Page 14 of Changing Tides

I don’t want to risk running into Sebastian. I wouldn’t know what to say to him. I snuck out that night without even leaving a note.

It was for the best.

We hadn’t exchanged phone numbers, and we don’t even know each other’s last names. Our night of passion will forever be a beautiful memory of my time here in paradise, but that’s where it needs to stay.

In my memory.

When Amiya returns, she informs me that there was no sign of Sebastian or the other guys, so I guess he feels the same way about our brief tryst.

The next morning, we pack and say goodbye to our cozy bungalow as Pika comes to help us with our things and loads us into a car.

“Thank you for everything,” I tell him as I wrap him in a tight hug.

“You’re very welcome, Miss Carrigan. I hope your life journey leads you back to Oahu one day,” Pika says as he returns my embrace.

“Me too.”

The driver whisks us away to the airport, and we get checked in for our flight and make our way to the waiting plane.

I take my seat beside the window and stare out at the island as Amiya holds my hand.

Goodbye, palm trees and blue seas.

We were only here for a week, and yet it felt like a lifetime. I’m not the same girl who boarded the plane in Atlanta.

This island changed me.

I fish my phone from my purse as Amiya chats away with the gentleman across the aisle.

Tapping the screen so I can place it into Airplane mode before tucking it in the back of the seat in front of me, I pull up the text from Conrad one more time.

Conrad: I miss you so damn much. I’m sorry. I fucked up. Please come to New York.

New York …

Avie

Present Day—Five Years Later

“Here we go. The key sticks a bit, so you just have to wiggle it in the lock.”

I follow the elegant older woman with silver hair up the cobblestone path from the street to the covered porch of the weathered coastal cottage. Her brightly colored kaftan gently flows around her on the breeze, carrying the scent of jasmine.

The house sits on a tranquil lot by the water. It’s quite the change from the sleek, modern SoHo apartment that we’ve called home for the past four years, with its dark-pitched roof, robin’s-egg-blue clapboard siding, and dormer windows.

As the owner, Sabel Hollister, leads me up the three steps to the front door, I note how the sun-bleached appearance of the fading paint only adds to the house’s character.

My attention is drawn to the small garden situated to the left. It’s overgrown with beach grass and lavender hydrangeas, weighted with spring blooms that are dancing in the cool afternoon breeze.

“I’ll have my husband, Sebby, come by and oil it for you after he gets home from work this evening,” she says as she pushes the heavy oak door open and guides me into the foyer, which opens to the intimate and cozy living area with a low ceiling, exposed beams, and hardwood floor.

“Welcome to Sandcastle Cottage. The home comes furnished, of course. If you have personal items you’d like to use instead, we can have our furniture moved to storage,” Sabel explains.

The vintage furnishings are ideal for the space, as is the decor, featuring nautical-themed pieces and maritime artifacts. Together, it all evokes a sense of seaside charm and nostalgia. Just what I was looking for.

I shake my head.

We’ll only be here in Sandcastle Cove for six months, the length of my contract with The North Carolina Sea Turtle Project, working in conjunction with the Sandcastle Cove Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center.

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