Page 20 of Tell It To The Waves

And I know that about Baylee, but a part of me wants her to scream and yell at me, tell me how awful I am. But she’s anything but that. She comes from that, and she will not mirror that.

“Did I hope you’d come back one day? Absolutely, I was hoping since the day you left. I kept in contact with your dad, and he’d give me updates on you. I was still mad at you, but needed to know you were okay. A year after you left, he begged me to go visit you. To make you understand what you left, but I couldn’t. I needed you to understand what you left, for you to learn that,” she softly cries to me, “and maybe you still haven’t, and that’s okay, because when you leave Driftwood Bay, you’re not leaving me too.” Her tone is deeper now, more confident.

Shaking my head, I say, “I’m not. I’ve needed you, but I didn’t know how to come back and say I’m sorry. And I didn’t think you’d want me to.” My brain lied to me for so long.

Bay wipes her face with her T-shirt. “Okay, no more freaking crying!” We both laugh, because she knows once I start, I can’t stop. I watch her stand up. “Drink your coffee, and then I want to show you around.” Her face is so giddy with excitement from that statement.

I let her lead me around her home, showing me each room, every nook and cranny. Secret doors and a dumbwaiter. The home is breathtaking, and I can see Baylee throughout it with each thrifted piece she has placed in her home.

“Want to see my favorite part?” Her smile is so wide that it shows her side teeth.

“Yes.”

She puts out her hand, and I grab a hold of it. Within seconds, she has us running up her stairs to another staircase leading to the attic. Once we enter the huge attic, we turn left to the wall; she pushes on the wood and a door pops open.

“What the?”

She cuts me off. “My secret room!” A small spiral staircase leads us up, entering a small room at the tip of the house. The window gives you a perfect spot to look out at the ocean, even though the house is three blocks from it. “It’s a lookout tower.”

Walking closer to the window, I say, “This is absolutely beautiful, Bay.” I’m in awe.

“I never want to leave this house, August,” she tells me honestly.

We spend a few minutes up there before she leads me back downstairs, stopping at a closed door.

“Can I show you one more thing?”

Giving her a duh look, I say, “Yeah.”

Bay pushes the door open, moving to the side, and I gasp when my eyes land on an antique cradle in the middle of the room. “Baylee?” I question her.

Her eyes are watery, and she just nods her head.

I engulf her in a hug. “Congratulations.”

After a moment, I let her loose, walking further into the room, and she follows. Her hand trails the cradle, her finger lightly touching it before looking at me. “We haven’t announced our pregnancy yet.” Her smile is sad.

“Why?” I can’t help but ask.

My eyes follow her as she walks to the window that overlooks the backyard. “Kai and I have had a few losses in the past three years. I’m newly pregnant, but I couldn’t let you leave and not tell you. I needed you to know.” She turns to look at me.

“Thank you,” I breathe out to her, feeling so much gratitude for her letting me in on their secret. Even though that’s the lastthing I believe I deserve. Bay smiles at me, and in that brief moment, I say a little prayer to whoever is listening, for her and Kai.

Once downstairs, we head into her kitchen, where she pours me a mug of coffee. Sitting at her table, talking for what only felt like minutes, but turned into hours. When Kai walks in, that’s when we realize just how long we’ve been sitting. I wanted to know everything that had happened in her life up until this moment. I needed to know how happy she truly is.

“Congratulations,” I tell him as he leans over to give Bay a kiss. His face lights up, his lopsided smile showing the Kai that we’d sit at bonfires with and gossip about the vacationers. Even though I was one, they always saw me as someone who’s always been in Driftwood Bay.

Kai sits next to Bay. “I’m excited, even though I keep telling myself to wait. I just feel like this is the one.” He puts his arm around her.

“It is,” is all I can say.

“August had a run-in with Molly while getting coffee this morning. And it didn’t go so great.”

Kai’s head snaps to me. “Are you good?” It has more meaning than just what happened this morning.

I nod my head, “It makes sense.” I can’t keep living in the past, and coming to Driftwood Bay has shown me that. We’re all grown now, living our lives, and it is what it is. “And life goes on.” And it does. I’m seeing it for a fact with them sitting in front of me, married and pregnant.

“I’m sorry that you and Bohdi aren’t as close as you were,” I tell him truthfully. I don’t want to tiptoe around things, so I’m saying what I need to say.