Page 24 of Beached Wedding

Fliss wrinkled her nose in pity at what a tone-deaf move that had turned into, but she quickly brightened with awe.

“This is a really nice room. Can I go out here?” She rolled open the door and let in the scent of a salty breeze, stepping to the rail and peering out to the horizon. “This is amazing!”

“I haven’t even been out here yet.” I joined her. It was pretty fabulous. A panoramic view of white beards and gulls and puffy clouds, sky blue to sea blue, west to east. The wafting palms and shush of the waves immediately soothed me.

I set my coffee on the glass-topped wicker table that sat between matching chairs then went back for one of the snack baskets.

“Are we going to ruin our dinner?Noice.” Fliss sank into the cushions on the loveseat. “Or, are you, like, buying my silence?” She glanced back into the room.

“Fox owns the beach house with Shane. You know I lived with both of them. It’s no big whoop that he asked to use my shower.”

“But were yousleepingtogether when you were there? Okay, I’m sorry!” she hurried to say when I withdrew the chocolate bar I was about to offer. “You have to admit it was kind of freaky for me to find you guys like that, though.”

I shoved a square of ethical trade, dark chocolate into my mouth before offering one to Fliss. I chased mine with a sip of coffee so the mocha flavor melted on my tongue. We both groaned in enjoyment.

“So what happened?” Fliss asked, reading the label on a kombucha and sending me a glance. I nodded and she opened it. “Did Fox say why Shane called it off?”

“Fox talked him out of it.”

“Are youserious?”

I shrugged, stinging all over again. “Shane had doubts and Fox said if he wasn’t sure, he shouldn’t do it.”

“So why are you being nice to him?” Fliss thumbed toward the rail. “Over and out with that guy.”

I bit back a smirk and a sigh. I was always pretty honest with Fliss, but I wasn’t sure how to explain this when I was still sorting through it myself.

“I don’t think he was entirely wrong,” I was forced to admit. No matter how hurtful it was, “Fox had a point. Should I marry someone and move around the world for him if it only takes one conversation with his buddy for him to walk away?”

Fliss flattened her mouth and wrinkled her nose in acknowledgement. “What are you going to do, then? Aren’t your clothes and stuff on the way there? Are you still moving?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’ll spend the week trying to figure it out.”

Fliss ate another piece of chocolate. “What did he even say, though? Shane, I mean. Because I thought you and Shane were like, in love and everything.”

“So did I.” But did I? Did I? I bit my lip. “There’s a difference between thinking you’re in love and being in love, I guess.”

“Like Mom,” Fliss said with a scowl.

I was honest with Fliss, but I was also prudent about what I said to her. Whatever reservations I had about Whitney’s relationships were my own. I would always listen to Fliss vent about my sister, but I didn’t pile on. Whit was Fliss’s mom and, for all her sometimes flighty ways, Whit worked very hard to provide for Fliss and be the best parent she could be. She was way more relaxed with Fliss than our mom had been and I knew that was a direct result of the tight leash Mom had kept on us.

I opened the tin of mixed nuts. Offered them.

“Has she said she loves Oliver?” I asked. “I haven’t spent much time with him, but he seems like he has his life together.”

“Maybe. I don’t know,” Fliss mumbled. “I like it better when she tells me she’s seeing someone, but that she isn’t ready for him to meet me. Or if I only have to say hi to some stranger at the shop. Oliver isalwaysaround. Am I supposed to be friends with him? What do I have in common with a guy who unplugs toilets and makes pancakes on Saturday morning?”

“I thought those creatures were a myth. Like a sasquatch.”

“Right?” Fliss chewed a handful of nuts. “I was really looking forward to being able to come see you in Australia. Maybe live there with you and go to school. I want todosomething with my life.”

Oof. My heart panged so hard it left a crack. “I hear that,” I said wistfully.

“Mom wouldn’t have let me anyway.” Fliss slouched lower on her spine and took a pull off her kombucha. “She would say I could only go if she could go. Grandma would never let thathappen.” She sighed heavily. “At least if you stay in Pine Grove, I could go live with you if Oliver starts hanging around too much.”

“Oh, Fliss.” I squeezed her arm. “She’s your mom. Whatever happens, she loves you and wants you with her. I do, too,” I added to soften the blow. “But I’m only worth half a vote, like Grandma. One quarter if we gang up with you against your mom. Been there and lost, haven’t we?”

Fliss wasn’t in a mood to be teased out of her sulk.

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