Page 2 of Western Waves

“Not in the physical, but when you step into the water, I swear you can feel her. Remember how I told you about Yamiya? How she protects us all?”

I nodded.

“Well, your mom has joined the goddess in the ocean, and whenever you need to feel her, you can go stand in the water and breathe in her love. Plus, you can make wishes in the ocean, and they will help make them come true.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I can feel her in the ocean and make wishes whenever I want to?”

“Whenever.”

“Like… now?”

Grams hopped up from the porch swing, then held her hand out toward me. “Right now.” I took her hand, and she pulled me up from the chair. She lowered herself until we were eye to eye. “I’ll race you to the water. The first one who gets there gets to pick their favorite dessert for us after dinner tonight.”

“What’s your favorite dessert?”

“Liver and onions.”

I made a face. “Ew! I don’t want that!”

“Then you better run fast. One… two… three… go!” she shouted.

I took off running toward the water as the sun began to get sleepy and the sky looked like cotton candy. My arms flung in the air as I dashed as fast as my legs allowed. I fell into the water. It hit my toes, then my ankles, then my knees. I swung around as the waves splashed against me, and Grams joined me not long after. We laughed and danced and felt Mama’s love as the water moved with us.

Maybe Grams was right. Maybe Mama was a part of the ocean. That made me happy because that meant I could talk to her whenever I needed to just by walking into the water. Plus, Grams said I could see Mama when I looked at myself, too. From my natural coiled hair to my brown skin. Every piece of me looked just like Mama, even my eyes and nose.

We stayed in the water for a long time. It wasn’t until Kevin came walking toward the shore that we stopped our splashing. He seemed tired and a little sad, but he’d looked that way for a while now, ever since Mama became a part of the ocean.

Grams said he was sad because he lost his soul mate in Mama. Even though they weren’t married like Kevin and Catherine, Grams was convinced that a soul mate could be a person’s best friend. And when a person lost their best friend, it felt like their own heart stopped beating for a while, too.

I hoped Kevin’s heart would beat again.

I didn’t like him being sad.

Kevin wasn’t wearing any shoes as he walked through the sand. His white button-down shirtsleeves were rolled up, and his hands were slipped into the pockets of his blue pants. He gave me a kinda-smile. A kinda-smile was when a person tried to turn their lips into a full smile, but they got tired halfway through, and it fell down into a kinda-frown.

Grams and I stood in the water as Kevin’s kinda-smile looked our way.

“Is everything okay?” Grams asked.

He nodded.

Grams raised an eyebrow. “And Catherine?”

His kinda-frown turned into a full frown. “Won’t be a problem anymore.”

“I’m sorry,” Grams said.

“I’m not,” Kevin replied. He turned to me and gave me a real smile. “Hey, kiddo. I have a question for you.”

“Shoot, buckaroo!” I shouted as the waves knocked me back and forth.

“What do you think about staying with me forever?”

My eyes widened, and I felt as if my heart was going to explode. “Really?”

“Yeah. I think you and I would make a good team, don’t you? And Grams, of course, staying in the guesthouse?”

Grams nodded. “If you’d like me to stay, I’ll stay, Kevin.”

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