Page 35 of Day Break

“Like a rock. Moving out here was the best thing I could have done. I’m glad I decided to finally do it.”

I frowned at this. “You? I thought my dad and Uncle Robert forced you out?” I said, only realizing after the words were out of my mouth that my mother had asked me not to discuss the situation.

I was surprised when he laughed and slapped the table. “That’s rich. The day my sons can force me to do a damned thing is the day I let Byron drive me to the city and buy me a beer.”

I smiled. Somehow, this bit of news relieved me. I didn’t like thinking of my grandfather living out here against his wishes. He had always seemed to enjoy himself out here.

The house had been theirs long before they’d moved to the city full time. Every summer, my dad and aunts and uncles would fight over who got to summer there. When I was close to eight, my grandfather had bought another house down the road so that the arguments would stop.

That was when we’d taken over this place and Uncle Robert’s family and Aunt Kate’s split their time at the other one.

Which is why the rooms upstairs still had my and Sherry’s things in them.

My grandfather turned to Chloe. “What crazy plans do you have for us today?”

“I suppose we could always take Byron to the beach again,” Chloe suggested as she sipped her own coffee.

My grandfather smiled and leaned back in his chair, then glanced at me. “What about you? You didn’t come up here to work all weekend again, did you?”

I thought about the emails and cases I should deal with over the weekend but then heard myself saying. “No, no work this time.”

“Good.” My grandfather clapped his hands. “First things first.” He drank the rest of his coffee. “There, now, you two kids can clean this mess up while Byron and I head up to put on our shoes.”

Once again, I worked alongside Chloe and cleaned up.

When we were done, we all set out across the yard following Byron, who led the way.

Chloe had brought along a large beach bag. It looked like it weighed as much as she did, so I took it from her and carried it.

The dog had a green apple in his mouth and carried it as if it was a great gift to be saved for the right time.

I helped my grandfather set out a blanket in the sand and, since there was still a chill in the air, handed him another blanket as he settled down to enjoy the scenery.

Chloe and Byron sat at the edge of the water and, to my slight amusement, shared the apple. The way the two of them were with each other, I could easily tell they had been friends for longer than the two weeks she’d been working from my grandfather.

I sat next to my grandfather and rested my elbows on my knees as I watched the pair of them. Chloe was softly chatting to Byron, who appeared to be listening intently.

“What do you know about her?” I asked my grandfather.

He glanced sideways at me, then shrugged.

“Other than the fact that she saved me and that Byron loves her? Not much.” He sighed. “I trust her. At my age, that means more than anything else.” I thought about it for a moment, but then he added, “Boy, think about it. All of my kids have very impressive portfolios.” He turned slightly. “Would you trust them to take care of me?”

“Hell no,” I said quickly.

My grandfather nodded and slapped my knee. “Exactly.” He turned his eyes to Chloe again. “Whatever’s in her past, the pain outweighs anything else. She’s been hurt. That much is obvious. So much so that I’m pretty sure she came to the beach to die.” He turned back to me. “Alone. If Byron and I give her reasons to hang on a little longer, and she lightens our days, then I’m all in.”

Those words played over and over in my mind for the rest of the day. I watched Chloe closely as she laughed and joked with my grandfather. There was no fakeness here. Not like I could easily see with each of my family members.

Still, it nagged at me to think that she might be in this for other reasons. I get that my grandfather didn’t want to pry into her past, but I wasn’t built that way. I’d grown up in a family that I didn’t trust so trust didn’t come easy for me.

I was still determined to find out as much as I could about the pretty woman. After all, people who looked like her didn’t just appear on beaches. At least not in the real world, I thought, as I remembered an old movie that I’d watched about a mermaid washing up on shore.

Before dinner, I tried to get as much information as I could out of her without letting my grandfather overhear me. That became a lot easier when he and Byron disappeared for their mid-afternoon naps.

I suggested that we sit out on the patio in the sunlight, where it appeared she felt more relaxed.

“Did you go to school?” I asked her, trying desperately to sound casual. When she didn’t respond right away, I added, “I went to Auburn public schools.”