Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 73817 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73817 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
I can see the fire in his eyes when he hears my words. I see him living the life I’m picturing for us. The dream. The fantasy made real. The possibilities at his fingertips.
“Coop?”
I’m like the dog he’s got by the leash. “Yes, Sean?”
“Before I make my decision … can we stay here for a while longer? Can we just sit right here next to each other and listen to the waves?”
I put my arm around him. “Of course we can.” He lays his head on my shoulder as we sit together in the company of mighty, roaring waves and gusting winds. Nothing in the world can touch us in this moment. Sean and I are exactly where we’re meant to be—even if it’s just for this one last night on the boardwalk.
Finale - Seany
It wasn’t as easy a decision as I thought it’d be.
I was in a difficult place that night. My heart was in so much pain. I felt heavy and guilty for accepting all the help I’d been given by kindhearted people. I held so many dark thoughts and doubts in my head that I swear they weighed a thousand pounds.
I wonder if anyone will truly understand how I could have possibly considered turning down this little piece of paradise I now call home.
Maybe I’ve just been conditioned my whole life to not believe in anything that’s too good to be true.
“I really hate the fall,” moans Mars.
“Why? It’s so peaceful!”
“Easy for you to say, Sean,” she gripes as she sits on the front step of the Easy Breezy next to me, staring out at the uncharacteristically empty Sugarberry Beach. “Island’s a ghost town on Tuesdays. Weirdest day of the week. You only like it because it’s your first fall in Dreamwood.”
“It feels like we’ve got the whole island to ourselves.” I smile up at the sunshine, feeling as free as the breeze.
“It won’t feel that way on the weekends. Trust me, the summers are bad, but the first several weekends of the fall are worse. Everyone gets horny, weird, and wild chasing some relief from all that workplace stress.”
“Hmm. I like it,” I decide. “Everything in moderation.”
She shakes her head, studying me. “Nothing ever fazes you anymore, huh? Happy-go-lucky? Go with the flow?”
“Easy breezy,” I agree, still smiling.
But what I’ve learned about things that seem too good to be true is that sometimes, there’s no harm in trying. How can I go the rest of my life distrusting everything? How can I let my past have such unchecked power over me?
All that pain is like a tyrant standing over me, and it’s way past overdue for that fucker to be overthrown.
Assuming it can be completely overthrown.
“First weekend will be the real test,” states Mars, “for whether Bossy Manager Chase can handle his new title.”
That’s Mars’s loving new way of addressing Chase, whom Cooper lovingly promoted at the end of the summer to the flashier and more responsibility-bearing role of bar manager, giving Cooper more room to breathe. Mars thinks the title has gone to his head, making him bossy and full of himself. I just see a guy who’s finally finding his own inner confidence and trying it out.
I guess I can relate to that sentiment a bit.
Also, I think Chase is doing a great job.
“He can handle it,” I decide on his behalf. “And if he freaks out a bit, we’ll support him, won’t we, miss official bar girl Mars?”
She smirks. Chase isn’t the only change of staff made over the past month. “At least my mom didn’t freak out when I said I didn’t want to be under her thumb all the time anymore. Besides, Easy Breezy is more my vibe.”
“You do realize you’ll just be pulled back over to the taqueria whenever the bar’s slow, right?”
“We’ll see about that. Oh!” She whips out her phone. “Vann just texted. Everyone’s meeting up at the arcade. Something about classes on campus being canceled for the day. Should we go and try taking Toby down a peg?”
I grin. “Why not?”
To most Dreamwood residents, Tuesdays are probably boring and uneventful. The waves lazily rush in and the waves lazily pull back. Gulls fly circles over the empty beaches. The Hopewell Fair is shut down, its colorful rides sleeping and silent. The shops are mostly closed, too. Only a few spots are open for the locals.
But to me, even the boring days are treasures.
I’m starting to trust the “too good to be true”.
When Mars and I arrive, the arcade feels like it’s the liveliest spot on the Texas coast. Toby and Vann face off at the air hockey table with a crowd of familiar faces. Among them is the arcade manager Mr. Buchinski, affectionately known as Mikey B, who cheers on his new favorite gamer Toby. There’s also Skipper and his two best friends Reef and Dwayne, who I’ve gotten to know over the past month. Skip’s eighteen now, no longer the baby of his clique, and I hear his brothers Kent and Adrian have been trying to talk him into college once he finishes his senior year, insisting they can help with the tuition.