Page 74 of Fighting the Tide
“I love you too, Avery Sanderson.”I press a kiss to the top of her head as she pulls away quickly and jogs to her car, opening the door and jumping inside.She’s never been one to handle emotion well, avoiding it at all costs.So I don’t take offense to her abrupt leaving this time.
I head to my car and get inside, slipping the key into the ignition and taking a few minutes to look around me.Brooke’s Cinemas blink above my head, a few of the lights long burned out, and I rest my chin on the wheel.“I hope you can find some peace soon, and I’m sorry I can’t stay here to help you do that.”
I put the car in reverse and pull out of the parking lot, forcing my lungs to expand with air.I turn out onto the street and stop at the stop sign in front of the gelato stand, and that’s when I see her on her bike.The ghost of Brooke.She stands beside the gelato stand, her hair hanging in thick waves around her face.My vision distorts as tears gather, but this time, instead of ignoring her, I lift my hand in farewell, content at knowing she’s the last person I’ll see as I leave Chatham.
She lifts her hand as I pull away from the stop sign and head out of town, my eyes flicking from the windshield to the mirror as she grows smaller.
“Goodbye, Brooke,” I whisper.
Part Four
Home
Playlist
Home Playlist - 2016
“Lips of an Angel” - Hinder
“Set Fire to the Rain” - Adele
“One More Night” - Maroon 5
“Ivy” - Frank Ocean
“Pillowtalk” - Zayn
“Closer” - The Chainsmokers and Halsey
“Stitches” - Shawn Mendes
“One Call Away” - Charlie Puth
“Thinking Out Loud” - Ed Sheeran
“Hello” - Adele (Play during the epilogue)
Chapter Thirty-Four
June 2016
IgroanagainasI make a left-hand turn, my body still tense after three hours of driving.The feeling of restlessness and irritation hasn’t dissipated during that time.In fact, I think it’s only worsened.I don’t want to do this… at all.My eyes flick to the card sitting on the passenger seat of my Range Rover, and I curse my best friend’s name out loud.
“Fucking Avery,” I growl, my fist hitting the steering wheel.It’s been over a month since that card came in through the mail, and I still haven’t come to terms with what I’m doing.Engagement party.
Avery has been blowing my phone up for the past four weeks, and I’ve been sulking too much to pick up the calls.I don’t want to say anything that would ruin this special time for her, because trust me, there was nothing nice I could think of.I sound like a fucking asshole, and granted, I am one, but I’m not happy about having to drive to Chatham after five years of avoiding it.
I could have said I couldn’t make it.There were many excuses I could’ve come up with, but Avery, being my best friend, would see right through each and every one of them.I no longer work a job.I’ve been retired for the last six months, living off the money I’ve accumulated from working my ass off for nearly five years.I produced some of the biggest movies in Hollywood and I don’t think I had a single full night’s sleep during the four years after leaving Chatham.I threw myself into my career because it was all I had and I was happy with that.Now, instead of flying to Amsterdam and touring across Europe, I am on my way back to my living nightmare.
Thankfully, I was still going through renter applicants for this summer when the card arrived in early May, so I at least can stay in the newly renovated cottage for the week I’m there.I hadn’t really thought that through though, because it’s no longer the cottage I grew up in.Darren did a fantastic job of renovating it, and I bet the photos don’t even do it justice.I’m going to feel like a stranger in the town I grew up in, even more so than when I was a kid.
Monica and Avery getting engaged wasn’t a surprise.I knew they’d somehow get to this point the second Avery told me she was moving back home.I just didn’t think I would be forced to go back there too.No matter how much I’m sulking, I am happy that they found their happily ever after.The road was a rocky one, filled with dangerous terrain, but they did it.The hate they received for most of their lives means nothing now.They survived and so did their love.Over the last five years, I have grown to love Monica, and she’s become someone of importance to me too.My found family grew from just Avery to include Monica and her son, Elijah.
Monica had a baby boy a few months after she moved back to Chatham, and she finally found the nerve to stand up to her parents about who she was in love with.By the time Elijah turned six months old, Avery and Monica were back together.To say I was ecstatic is an understatement.Avery finally had the girl she’s always loved and a family she’s only dreamed of.Elijah is a good kid and they’re raising him to be an accepting and loving boy, a new generation so vastly different from the one we grew up with in Chatham.
The ringing of my phone sounds inside the Range Rover just as I’m passing the Chatham town sign, the sight making my stomach knot with anxiety.Thisis what I’ve been avoiding.The irrational stress I feel inside this town’s boundaries.I press my finger to the screen on the dash and accept Avery’s call.There would be no point in avoiding her further.
“Yeah.”I hear her gasp on the line when she realizes I’ve picked up and then seconds go by in silence.“Was there a reason why you called?”I ask, finally breaking the awkward stillness.
