“You do?” I asked, pulling away to look at her.
“Yes, we do. I know it’s silly, but I kind of like being silly. It makes me happy.”
“I’m happy for you, mom,” I said. I was happy for her. This wasn’t what I had in mind at all. It wasn’t even close. I had planned on coming there for all of ten minutes, giving her a piece of my mind and spinning my tires out of there so fast. I was glad that my plan failed. I was glad that she had Jason and Caroline. I was glad that she was happy.
“Caroline reminds me a lot of me,” I said with a smile.
“She reminds me of you every day,” my mom assured me. “She is so smart, sometimes too smart for her own good,” she added with a smile. “Guess what she loves,” my mom persuaded.
I shrugged my shoulders with a big smile. I was happy. I really was.
“Peanut butter and pickles,” she laughed.
I laughed too. That was my favorite food growing up. “I haven’t had one of those in years,” I said.
“Oh, don’t worry. You will, just give it a day or two. How long are you staying?” she asked.
I shrugged again. “I don’t have a deadline. I can leave whenever I want. I was supposed to be using this time to figure out what to do with these two difficult men in my life, but so far, I’m still at square one.”
She smiled. “I hope it takes you a month,” she squealed, happy that I didn’t have to leave right away.
Chapter 23
“Amanda!” Jason yelled for my mom from the deck. We both turned to see him waving us toward the house.
We walked the beach and to the deck hand in hand.
“Someone must have known you were coming,”
Jason said, holding a brown wrapped package for me.
“Drew knew,” I said, taking the package. I wondered if I should open it in front of them, but it was small, so I figured it was safe, probably diamond earrings or something.
I smiled when I pulled the black sea glass, dangling from a sterling silver chain. There was one diamond in the middle. I read his hand written note.
“This was the best day of my life. I love you.”
I know I was teary eyed. I couldn’t help it. He was doing things that blew my mind lately which made my case even worse. I loved him. That was the bottom line. I loved the twisted bastard.
“Oh, my God!” Caroline squealed. “That is black.
Where did you get that?” she asked, excited.
“On the beach in Maine,” I replied, handing it to her to see.
She looked at it wide eyed and amazed. “This could have come all the way from Italy.”
I smiled. The girl knew her sea glass.
“Do you hunt sea glass?” she asked, excited.
“Yeah, I do. I have nine pieces now,” I told her.
“Do you want to see mine?” she asked, excited.
“I would love to,” I said, letting her take my hand and pull me to her bedroom.
I noticed my mother and Jason’s reflection through the glass as I was being led away. He embraced her, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. It made me happy.
A lot of things were making me happy that day.
I noticed my suitcase on the twin size bed in Caroline’s room. I was bunking with her. I know it sounds stupid, but I was giddy, thinking about sleeping in the twin size bed across from my little sister. I felt like we were having a slumber party.
Caroline took a shoe box from the shelf in the closet. I looked around her room while she retrieved it.
What I wouldn’t have done for a room like that when I was her age. The walls were pink. The two twin beds had matching pink quilts with dolphins. Her walls were covered with pictures of sea creatures and one of Justin Bieber. That one made me smile.
She sat on the bed beside me and explained to me each and every piece of her sea glass. She remembered where and when she had found each piece. She even knew what they had probably come from.
“I still haven’t found any black though,” she said.
“I can’t believe you found black. Do you have any idea how rare that is?” she asked.
“Yes, I do. I can’t believe I found it either.”
“Hey, do you want to go with me in the morning?
I’m getting up at six in the morning to go hunting. My dad said I had to wait until nine because he didn’t want to get up that early. I don’t want to wait that long. We’re going to get a big storm later and right after a storm is the best time.
I’m afraid someone else will walk by and find it before me.”
“I would love to get up at six and go with you,” I smiled at her. I just loved her to death. She hugged me.
“I think I like having a big sister,” she said.
“I think I like having a little sister,” I replied. She smiled the biggest smile ever.