The Shore (9 page)

“This deck is amazing! You must throw a ton of parties out here,” Ryan gushed and finally looked out to the water. “And the view!”

Cody laughed. He had fallen in love with the view the first time he saw it. The original deck had been replaced with the current one, but the view had remained the same. He was in the heart of the sand and beach as soon as he stepped off the deck. About 40 feet more, and the sand became smooth and easy to walk upon. He loved living this close to the water.

“Yeh, I kind of like it here.”

“It’s beautiful Cody. You have a really great house,” she added with a smile. “I wouldn’t mind working from home all day either if I had this view.”

Cody smiled, gently took her hand and went to open the gate that led to the sand. The dogs pushed their way ahead of them and starting running and sniffing.

It was a perfect day. There was a clear blue sky with no clouds, a light breeze coming off the water and hardly any humidity. Spring in the Outer Banks could be gorgeous. Ryan wondered why there was no one else on the beach but decided to be thankful they had it to themselves.

They played with the dogs, tossing toys down the beach and into the water. Neither dog hesitated to jump into the waves to retrieve their toys, unless it went out too far. More than once, Cody had to wade into the water to get a toy before it drifted away.

Seeing the house and continuing to learn more about Cody made Ryan wonder even more how he had never been married. It was beginning to drive her a little crazy, so she asked, “Can I asked you a question?”

Cody looked at her skeptically. “Sure,” he answered slowly. They had been tossing questions at each other since they met, but this seemed more serious.

Ryan inhaled a deep breath and as much as she wanted to bravely ask the question, she looked down at her feet as she made designs in the sand. “How is it you’ve never been married?”

He was silent for what felt like a long time causing Ryan to finally look at him. He could either answer the question with some smartass answer, or he could tell her the truth. The truth was going to hurt, and he wasn’t entirely sure he was ready to tell that story.

Deciding, he answered, “I’ll tell you, as honestly as I can, but will you do something for me?”

“What’s that?”

“Will you answer a question I’ve been wondering about?”

Ryan swallowed. She could hear Madison in her head,
“You’ve got to try, Ryan. Let. Him. In.”

She let out a breath, “Okay.”

Cody smiled briefly then got lost in his own thoughts.

“I was almost engaged once. Almost,” he added quietly. “I thought I had found the person I was supposed to marry.”

Ryan hadn’t expected that response.

“I was a few years out of college and she had just graduated. We met through a mutual friend at a party and just … hit it off.” He paused again. “I asked her out that night and she agreed. It got serious pretty fast, but she was living in Chapel Hill and I was here.

“We started taking about marriage after the first year or so, and a few months later, decided we would get a place together. She found a job where she could work remotely, and we chose to get a house on the beach. This house.

“Laura’s job required her to go to Chapel Hill every so often to check in, attend meetings, that kind of thing. I finally decided to propose and arranged a big party with all of our friends and families here at the house. These people were everything to her, and I was fairly confident in her answer so I wanted to share the night with everyone.”

Cody stopped again to gather his thoughts … and his strength to continue.

“Her timing was never absolute. It depended on traffic, how soon she could leave the office, those sorts of things. So while I had noticed the time, I hadn’t started to worry yet.

“She always called when she got to Roanoke Island so I would know she was getting close. Only that night, she never called.”

Ryan put her hand to her mouth, fearing what Cody was going to say next.

“It was about an hour later when there was a knock on the door. I went to open it, a big smile on my face and a beer in my hand. I was greeted by two solemn looking police officers. There had been an accident just west of the island. The police weren’t exactly sure of the details, but Laura was killed in the crash.”

Laura’s mom and dad were sitting on the swing quietly talking with my dad. Declan, Cole and Will were here with their significant others, sitting around the table laughing and drinking beer. By some miracle, Luke was on leave for the week and even he was here. Mac and Riley were futzing with the grill pretending to get on each other’s nerves, but I caught them stealing kisses every chance they got. I couldn’t wait to ask Laura to marry me. To have what Mac and Riley had.

I went to the door not really sure who to expect. Mark, a guy I went to high school with, was standing there in his police uniform with his partner. When they told me the news, I went numb. I couldn’t feel my arms or legs. All I kept hearing was, “I’m sorry, Cody. Laura was pronounced dead at the scene.”

I heard Laura’s mom scream behind me. Mac came over and walked me to the couch to sit down. I fished the ring out of my pocket and opened it. Laura would never see it. She would never wear it. Was she in pain before she died? Did she know how much I loved her?

Cody stood quietly in the sand, his mind a million miles away. The pain Ryan saw on his face was as if he was back in the moment again. She wanted to comfort him in some way, but she didn’t know how.

Finally deciding she needed to do something, she walked up to him, took his hand, and pulled gently on his arm so he would sit. She sat next to him, just holding his hand.

“I’m so sorry, Cody.” He was still lost in his own thoughts as she laid her head against his shoulder, and waited. Waited for him to come back to her.

“You asked last night if I read the letter my mom wrote… I met Laura not long after we lost Mom. The plan was to propose to her and that night, after everyone left, give her the letter.”

“The day we buried Laura, I asked her parents for a few minutes alone with her to say goodbye. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but I read the letter out loud to her. It just felt like the right thing to do.” And then he fell silent again.

Ryan didn’t know how long they sat, not saying a word. That was a lot of information to digest and she couldn’t begin to imagine what Cody was feeling. She wanted to ask questions. How long ago did this happen? How long was he with Laura? But she remained quiet. It wasn’t until she heard a shout from behind them that the moment had been broken.

“Hey! There you are!” Ryan turned her head to see Mac standing in the doorway, yelling.

When Cody didn’t respond, Ryan tugged on his arm lightly. “Cody? Mac is here.”

He turned slowly to Ryan and then turned to look at Mac. It was as if a spell had been broken. He lightly shook his head, wiped his eyes with the back of his hands, stood up and walked toward the deck.

“Hey sis,” he said as he reached Mac. “How’s it going?”

Ryan was surprised by the quick change in his demeanor but let it go. He had just told a heart wrenching story, and however he needed to deal with that was up to him. She stood and went to join them.

Mac was thrilled to see Ryan there with Cody, but could tell something major just happened.

When she reached them, Ryan gave Mac a hug. “Hey stranger!”

“Hey there yourself!” Mac grinned. “You two having fun out there?”

“Yep. Just playing with the dogs,” Cody answered. Ryan chose to remain quiet.

“Ahh,” Mac said, not really buying Cody’s response. “I just stopped by to pick up that cooler. Is that okay?”

“Oh yeh, of course. Come with me. It’s in the garage,” he said to Mac. “We’ll be right back, Ryan.”

Ryan smiled and watched them walk into the house.

“Okay, Cody, what’s going on?” Mac asked as soon as they were out of earshot of Ryan.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t ‘What do you mean?’ me, Cody. I know I interrupted something, and it didn’t look good.”

Cody sighed. He never had been able to keep anything from Mac. “I just told her about Laura, okay?” He saw her face soften and her eyes begin to tear.

Mac was quiet for a moment as she took in what he said. “Wow. You must really like her.”

Cody wasn’t exactly sure how to answer. He certainly lusted after Ryan, that much was obvious. But he felt like he was developing some serious feelings for her, and that hadn’t happened in a long time. Not since Laura.

“Yeh, I guess I do.”

Mac laid her hand on Cody’s arm. “That’s a good thing, Cody. Ryan is really nice. And… and Laura wouldn’t want you to be alone.”

Agitated, Cody sighed. “I’m not asking her to marry me, Mac. We’re just seeing each other. I don’t even know if she’s got someone back home. My gut tells me she doesn’t, but someone hurt her pretty bad, and she wants to take things slow. Hell, she doesn’t even live here.”

“That’s okay, ya know. It’s been four years…”

Cody started to get pissed and Mac could see his entire body tense.

He was tired of people telling him how long it had been since Laura had been taken from him – and that it was time to get back on the horse. Fuck the horse. He’d do it when he was goddamned ready to.

“I’m just saying I’ve seen a lot of changes in you lately, Cody. You’re more like yourself. I know you miss Laura, and you always will. I will, too.” Mac stretched up on her tippy-toes and hugged Cody. “I’m glad you told her. I think that was really brave.”

Cody began to relax and smiled softly at her. “Thanks.” Mac may have never had kids, but she was one of the most motherly people he knew. She was easy to talk to and often gave the best advice.

They looked at each other for a second then Cody said, “Let’s go get that cooler.”

By the time Cody and Mac returned, Ryan had wrangled the dogs onto the deck and locked the gate. She sat on the swing, slowly swinging back and forth, watching Berkley and Wrigley get a drink of water.

“Sorry for the interruption,” Mac said.

“Oh, no, it was really good to see you again,” Ryan answered. “Abby said she was going to talk with you about a girls’ night out. Does Friday work?”

“She did. And yes, Friday would be perfect! Riley is going to take Jake for the night. In fact, we’ll probably just plan to have him spend the night because I don’t intend for it to be an early night,” she said with a wink.

“I’ve got a game that night,” Cody added. “I’ll let Riley know. Maybe he and Jake can stop by.”

“That would be great!” Mac said excitedly. “He had so much fun the last time, I’m sure he’d love that. Just go easy on the sugar this time, okay?”

Cody laughed. He knew he was still in trouble for the last time he and Riley took Jake to the ball field. Riley let him have all the candy he wanted and Abby had a hell of a time getting him to go to sleep that night. She still blamed Cody and it had been all Riley’s fault!

“Yes ma’am.” he nodded. “I’ll let Riley know.”

“Alright, I’m outta here. Thanks again for the cooler, Cody,” Mac said as she hugged him then bent to hug Ryan who was still on the swing. “It’s great to see you here with him,” she whispered quietly in Ryan’s ear and winked as she stood up. “See you Friday!”

As quickly as she had appeared, Mac was gone.

Cody looked down at Ryan, feeling like he owed her an apology for the way he completely spaced out on her. “Mind if I join you?”

“No, of course not,” she answered.

Ryan put her foot on the deck to stop the swing so Cody could sit. He sat close enough that their thighs touched and he put his arm around her, pulling her close to him.

“I’m sorry I spaced out on you.”

“It’s okay, Cody. I can’t even imagine the pain you’ve been through. First your mom and then Laura…”

Cody was quiet again, but this time it was different. It didn’t feel like his mind was elsewhere.

Finally, he said, “I really like you, Ryan. I’ve had a really good time with you the past few days and I look forward to spending more time with you. And God knows I think you’re beautiful, I can barely keep my eyes off you.”

Ryan felt her cheeks turn red yet again.

“You’re easy to talk to you, and I’m glad I could tell you about Laura.” He stopped to gather his thoughts again. “I was devastated when she was killed. And angry. I felt like all of the pieces of my life were finally falling into place. And then to lose her … it crushed me.”

Ryan cuddled herself into Cody and he wrapped his arm around her tightly.

“The crash was a little over four years ago. I haven’t really dated; I didn’t have any interest. But that’s changed now. You’ve changed that for me. I can’t say I don’t still get little pangs in my chest when I talk about Laura or see things that remind me of her, but I’m better. I get better every day.”

Ryan looked up at Cody. She wasn’t sure if she was imagining it, but there was almost a plea in his voice.

“Thank you for telling me about her.” She smiled. “I knew someone had to be involved with the decoration of this house. It just seemed to have a woman’s touch.”