Page 66 of First Street
“This was their summer place, when her family came to Harbor View.”
“Whoa. She came from serious money.”
“Her family did.”
“And that’s why they didn’t want her marrying Henry?” Ocean asked.
“You know about Henry?” Skye asked, surprised.
“Uh, yeah. Of course I do. Jo told me about him. Totally tragic. But a real love story.” Ocean’s gaze drifted as she thought about her dad’s socials. “Too bad all relationships can’t be like that anymore. Not tragic, I mean. Just real.”
Skye didn’t try to spin some lie to make her believe otherwise. She just let the words hang there between them.
“Hey, can we go through the house?” Ocean asked.
“Look at it. I don’t think it’s safe. But I’ll ask Arthur. He probably knows someone who knows someone, and that someone can get us inside to walk around.”
“I wonder if Jo misses this house. I mean, if you’re going to be stranded on earth forever and ever, this would’ve given her more space.”
“But then she wouldn’t be staring across the street, knowing Henry’s right there.”
Ocean thought of the letters. Henry’s letters and how much they’d meant to her.
“Did her family own this place all these years? Did it ever go up for sale or something?”
“I know as much as you do. But we’ll ask Arthur. He’ll know.”
Skye pulled back onto the road and rolled slowly through town, offering a running commentary on every building they passed. Ocean barely listened. Her mind was still on Jo. Maybe there was some way to get those two together, let them actually talk. With phones and computers. A device in each building. Maybe she could make it happen. But first, she had to meet Henry.
“What’s he like?” she asked.
“What’s who like?”
“Henry. Jo’s boyfriend.”
“I’ve never met him,” Skye admitted. “But I can still give you a rundown on?—”
“Wait. You see Jo, but you can’t see Henry?”
“That’s the way it’s always been. I see Jo, and your grandmother saw her. But neither of us ever saw Henry. Only Arthur sees him and talks to him.”
Ocean blinked. “What the hell?”
“Language,” Skye warned automatically.
“Come on, Mom. That’s crazy. Unfair. Does Arthur have, like, a special line to the afterlife?”
“Well, Arthur can’t see Jo, either,” Skye explained. “That’s just the way it is. We didn’t set the rules. They did, I guess. But actually, now that I think of it, Jo and Henry had no say in it, either. The same way they had no say about staying behind after they died.”
Ocean tried to sort through all of it. She had a million and one questions. What had happened before Clare? Before Arthur bought the house? If she camped out across the street, would she be able to see Henry? And how could she break the rules keeping them apart? That was definitely not fair.
Her mom pulled into a parking space, snapping Ocean back to the present.
“I can’t believe it. The store is still here. Even the same name.”
“What a cool name. You’d never find something like that in Southern Cal.” Ocean pushed open the car door and stepped out. “Seafoam & Silk.”
“When I was in high school, my best friend’s mother owned this shop,” Skye said with a smile. “Thanks to her, we were the best-dressed girls at every dance.”
