“I bet.” I laughed.
My cell chimed with a new text. I knew it was Sadie. She had already sent me eighty this morning.
“Sadie again?” Dawson asked.
I pulled my cell from in my back pocket, and glanced at the screen. “Yup.”
About twenty minutes from you. Stopped for gas and wanted to ask if you packed extra sunblock? You know it’s going to be hotter than Hades there.
“What does she want this time?” There was humor in his words.
“To know if I packed extra sunblock.”
I tapped out a reply to her.
Got it, Mom. Thanks. ~ Charlotte
I joked.
“And your response was?” I flashed him the screen to my phone. “Typical Charlotte.”
“Thanks.”
“So, she’s the type to text while she drives, huh?” There was an odd tone to his words; it was almost as though he was worried about me getting in the car with her.
“No. She’s getting gas. She should be here in about twenty minutes.” I couldn’t believe that was all the time I had left until Sadie picked me up to take me to the hotel I’d rented a room at next to the airport.
This was it. I was leaving. Not only Parish Cove, but the United Sates. Before long, I would be walking around a tiny town somewhere in Africa. It was surreal.
I slipped my cell back into my pocket, and started toward the house. It was strange to know this would be the last time I walked through the front door for a while. Three months at least.
After some phone calls, I had made arrangements for a storage unit in town that was fairly cheap. My plan was to empty out the house, toss all the stuff in storage, and let the place sit until I could decide what to do with it. I wasn’t sure how long that might be, but I knew it wouldn’t be any time soon. Dawson had given me the names of a few lawn care places, and mentioned Mrs. Nelson and her granddaughter had agreed to swing by once a month to clean the cobwebs up and make sure things were okay for me.
Everything was set for me to leave, but I couldn’t help feel guilty. I could think about finding myself and healing while I help do something positive for others, but the guilt was still there in the back of my mind.
I was running again. I knew I was.
Once I stepped through the front door, I stood in the empty living room and glanced around. The space looked bigger without furniture. My eyes drifted to the green nail polish blob near where our couch used to be. When I was thirteen, I’d knocked over a bottle and the entire thing spilled before I noticed it. Emma had offered to help me clean it up before Mom saw it, but all she’d done was manage to smear it across the hardwood floor, making it impossible for any of Mom’s tricks to work when she tried to get it off.
I would miss this place, but I couldn’t be here anymore. There were too many memories, and I needed time away to heal before I could let myself feel them all.
“Three months in Africa, chaperoning teens as you all help to build a school,” Dawson said from behind me. I glanced at him. He was shaking his head. “I never thought that would be something you’d enjoy.”
“Me neither.” I shrugged. “But, I fly out in the morning.”
“Is there cell service at least?”
“Will said it will be sketchy, but I’m sure I’ll be able to make a few calls while I’m there.” Did he want me to call him? I would, because if I didn’t, I would worry about him. I worried about him even now. “Have you decided where you’re going yet?”
He’d put his dad’s house up for sale. It was only on the market for three days before the guy across the street gave him an offer. Dawson took it. He didn’t care to be stagnant in Parish Cove either. Just like me, the town held an even larger suffocating feeling than it had when we were teenagers.
“Wherever I feel like stopping, I guess.” His gaze drifted to the green blob of fingernail polish.
“Want me to call you every now and then?” My throat grew dry as I realized this was our goodbye, maybe even our final one.
Dawson was finally going to leave Parish Cove behind for good. There was no tether to pull him back this time. I was glad, even though I did hope our paths crossed again one day. This town wasn’t good for either of us, especially not now.
“Absolutely.” Dawson flashed me the same sexy smirk I’d always loved as he pulled me in for a hug. I closed my eyes and buried my face in his shoulder.
With his scent surrounding me, I locked the moment in my mind, knowing it would be one I would never forget.
“Promise me something,” he whispered against my hair.
I kept my eyes closed, enjoying the moment a little longer. “What?”
“You’ll call me when you’re ready to let her ashes go.”
His words hit me hard. I didn’t know if I would ever be ready. Emma’s request floated through my mind.
When the time is right, please let me go. Don’t hold onto me forever. Spread my ashes in the ocean waters so I can be free in every sense of the word.
Tears fled from my eyes. “I will.”
“Thank you.” Dawson pressed a kiss to my temple. “I’m hoping I’ll be ready to let her go by then too.”
The sound of a car pulling into the driveway had us pulling apart. I was positive it was Sadie. My time with this house, with Dawson, was up. I wiped beneath my eyes, erasing the tears that had fallen.
“Have a safe trip, Charlotte. Call me when you can.” He smiled, but it was halfhearted.
“Thanks, and I will.” I chewed my bottom lip, and crammed my hands into my back pockets. If I didn’t, I feared I would reach for him again. “Don’t stay lost for too long, okay?”
His jaw twitched before he lifted his blue eyes to meet with mine. “You either.”
“I won’t.”
“I know.” He nodded and his smile shifted into something real, before he disappeared through the door, heading outside.
I stood in the living room for a few heartbeats longer, saying goodbye to the only house I had ever called my home. One day I would come back. I knew this. There was no way I would forever let this house remain empty. It deserved to be filled with life and love again after witnessing so much sorrow. I closed the door behind me and locked it. My eyes shifted to Dawson and Sadie as I made my way down the stairs of the porch.
“Ready to get this show on the road?” Sadie asked. We still had a good three-and-a-half-hour drive before we made it to the place I had booked for the night.
I was glad Sadie had talked me into getting a room for us so we could have dinner and spend some time together before my flight in the morning.
Happy new memories before I left sounded good.
“I am.” I smiled.
It was the truth. This was my new beginning. My fresh start. My time to heal. I couldn’t be any more ready for it than I was right then.
“Bye, Dawson.” I walked around Sadie’s car toward the passenger seat. “I’ll see you around.”
“You know it.” He winked. “Take care, Sadie.”
“Always,” I heard her reply as I slipped into the passenger seat.
I buckled up as she reversed out of my driveway, while watching as Dawson walked to the U-Haul.
“So, he’s unloading all that into the storage unit by himself?” Sadie asked.
“No. The guys who helped us load all the big stuff are meeting him there.”
“Cool.” She put her car in drive, and I watched as my childhood home grew smaller in the side mirror with each passing second.
My heart thumped hard as I wondered for the millionth time if I was making the right decision. I wondered if I should stay and be with Mom while I could. She didn’t know who I was, but she was still family. The only family I had left.
Three months. I would come back in three short months and spend time with her then. I wouldn’t be gone forever, but that didn’t mean I would ever stay in this town again for more than a few days.