Page 56 of Beyond The Break

“A lighthouse,” she says, voice filled with wonder as she closes the passenger’s side door behind her and stares up at the tall building.

“The view is worth the climb,” I round the car and hold my hand out to her, “let’s go.”

Her eyes twinkle with excitement as she places her hand in mine, and we take the path to the lighthouse. Halfway up the winding stairs, I stop and pull her in for a kiss. It’s slow but passionate and I regretfully pull away so that we can get to the top.

“What was that for?” she asks, giggling as we start climbing again.

“Nothing. I just couldn’t wait any longer after being ignored for three days.” I reply, smiling to myself as I give her hand a squeeze.

“I wasn’t ignoring you, I was giving you space,” she corrects me.

Finally reaching the top, we walk out onto the observation deck. The sea breeze whips at our hair and clothes, the feeling invigorating. I steal a glance at Eliana and watch as her eyes light up with wonder as she takes in the panoramic view of endless ocean. She walks the whole observation deck, lookingat not just the ocean but at Saltwater Springs too, the town square glowing with twinkling lights. The nearby music of the Kooky Coconut flows up to us and she turns her wide eyes to mine, smiling up at me with a wide grin. I feel like the luckiest man in the world to have her smiling atmelike that.

“This is incredible,” she exclaims, her voice barely audible over the sound of crashing waves.

“It’s beautiful,” I agree, unable to tear my gaze away from her.

With the moonlight glowing behind her, she looks ethereal. Without thinking, I reach out and take her hand in mine, feeling the familiar electric charge course through my arms at the contact. Her expression softens as she looks up at me, giving me the courage I desperately need.

“Let’s test your theory,” I say, rubbing a thumb over the back of her hand.

“And what theory is that?” she asks, turning us towards the direction of the ocean and taking a seat.

“Your theory that if I stop resisting how I feel about you, you’ll stop being such a distraction,” I answer, taking a seat beside her and pulling her into my side to keep her warm as the wind dances around us, “but you have to promise to come to every practice from now on.”

“Okay,” she says simply, smiling up at me. “I promise.”

I lean down and lay a gentle kiss on her lips, smiling down at her as I pull away. She beams up at me before returning her attention on the sea. We sit in silence watching the waves crash along the shore below, and boats sailing by in the distance before we turn our attention upward to the stars shining in the sky.

“A few years ago, I snuck out with some friends to go stargazing late at night,” she says, breaking the silence as a nostalgic smile pulls at her lips.

“Oh yeah? What happened?”

“We got lost in the woods and found this old, abandoned cabin,” she laughs softly, “it was actually really creepy at first, but one of my friends started a campfire and we spent the whole night staring up at the stars and trading ghost stories. It’s one of my favorite memories.”

“You don’t talk about your friends or family much,” I say, watching as her smile fades from her face and a heavy silence fills the air.

Her eyes cloud over as if she’s lost in her memories and I hold onto her a little tighter, afraid she’ll disappear somehow. The look on her face causes my hairs to stand on edge.

After the longest minute of my life, she breaks the silence.

“A year after finding the cabin, we decided to go back with more people and alcohol,” she whispers, “it was so much fun, we danced and laughed.”

Her smile is sad as her voice trembles with emotion. “My best friend at the time, her name was Alex, called my parents to come and get me when she realized I was too drunk to get home myself.”

I feel her body shake against mine and I instantly regret bringing this up. I can tell it’s hurting her to talk about this, but I can’t bring myself to tell her to stop. I want to know more about her, the good and the bad.

“My parents picked me up and argued with each other on the drive home. My dad was upset that my mom had let me go to the party without him knowing, and she was upset with how strict he was being with me.”

She takes a deep shaky breath and lays her head against my shoulder.

“I don’t remember much except for the sound of screeching tires mixed with my mom’s scream, bright lights, an echo of shattering glass and intense pain in my chest.”

I sit there, arms wrapped around her, in stunned silence.

“When I woke up in the hospital, the doctor and nurses toldme that we were hit by a drunk truck driver,” I feel a damp spot forming on my shoulder where she lays her head, and I know she’s crying. “I survived, but my parents didn’t. They died because of me, and their last moments were spent fighting about me.”

The gravity of her words hangs in the air and my heart breaks for her. My mind immediately jumps back to the night I was speeding from the Kooky Coconut and the fear in her voice when she asked me to slow down. An overwhelming feeling of guilt builds in my chest, now understanding what the cause of her fear was.

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