Page 104 of Beached Wedding

“Of course.”

“And you,” Sandy said as she hugged me. She held on tight for an extra few seconds. “This isn’t what we expected out of this trip, but that’s life, isn’t it? I’m pleased you’ve got someone who makes you smile as much as Ashley does.”

“Me, too.” My heart was firmly lodged in my throat. “I’ll still keep an eye on him. Don’t worry,” I promised quietly.

“As if I could ever stop worrying about the bunch of yous.” She was teary as she rubbed her lipstick off my cheek. “See you at home.”

ASHLEY

An hour later, I joined my family on the beach where they were just settling in. Ryan asked for Fox the minute I appeared.

“He’ll be down in a while. He’s talking with his friend about their business.”

“Oh?” Mom looked up from the book she was reading under a shade umbrella.

“We had breakfast with the Holloways. Sandy’s looking forward to you visiting us.”

“She’s so lovely, isn’t she?”

“She is. Now, before I do anything else, I’m going to get a photo at the end of that point,” I said, nodding at the rocky outcropping that helped form this sheltered cove next to the hotel. “I’ve been wanting to do it since we got here. Anyone want to join?”

“I’m wiped,” Fliss announced, rolling her soggy body over on the flattened lounger next to Mom and reaching for a dish of grapes. “I got up on the boardthree timeson the other side, but it took, like, a hundred tries.”

“You were surfing this morning?”

“Uh huh. Oliver tried, too.”

“I feel like an old pair of jeans, I spent so much time in the washing machine,” he said.

“Ha. Good on you for making the effort,” I said, wishing I’d caught some video of Fliss, but glad that she and Oliver had found something to bond over. “Iz?”

“I’m sort of living the dream,” she said from her own lounger. She was gleaming with a fresh coat of sunscreen, face mostly hidden by sunglasses, body shaded by her own umbrella. “Do you mind if I make like a lizard?”

“No. It’s your vacation, too. Enjoy it.”

Oliver took Ryan back into the water, but Whitney stood and whisked her sarong around her waist, tying it off. “I’ll come.”

Great. I ignored the way Mom and Fliss and even Izzy watched us walk away.

We didn’t talk as we wended our way between canoodling couples and energetic families and sedate retirees all staked out on the sand. When we reached the first lumps of pocked black rocks, Whitney finally spoke.

“I didn’t think you were serious about him.”

I tilted down my sunglasses to look over them. “Lack of apology not accepted.”

“I’m not going to apologize. My feelings are valid and real,” Whit muttered, picking her way onto the uneven rocks ahead of me.

“I am not breaking up this family! It was never my fault that Mom kicked Dad out and it isn’t now. Ask Mom. We’re not even broken.”So go to hell, Whit.

“Ifeel like we’re broken. Like we lost something a long time ago that I’ve wanted to get back to. I thought this was our chance to finally be…whole.”

“You’re getting married! You’re moving in with Oliver. Taking Fliss. Even if I went back, you won’t be there.”

“You were only supposed to go away on vacation,” she scolded. “Which wasfine. When you said you were getting married and moving there, I pretended I was fine with it, but I’mnot. I never was.”

We came to a spot where the waves were crashing hard enough on the rocks that the spray overshot the ledge and hit our legs.

“Now you’re not even getting married and you’restillmoving away. I’m somadat you for leaving.”

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