I told her the kids were all gone already. Senia is still the only friend who will drop everything to be there for me when I need her. As she still likes to say, she’s my sister from another mister.
“What happened?”
“What kind of way is that to answer the phone?” I say, descending the last few steps and heading straight for the kitchen.
“Sorry, I’m just a little desperate to find out what’s going on over there. Is Abby there yet?”
“No, she’s still on her way.” I grab a pad of paper and a pen out of a junk drawer in the kitchen and I head for the pantry to make a grocery list. I’ll text it to Chris as soon as I’m off the phone.
“What are you planning to do with her? Just pretend like the last eighteen years never happened?”
“I can’t erase the last eighteen years and, honestly, I don’t want to. They’ve taken such good care of her, Senia. You have to come down for the bonfire next weekend. You have to see how beautiful she is. And she’s so smart and… I just don’t know what I’m going to do when she goes home.”
“Oh, Claire. I’d hate to see you get your heart broken again.”
I jot down a few missing items on my list, then I come out of the pantry and head for the kitchen sink. I gaze out the window at the waves breaking on the sand and I try to imagine what it would be like to lose Abby a second time. But I can’t.
“I know it sounds crazy, but I think you have nothing to worry about. Just promise me you’ll come for the bonfire on Saturday. I need to introduce Abby to her Aunt Senia.”
“Oh, you slut. You made me cry.”
After I end the call with Senia and text the grocery list to Chris, I lay my phone on the kitchen counter and step outside through the front door onto the porch overlooking the ocean. The sun has almost set, so the evening breeze is starting to pick up, lifting the hairs around my face. I admire the waves while I make a mental list of things I need to do to prepare for the bonfire.
“Mom?”
I spin around and Junior is standing in the doorway. “Yes?”
He smiles and steps outside, then he wraps his arms around my shoulders. “Just wanted to give you a hug.”
He’s already an inch taller than me, so I squeeze him around the waist as hard as I can. “You’re getting so tall. Pretty soon you’re going to leave me, too.”
“I won’t leave you, Mom.” I squeeze him hard and he laughs. “I swear. I’m not going anywhere.”
I let him go and Abby and Caleb are standing just inside the open front door. But she’s not looking at Junior and me. She’s mesmerized by the ocean. She steps outside slowly, her gaze fixed on the crashing waves.
I want to take her hand and wade out into the water with her, the way I used to do when the kids were too small to go in the ocean alone. But that would be awkward at her age. Wouldn’t it?
I reach out my hand slowly and she stares at it for a moment before she takes it. “Come on. The water’s very warm at this time of day.”
She nods and we head down the long wooden ramp toward the beach, Caleb and Junior following closely behind us. The breeze gets cooler and the briny smell of the ocean gets stronger the closer we get to the shore. When we reach the water’s edge, Junior and Caleb strip off their T-shirts and shoes, then they race into the waves in their shorts. Abby and I kick off our sandals and she looks a bit apprehensive about going into the water.