Love Always (NG4)

58 - My home

Rory woke on Saturday morning and looked around her room. It felt good to be home, but her room resembled a teenage girl's domain. Heavy-hearted, she realized it was time to put away the mementos of her past, specifically Sam.

Rory entered the kitchen as Jack and Maddie returned from their run. "Hey kiddo. It's so nice to have you home. Your car's back."

Maddie smiled. "Do you want to go for a walk on the beach?"

Rory laughed. "You just ran."

"I know, but since it rained yesterday, you must be eager to go down."

Rory was definitely more eager to walk on the sand than to clear out her room. "I think I'll take a walk on my own."

"It's breezy. Wear a sweatshirt."

She grabbed her Point hoodie. When she stepped through the dunes, the wind whipped in from the ocean. Rory shook her head. It was windy, not breezy. It didn't matter, because she was home. Somehow she survived the two years and earned her Master's degree. She still had to accumulate additional supervised hours before she could apply for her licensing exam. Rory may never move out which brought her back to the need to change her room.

She turned her back to a gust of wind. When she turned back, she saw a familiar sight. It couldn't be a mirage. Standing on the sand in front of a gull with his camera was Sam. She had thought he was in Ohio with Willow.

He turned in her direction and held his camera up. Was he taking pictures of her? She barely waved to Sasha and Jake as they walked by with Misha. One step at a time, she stood three feet from Sam with his camera around his neck.

She couldn't read his face. "You're back."

He nodded. "I hitched a ride."

"What about the house and...?"

"No."

"No. What?" The wind blew, and she had to shield her eyes from blowing sand.

"Can we go somewhere to talk?" Sam's eyes pleaded.

He didn't go after her in Ohio, but he stood in front of her, and she wouldn't run again. "I have my key ring."

In her hoodie was a ring with keys to all the cottages Lana's business maintained. She planned to work on Saturdays cleaning cottages.

Sam said, "Puffin?"

There was only one year-round resident on Puffin Way. The rest were cottages. Rory nodded, "Sasha just walked by."

"I saw."

Because it was too early for summer visitors, the street was deserted, especially since Sasha and Jake were on the beach. If they were both thinking of past visits to the street, neither mentioned it.

Once they entered the cottage. Rory took in the familiar damp scent that shut up cottages had. It was as if over the decades the scent of the ocean came inside one grain of sand at a time. To her, it was as familiar as Sam's scent.

Her empty stomach churned with nerves. She felt the discomfort on her eyeballs. She didn't want to face the finality but remained calm. "I'm sorry about your nonna."

He nodded. "It was awful. Feeling helpless. Watching her die."

"I could have..." She stopped and shook her head. He replaced her, so she wasn't the one to take care of him.

"I know. I should have."

She tried to smile, but it resulted in a contorted frown. "You have Willow. She's pretty."