The Shore (7 page)

Cody raised his arms triumphantly when he reached the top. Then, when Ryan finally joined him, he acted as though he’d been waiting there for hours, looking at a pretend watch on his wrist.

“Oh, very funny, Calloway,” Ryan barely said, trying to catch her breath. She leaned over and put her hands on her knees to help herself breathe. “What is it about running up a dune that could possibly be fun?”

“For starters, water.” Cody slid the bag off his back and unzipped it, pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to her.

“Thank you,” Ryan said. “How are you not the least bit winded?” She felt like her insides were going to crumple up and die.

Cody laughed. “Like I said, I run the dunes every morning. It’s not my most favorite thing to do, but it keeps me in shape. I spend so much time sitting in front of a computer every day that I have to do something outside or I’d go nuts.”

“I suppose that makes sense.” Ryan’s breathing was finally starting to sound normal. She cracked the top on the water bottle and took a long drink. “Ahh.”

“Feel better?”

“Yes, thank you.”

The dunes were very deceptive. It looked as though there was only one dune to climb to reach the Sound on the other side, but that wasn’t the case. No, there were four, yes
four
, dunes that had to be climbed to reach the other side.

Ryan turned to Cody and asked, “Do you think, just for my sake, we could walk the rest of the dunes?” She felt like an out-of-shape moron, but she was hoping there would be some kissing and cuddling tonight, and the last thing she wanted to do was get all sweaty – at least from running up the dunes anyway.

“Absolutely.” Cody laced his fingers with Ryan’s and began walking toward the next dune. Visions of Paige continued to pop into his mind and he started having second thoughts about agreeing to this location for their date.

Trying to shake Ryan’s sister from his mind, he asked, “So… what’s your favorite ice cream?”

“Is this 20 Questions again?”

Cody grinned and shrugged but didn’t say anything.

“I would say…” she thought for a second. “Ben & Jerry’s Brownie Batter.”

He rose his eyebrows at the selection.

“It was so good, but they stopped making it. It was made with chocolate ice cream and had brownie batter swirled inside. Hmm…” she smiled as she remembered the taste. “How about you?”

Cody didn’t even hesitate. “Butter pecan.”

Thinking she could take a turn at asking the questions, Ryan asked, “If you could have any superpower, what would it be?”

“I thought this was my game,” Cody said with a grin.

“Two can play. So what would it be? X-ray vision? Walking through walls? Breathing underwater?”

Cody thought for a moment. “I think I’d like to be able to fly.”

“Interesting.”

“What about you?”

“I’d like to be able to read a person’s mind. See what their intentions are.”

Cody looked at Ryan. It was the way she said it. He had a hunch there was more to the story, but didn’t want to push. “I can see how that would come in handy.”

They continued walking across the dunes making small-talk and asking each other questions. Then Ryan asked a big question. “What are your parents like?”

Cody paused for just a moment then answered. “Actually, it’s just my dad now. We lost my mom about seven years ago.”

“Oh, Cody, I’m so sorry.”

Cody squeezed Ryan’s hand. “It’s okay. You wouldn’t have known.”

“What umm… what happened?”

“She had cancer. She fought it for about four years, but eventually it got to a point where her body just couldn’t fight anymore.”

Ryan looked up at Cody who was looking straight ahead over the dunes.

“I'm sorry, Cody.” She paused for a moment. “Tell me about her?”

He smiled and placed a kiss on the top of Ryan’s head. “She was the best mom ever. I know everyone says that, but she really was. She was always around when we were younger. She seemed to somehow know exactly what we were doing at all times, and who we were with, but she wasn’t nosey about it. I never did figure out how she knew everything.”

“Moms have their ways, don’t they?”

“Yeh.” Cody thought for a moment with a soft smile on his face. “She was so happy at Mac and Riley’s wedding. I think she had always wanted a daughter and that’s what Mac became to her. My mom was just as involved in the wedding planning as Mac’s mom. I actually think it helped her live longer.”

Ryan looked up at Cody and could see he was lost in his thoughts. “But she never got to see you get married.” It was a statement, not a question.

“No,” Cody sighed. “Before she died, she wrote a letter to her future daughter-in-law. She said that when I knew I had found the right person, the one I was supposed to give my heart to, I should give her the letter.”

“Wow. That’s incredibly sweet,” she smiled. Then she asked quietly, “Have you ever read it?”

Cody nodded, almost more to himself than to answer her question. “I did.” He had read the letter because he finally found someone to give it to. “But that’s a story for another time.”

Ryan nodded and squeezed Cody’s hand. “Okay.” It was only their second date, but she felt a closeness to him she never felt with anyone else. And the way he was opening up to her, she loved it. He had this tough exterior, but really, Cody was a giant teddy bear with a huge heart. Oh, he was all man, but there was a soft, sensitive side to him that really attracted her to him.

Feeling like she needed to say one more thing on the topic, Ryan added, “I’m sure your mom is sorry she won’t be there to see you get married, but I know she’s looking down on you, watching. She still knows everything, just like when you were a kid.”

Cody stopped walking and turned to face Ryan who wore a sad smile. He didn’t know what to say. He was struggling with a feeling of betrayal to the one he had loved and the one he could see himself falling for. He didn’t know how to reconcile the emotions. So instead of saying anything at all, he lowered his mouth to Ryan’s and kissed her.

They continued their climb in silence for a short time before Cody asked the next question. “So what about your parents? What are they like?”

Ryan thought for a moment before responding. “My parents. They’re the quintessential American couple.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yep. The only thing that would make us the ideal family would be if either Paige or I had been a boy.”

“I think I’ll take you as a girl, thank you very much.”

Ryan chuckled, then continued. “My dad is an architect. He built his own firm and thankfully it’s done really well. Mom is a second grade school teacher. That’s why we were able to come down for the summers – Mom had the same schedule we did.”

“Did your dad come down with you, too?”

“He’d come for a week at a time, two or three times a summer. He’s kind of a workaholic, so he had trouble leaving the office for longer than a week. Some of my most favorite memories are from when he came down to stay with us.”

“Sounds pretty perfect.”

“Yeh, it was,” Ryan smiled.

“And now you have a house in one of the top vacation locations in the country you can use whenever you want.”

Ryan laughed. “Yep. I can’t argue much with that. It’s pretty great knowing I can take off and spend a week at the shore whenever I feel the need.”

“Do your folks ever rent it out? Or is solely here for your use?” Cody grinned.

“Hey now!” Ryan nudged him with her shoulder. “It’s still my parents’ house, I can just use it when I want. And no, we don’t rent it out. The downside is we don’t have a management company watching over it, so every so often I need to come out here just to make sure it hasn’t fallen into the ocean or something.”

“You’re back behind the dune, aren’t you? I think you’re pretty safe.”

Ryan grinned. “I know. It’s just a good excuse to leave the city.”

By the time they climbed the final dune, the sun was about a half hour from setting. Cody dug into the bag again, pulled out a blanket and laid it down. He sat, patting the space between his legs like he had in front of the bonfire, and Ryan sat between them.

They were quiet, lost in their own thoughts as they held each other and watched the sun go down. It was peaceful and quiet on top of the dunes. Every so often, Ryan would close her eyes and feel the wind that would travel across the sand. When she looked up to the sky, it was all color. There was a cotton candy sky that evening, at least that’s what Ryan always called it. The pink of the clouds and the blue of the sky made it look like there was cotton candy floating in the air. The sun was setting over land, but there was a reflection of the sky in the water of the Sound.

It wasn’t often Cody took a quiet moment to reflect on his mom. He hadn’t talked about her with anyone in some time, and after telling Ryan about the letter, she was on his mind. The struggle with her health had been tough on everyone, especially his dad. But he had been with her every step of the way and loved her through to the bitter end. Cody hated it when people suggested she was in a happier place now, somewhere there was no pain. While he believed there was truth to the statement, he would have liked his mom around a lot longer.

Digging in her purse, Ryan found her phone. She wiggled herself out from between Cody’s legs, stood, and put her phone in her pocket. She took Cody’s hands and pulled for him to twist around. Grabbing the phone from her pocket, she opened the camera app and handed it to Cody. He looked at her with a question in his expression.

“I want to remember tonight. This sunset,” she said to him. She knelt behind him and put her chin on his shoulder and Cody raised the camera so he could take the shot. *click* She turned her head and kissed him on the cheek, and he hit the button again. *click* Then, with a grin, Cody turned his head and kissed Ryan squarely on the lips. *click*

She laughed and hugged him from behind. “Thank you.”

She took the phone from him and motioned for him to turn so he was again facing the sunset. Instead of sitting between his legs, she sat beside him and wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her cheek against his chest. She could hear his heart beating, and it was comforting to Ryan. He wrapped an arm around her pulling her close.

“Thank you for bringing me here,” Ryan said, looking up at him.

Cody lowered his lips to Ryan’s and kissed her. The more they kissed, the deeper the kisses grew. His hands began to wander up her arms and down her back. He felt the hem of her shirt and softly slipped his hand under, feeling her soft skin.

Cody had to remind himself they were in a public place and while there weren’t many, there were still people around. He didn’t mind a little PDA but there was a time and place for everything. Right now he wanted to lay Ryan down, remove her clothes and touch every part of her body. The top of the dunes was not the place to do that.

Breaking the kiss, Cody looked down at Ryan. They were both breathing heavily. “It’s not that I don’t want to continue this,” he gave her a quick kiss, “but I’m pretty sure we probably shouldn’t while sitting on top of this dune.”

Ryan chuckled and sighed, all at the same time, and laid her head back on Cody’s chest. She felt his arm tighten around her, an electric touch under the hand on her bare back. He laid his chin on her head. She felt so comfortable and protected with him. She tightened her arms around his waist.

“You want to go grab some dinner?” Cody asked, breaking the silence.

Ryan looked up at him, kissed him again, and nodded.

“Kay. Let’s head back then.”

Cody stood and helped Ryan to her feet. He grabbed the blanket, shook off what sand he could, and folded it to put it in the bag Ryan was now holding. Hand in hand, they started their trek back across the dunes.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By the time they reached the restaurant, it was completely dark outside. Cody pulled into the parking lot of a quaint little pizza place.

Ryan loved old fashioned pizza parlors with their red and white gingham checked tablecloths, tall red plastic cups and mouthwatering pizza. There was even a jukebox on the far wall of the restaurant that played actual records.

As they sat and perused the menu, Ryan couldn’t help but smile.

“What are you smiling about?” Cody asked.

“Nothing,” Ryan blushed. “What kind of pizza do you want?”

“I’m easy. Just no anchovies.” He winked at her.

“Easy, huh? I’ll have to remember that,” Ryan grinned. “Ditto for me ... about the anchovies!” She could feel herself blush.

“Hmm… I’ll have to remember
that
,” Cody grinned.

The waitress approached the table and Cody ordered them a pizza and pitcher of beer.

“So what were you smiling about?” Cody pressed.

“Nothing,” Ryan said with a slight smirk on her face. A girl had to have her secrets, didn’t she? Honestly, she was just having a great night and enjoying her time with Cody, but her body so easily betrayed her emotions. This was simply one she just wanted to keep to herself.