Page 67 of Sunsets at the Beach House

Nothing came to her. Nothing.

She stopped and stood at the edge of the water, letting the waves lap at her toes. The ocean was supposed to be a very inspiring place. “Okay,” she whispered. “Give me my next idea. Show me my next song. I only need a few more.”

But the ocean was as quiet as the empty beach house and her ideas seemed to be gone.

Kat drove. They were in her car, so it just made sense. It meant she’d be driving back, too, but she didn’t care. It wasn’t that long of a trip. About two and a half hours. Nothing she couldn’t handle.

Although she’d be pretty worn out by the time they made the return trip. Again, not a big deal. She’d get through it. Then she could spend all of tomorrow laying by the pool or napping if she wanted. After she spent some time with Alex, of course.

Maybe she’d spend the whole day with him. If he was up to it. He might just want to rest. Then again, he might need someone to help him. Having one arm in a sling didn’t make it easy to take care of yourself. Whatever he needed, she’d be there for him.

At some point, though, she’d have to deal with the stuff she brought back. Finding places for it. Sorting through it. Getting rid of some of it. Whatever needed to be done. But she didn’t plan on bringing everything she owned. There was no way that was going to happen. Her intentions were to be brutally honest about what she needed and what she didn’t.

What was that method of decluttering she’d heard about? You only kept the things that sparked joy? Right now, what sparked joy was her new career path, time with Alex, time with her family, and surfing.

She imagined working at Future Florida would soon be one of those things. She was eager to start, but not so eager that she wasn’t glad she still had some days to herself. Once she began working, she’d only have weekends completely free.

She went through what was in her room back in Landry, mentally sorting it all into take and leave piles.

There wasn’t a single piece of furniture in her room outside of her small desk that she planned to bring back. Certainly not the bed where she’d found Ray and Heidi.

Everything in her room at the beach house was nicer or newer or both. Her clothes, which she didn’t have a ton of anyway, she’d just bag up and sort through once she got back to Diamond Beach.

Her shoes, jewelry, and books would come back with her. Some of her mementos and framed photos. The afghan her late Grandma Thompson had crocheted for her. The teddy bear her father had given her on her tenth birthday she wasn’t so sure about.

There were a lot of little things like that which had been gifts from him over the years. Her jewelry box. A Mickey Mouse watch. Last year, he’d given her a glass paperweight that looked like it was filled with tiny flowers. It was beautiful but she wasn’t sure it meant that much to her anymore. There was a taint to all of his gifts now. Sad but, unfortunately, true.

And she didn’t want to keep anything that made her sad.

“What was that all about?” Cash asked.

Kat looked over. “What was what?”

“You just sighed pretty loud.”

“I did?” Kat laughed. “Sorry. I was just thinking. I didn’t even realize I’d done it.”

“Are you regretting the trip back?”

“No, nothing like that. I was just thinking about what I want to keep and what I don’t. Stuff that used to mean a lot to me has lost some of that meaning. You know, with everything that’s happened with my dad.”

“Right,” he said. “I can understand that. It’s got to be so weird trying to make sense of what he did.”

“There is no making sense of it. Unless you come to the conclusion that he was an awful person who didn’t think lying to his three families was a big deal.” She made a face. “Not much of a legacy to leave behind.”

“You know my dad cheated on my mom. Many times. She never really talks about it, but when your dad is Lars Harrison, you can pretty much find out anything you want to about him just by typing his name into a search engine.” He shook his head. “I’ve seen pictures of him with women he claimed not to know.” Cash sighed. “There’s no escaping social media when you’re famous.”

Just thinking about that made Kat suck in a breath. Seeing pictures of a parent like that had to have been a little traumatic. “I can’t imagine how hard that was. Your dad was never around that often, so my memories of him are pretty slim.”

“Mine, too, from when I was a kid. He was always on tour. My memories of him from when I was growing up are mostly of him bringing us presents. He always brought us presents when he showed up.”

Kat laughed, the sound slightly bitter. “Yeah, my dad, too. I guess we have more in common than I realized.” She glanced over. “You like Jesse? This guy Aunt Jules is seeing?”

“Yeah, I like him a lot. The dude is cool. He’s super into music, obviously, and he’s been totally involved in helping my mom make this demo happen. He seems pretty into her, too.” Cash shrugged. “That’s sort of weird, but at the same time, she deserves to be happy, you know?”

“I do know. I feel the same way about my mom and Danny. Not something I would have felt a couple weeks ago, but in light of everything my dad did, I feel like she should go for it. Find her happiness wherever and however. Life is too short.”

Cash was quiet for a second. “How, uh, how’s Alex? Or shouldn’t I ask?”

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