The Crashing Waves | COMPLETED

Chapter 10: Back to the Beach

I don't think I said a word the entire plane ride. Brooke was clearly upset, but didn't say a word. I was still reeling from the surprise note from Brody. I couldn't wrap my head around it. We silently pushed through the airport after getting our bags and walked outside. I instantly smelled the salty ocean air and without hesitation took a huge breath in from my nose. "Oh how I have missed you..." I said quietly to myself.

"You ready for this Cam?" I heard beside me. Brooke was staring at me waiting for me to respond.

"Can anyone really be ready for something like this?" I turned to her blocking the sun with my hand.

She gave me a somber look. "Let's stay at the beach cottage. Brody wants you to. Then you can go to the cove and spend some time with him there." She understood me, but didn't understand how hard it would be to walk into that house.

"I don't think I can do it Brooke...." I stopped for a second. "He's everywhere. How do I go anywhere without him when he is everywhere?" I started to cry again as a black car pulled up to the curb in front of us.

Brooke pointed to the car, "Just get in. You have a few minutes to prepare for this before we get there." She waited for me to stop staring at her and get into the car. The driver loaded our bags in the trunk and we were off. We didn't say another word to each other the entire drive.

As we pulled into the neighborhood, my stomach started to turn. My hands were sweaty, and my heart was racing. I grabbed Brooke's hand tight with my right hand and my left hand was holding the door handle as hard as I could. The closer we got to the house, the more real everything became and I was certain that I could not make it.

We stopped in front of the house and I couldn't move. It looked the same as it always had. Two small palm trees in the front, the door tucked behind them. A patio that wrapped around the left side to the back with a perfect view of the ocean.

"You can do this." Brooke reassured me. "Come on. Let's go get settled."

I slowly let go of her and the door and tried to get out of the car. I could barely stand up, I was so scared. How could I go in that house without him? "Wait a minute... How does he just have keys for this house, Brooke?!" I looked at her with wide eyes.

Brooke giggled a little. "Brody said this place reminded him of you. He bought it right after your wedding and swore me to secrecy." I looked at her completely confused as her smile changed to a frown. "He said that once things slowed down in New York, he was going to sweep you off your feet and bring you back here to start a family..." I could see tears building up in her eyes. "It was suppose to be a surprise and he was so excited for it."

My mind went to a hundred different places at that moment and I'm sure that Brooke could see that I was about to lose it. She dropped the bags she was carrying and ran to my side, catching me just before I hit the ground and everything went black.

***

I came to in a familiar place with Brooke by my side. "Hey there sleepyhead. I am pretty sure that was your body telling you that you are exhausted." She was smug in her statement, but smiled at me with concern.

I rubbed my cheeks with my hands for a second. "How long was I out for?" I could see it was dark already outside.

"Just a couple hours..." She laughed a little as she started to get up off the bed. "Or four.... Now that I know you are alive, I am going to go run you a bath, you stink like sadness and airplane funk. And you clearly need some type of relaxation. And then sleep!"

She walked into the bathroom as I rolled over to smell the pillow. It smelled like him. Like he'd been here. Right next to me the whole time. I sat up and looked out the window at the moon reflecting on the water, remembering the many nights we spent staring at that same sky, hand in hand.

I got out of bed and opened the window. The smell of the ocean immediately filled the room. I closed my eyes and let my mind wander to him as I listened to the waves crashing into the shore. In and out. And my breathing followed. I could feel his spirit wrapping his arms around me, and just like that I was finally home.

***

The next morning I woke up to rustling and mumbling next to the bed. I cracked open my eyes to see Brooke franticly looking for something in the side table. "Crap!" She yelled and then slapped her hand across her mouth realizing how loud she was.

"What the hell are you doing now?" I was half annoyed and half amused by how focused she was. Brooke was kind of an airhead, let's be honest. I love her like a sister, but she is not always the brightest. That being said, this version of Brooke was kind of hilarious.

She looked at me in horror and my face followed suit now freaking out inside about what she could have done to be so flustered. "You are going to kill me, Cam." She had her hands in her hair like she was going to pull it out. Her response now made me really nervous. I knew that today was going to be the hardest day of my life, and I needed to not have anything go wrong.

"Why would I do that NOW? Don't you think if I was going to kill you I would have done it when I was nearly insane in New York?" I laughed a little. Mostly because it was true. Just being back at the beach has helped me immensely to prepare for today.

She looked at me with huge eyes as she dropped her hands and sat on the floor. "Fair point." I nodded at her with a pleading look wanting to know it was what she freaking out about. "Cami, the necklace is gone. He said it would be right here, but it's not." I giggled a little as she sat there panicking for a second.

"You mean this one?" I held out from my neck, and her eyes nearly jumped out of her head.

"YOU!!!" She leaped into the air and onto the bed. "Holy crap, I thought I was in so much trouble!" She looked genuinely relieved.

I smiled at her as she sat down next to me. "I couldn't sleep last night, so I started rummaging through drawers to see if I could find any evidence of him here. I found this in the drawer." I held out a heart shaped locket with a small key on the silver chain. "Look inside," I told her as I popped it open for her to see. "It's Brody and I the night we got engaged." I smiled as tears built up in my eyes.

"Oh Cami...." She smiled as she began to cry with me. "I'm so sorry today has to happen, babe."

The tears started to flow as she put her arm around me. "Me too." I held that locket like it was my lifeline. And we just sat there quietly crying, both dreading what this day would hold.

***

After I got ready, I went straight down to the cove. I sat there as long as I could until Brooke came looking for me. I was not ready in any way for the day that was waiting for me. She dragged me to the car and we drove to the funeral home without saying a word.

She stopped the car out front and I could see his parents standing at the door greeting people as they walked in. I wasn't ready, but I guess I had no choice. I got out of the car with my ball of tissues tucked tightly in my right hand. We walked towards the door as his mom ran to me and hugged me tight. I hadn't seen them since before the accident. I hadn't even talked to them since the accident. Brooke let them know that I was not in a good place and I needed space to grieve. They understood and gave it to me. Until today. This day was different. I knew it was going to be a day of people crowding me and making every feeling I had been suppressing come out. It was going to be awful.

Brody's dad never struck me as an emotional person. He was very proper and business like. He loved me, and I knew that, but I had never seen him act anything but serious. He walked over and hugged me right after MaryBeth let go, and I lost it. Brody was Dale and Marybeth's only child. I can't even imagine what it must be like to lose a child; I was having a hard enough time losing a husband. Brody was a younger version of his dad. I always joked that I knew exactly what my husband would look like later in life thanks to Dale. When he pulled away from our embrace, I could see his eyes were bloodshot red and puffy. It made me hurt even more, and realized that today was going to be even harder than I already imagined it would be.

We walked in together and straight to the front row of chairs. I kept my head to the floor and tried my best not to look at the front of the room. I wasn't ready. But then again, I wouldn't ever be ready for what was next.