Page 9 of Rogue Wave

First, Cora and I were placed with a local family in San Diego, but after one of my dad’s “associates” showed up at our school, we were moved up to Northern California, in hopes that it would be safer.

That was how we ended up with the O’Haras. Winnie and Tia O’Hara were sisters who had also been through the foster system, constantly bumping around because no one wanted two older sisters.

They had dedicated their adult lives to opening their doors to as many foster girls as they could, determined to give them stability instead of endless moves. Some girls hadn’t stayed long, usually because a parent or relative eventually stepped in to care for them. But for the ones whose families either couldn’t—or simply wouldn’t—take them back, the O’Haras made sure we always had a place to belong. I was one of those lucky ones.

Winnie, who we just called Mom, and Tia—which was Spanish for aunt, so we’d always called her Auntie—lived on a small property in Stratus Cove, a coastal town well north of San Francisco.

It was a beautiful place—lush green landscape, salty ocean air, and friendly people who waved at you on the street. Being a small town, everybody knew everybody’s business, but that also meant they knew what the O’Hara women did. Nobody batted an eyelash when another foster kid appeared at their house. It was just accepted.

In total, there were more than fifteen girls the O’Hara women had fostered, but only five of us had stayed permanently—Gale, Anna, Iris, Cora, and me.

The O’Haras lived in a large farmhouse surrounded by several acres with essentially a small animal sanctuary. We’d had two dogs, three barn cats, two llamas, and an ostrich. We’d all had chore duty on the small farm, helping out, but I’d enjoyed it a lot. Animals didn’t judge you like people did. You could just be yourself around them, and they didn’t care. I knew that was why I ended up studying marine biology and working with animals—I loved it.

“How about I sit here with you while you make the call to your family, dear,” Dottie said, breaking into my train of thought.

I nodded, knowing it would give me the perfect excuse to keep the call short. “Thank you.”

I dialed up Auntie, placed it on speaker, and waited for her to answer.

“What’s shakin’, bacon?” she greeted in her typically friendly manner, and even with all the craziness that had happened in the last few hours, her chipper voice still put a smile on my face.

“Is Mom around?” I asked. “I was hoping to talk to both of you.”

“Are you okay? Are you injured? Are you pregnant?” Auntie asked in rapid succession.

Dottie let out a small snort next to me and tried to hide her chuckle.

“Yes, I’m okay. No, I’m not injured. And you kind of need a man for that last one, so again, no.”

“Good. Good. And technically, no, you don’t need a man. Science can do wonderful things now if you want a baby on your own.”

I knew she was right, but that conversation was neither here nor there, so I just moved on.

“I’m putting you on speaker,” Auntie said and Mom gave her own quick hello.

“I’m calling because you may end up seeing me on the local news, or someone from town might, and I didn’t want you to hear it from them first,” I told them.

I lived about an hour away from them, but it was still close enough that our local news covered both areas, and I had a feeling this was a big enough story that even other parts of California might cover it.

“Okaaay,” Mom replied, hesitation in her voice.

I explained what I had found at the beach and how practically the entire town and then news crews had shown up shortly after.

“You need us to come down there?” Mom asked.

“No, I’ll be fine. My neighbors have been great, and I’m hoping after today that this will be all wrapped up and people will move on to the next big thing.”

“Let me rephrase,” Mom said. “Do you want us to come down there? Gale can handle the farm for a day or two if you want some familiar faces.”

God, I loved this second family I’d been blessed with.

“I appreciate it, and if something changes, I’ll let you know, but for now I think I’m good. I just didn’t want you to worry if you heard about it.”

“We appreciate that, because you know Florence watches the local news religiously, so we likely would have gotten the scoop tonight,” Auntie said.

Their next-door neighbor, Florence, was a kind woman in her eighties who loved watching the local news and game show reruns. She was also the town gossip, so I knew she’d call them as soon as she watched.

“We can be there in less than two hours if you change your mind, sweetie,” Mom added, and another smile crept up my face and my heart swelled at how lucky I’d gotten with these women and my found family.