Page 20 of Hide Away By the Sea

McLean Charters had been a family business for several generations. Before taking it over, I graduated from UNC Wilmington with an Ocean Science degree. My parents wanted me to have something to fall back on if the business went under. Hopefully, one day, I’d have someone to pass the McLean legacy down to.

Everleigh snorted. “I know a thing or two about working your ass off. It’s all I do these days.”

It was quiet as Everleigh and I gazed out at the ocean.

“I’m sorry you didn’t get to go on the trip with your grandmother,” I said quietly, my arm almost touching hers. She didn’t move away; it felt nice for me to be close to her again. “I know she was really looking forward to it,” I added, glancing her way.

Her lips quivered. “When did you two last speak?”

There were things that Everleigh probably wasn’t aware of, stuff Rachel had kept from her.

“Two weeks ago,” I replied. “The day before I left.”

Everleigh’s head snapped toward me, surprise written on her face. “She didn’t tell me that.”

With a sigh, I leaned against the railing and crossed my arms over my chest. “Rachel and I talked pretty often,” I admitted. “And weren’t you the one not wanting to hear anything about me?”

She looked taken aback by my statement. “I . . .” she began but stopped short.

Waving off her words, I pretended not to care even though it wasn’t true at all. “It doesn’t matter now,” I lied. “We’ve both moved on with our lives and are happy.”

“Right. We’re happy now,” she said low.

She turned away from me, but a hint of doubt lingered in her voice, making me curious if Michelle was right about Everleigh being jealous. I wanted to test it out.

“Why don’t we go for a walk,” I suggested, hoping it would break the tension.

Everleigh sucked in a breath and stood up straighter. “Sounds good to me.”

She took off first and I followed her down the stairs to the wooden walkway at the back of the house which led down to the beach. Once we got to the end, Everleigh kicked off her sandals and I took off my boots. The thick, white sand was still warm from the afternoon sun, and I welcomed it as we walked toward the water.

“Tell me about your job. You know, being a fancy surgeon and all.”

A grin lit up Everleigh’s face when she looked over at me. “I’m nowhere near fancy. Especially as, according to my aunt Sandy, I don’t live my life like a well-off surgeon would.”

Thinking of Sandy made me grimace. “Never cared for the woman,” I confessed. “She was a pretentious—”

“Bitch,” Everleigh said, finishing the sentence with a laugh. “I had a few choice words to share with her. It felt good to say them.”

“Good for you. I wish I could’ve been there.”

Everleigh bent down to pick up a seashell. “She gave me grief about my car. I couldn’t care less about driving an expensive vehicle or living in a mansion.”

My lips curved into a smile when she said that. I had been worried about how much medical school would change her, but it seemed like Everleigh was still the same person underneath it all.

“I’m guessing Sandy headed out of town?” I asked.

She looked at me as if I were crazy. “Seriously? She was gone as soon as she got the chance,” she replied.

“Yeah, I figured,” I muttered in response.

Everleigh placed the seashell back in the sand and stood up. “What makes it even sadder is that my cousins didn’t attend the funeral. My grandmother tried so hard to get them to stay with her for summer vacations. Every time they’d decline, I could hear the pain in her voice.”

Tears welled up in her eyes and she shifted her gaze to the pier in the distance. There weren’t many people on the beach, just a few scattered around and some children building sandcastles. One of the things I loved most about Oak Island was that there were hardly any crowds.

“They’ll regret it later,” I said confidently.

Everleigh shook her head and kept walking again. “No, they won’t. I don’t think I’ll ever see them again.” Suddenly, she stumbled into a hole, and I instinctively grabbed her arm to steady her. She laughed and clutched at her chest with relief. “Thanks. It’s been a while since I’ve walked on the beach.”

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