Because of that Night (Book1)

chapter 1: Lila

Borne in September always felt like a Sunday, but for everyone who was actually a resident of Borne, it felt like the best Sunday of the year. The hustle and bustle of summer was finally coming to an end, and Borne, the Beach Tourist Paradise retired once again to become simply, Borne. Children were beginning the school year again, restaurant workers could finally go home before 1am every night of the week, and even the waves seemed to calm themselves, washing up to the shore in small ripples as if sighing after all the hard work of containing so many hot and sweaty families of the summer.

            Lila looked up at the cloudy sky and closed her eyes, feeling that slight chill of summer's hasty farewell, realizing that another year had gone by in a blink. Dylan ran screaming after seagulls, shrieking with laughter as they flew away only to land ten or so feet over from where he had caused their ascent. He looked over at Lila with a wide smile.

            "Mommy! Come chase seagulls with me!" He outstretched his hand, and for only a brief moment, Lila saw Michael's face in his.

            Just stay a little while longer.

            You know you don't actually want to leave.

            She blinked her eyes once and Dylan's wild smile appeared again. Lila smiled back at him and let out a laugh, letting him pull her up from the sand where they chased after seagulls for a little while more. The evening sky called it quits early, and Lila guided Dylan away from the disgruntled seagulls with promises of getting a pizza for dinner at Louie's.

            "Can Uncle Hunt come for dinner?" Dylan asked. 

            Lila's stomach dropped for a moment as she contemplated this request, but it had become easier to push away these thoughts and reactions as time had gone by. "Of course he can," Lila answered cheerily, giving Dylan's hand a squeeze.

            He smiled big and wide and they tramped their way through the sand, climbing the steps leading up to the parking lot. As if he had read their minds, Lila felt her phone buzz in her back pocket. She opened the back door of her car for Dylan who bounced up into his car seat while Lila read the text.

            What are you and Dylan up to for dinner?

            Lila buckled Dylan into his car seat and shut the door behind her, shooting a quick text back.

            Headed to Louie's now. Dylan wants you to join.

            For a moment she thought to write "we" instead of just Dylan, but that sudden stomach drop found its way back to her and she backspaced, writing what she finally decided to send back.

            Sounds great. I'll meet you there in ten. He had responded.

            She locked her phone, getting into the car and shooting Dylan a happy smile as she got ready to pull out of the parking space.

            "Good news bud," she said. "Uncle Hunt's going to meet us at Louie's."

            Dylan let out a slight squeal and kicked his legs into the passenger seat. Lila smiled and let out a silent breath that she felt like she had been holding for over an hour. They made their way to Louie's, and Dylan sat silently in the backseat, looking up at the darkening sky.

Lila always found herself looking at him in the rearview mirror as she drove, as though she was nervous that one day she would look up and realize that he had disappeared into thin air. She supposed it was because that's how she had felt about Michael. From time to time, she would look over at the passenger side of her car and still picture Michael sitting there, his arm around her thigh, him laughing at something said on morning talk radio, or looking out the window up at the sky the way Dylan did so often. She felt that lurch once again in her stomach and shook these memories away. There was no use letting nostalgia tear her down tonight. The evening had been beautiful, Dylan seemed confident about the start of preschool later that week, and Hunter and she had been on good terms lately.