Page 45 of There I Find Hope

“You were the best friend I ever had.” She didn’t seem like she was saying it in order to get a reaction out of him. She couldn’t possibly know how that made his heart flip and his chest feel warm and good.

At least she had good memories of him.

“You were a good friend too. I could always count on you to listen to me, even if you didn’t always understand.”

“I always thought you were interesting. But you’re right, I didn’t always understand everything you said. Although, I can remember listening to you and wondering where in the world you came up with your ideas. I mean, I never would in a million years think of the things that you thought of.”

“I don’t know. I just like putting things together in my head, you know, finding patterns and similarities. But I can’t really explain it any more than that.”

“Well, I think it’s neat. And it helps me see things that I normally wouldn’t see. Because we definitely don’t think the same way.”

They had reached a spot where they could cut through the dunes to get to the cottage, so he led his horse first and assumed that Sunday was following behind.

He cut through some of the overgrown weeds, picking his way to make it as easy for Ricky as he could. The sand was a little deeper, and it was harder to walk in.

He stopped for a moment and looked back. “Is Ricky doing okay?”

“This is harder for him, but he’s fine. Still slow, but he doesn’t seem to be in any great pain.”

He didn’t say anything more, simply turned around and continued on.

He’d seen the cottage several times while he was walking, but he never stopped to check it out. It might not be much in the way of shelter.

But as they made their way back, he was happy to note that while there were vines growing up the sides and a few boards missing on the steps, the roof looked sturdy.

“We should tie the horses in the back?” he asked as she came up beside him and stopped in front of the porch.

“That would keep them out of the worst of the wind.”

She led the way to the back, and he followed.

He thought they were going to have to improvise to find something to tie the horses to, but it turned out that there was a small shed behind the cottage that he hadn’t noticed from the beach. It must have been the way the land lay that it sat hidden, but whatever it was, it was just big enough for both horses to fit in.

“Hopefully it doesn’t blow over,” she said as they closed the door behind them after loosening the girths and taking off the bridles.

“Well, in all the years it’s been here, it hasn’t blown down yet.”

“Today could be the day,” she said with more than a little irony in her voice.

“Maybe it’s selfish, but I’d rather the shed blow down than the cottage,” he said as they walked up the steps, careful to avoid the second step which was missing several boards.

“This would have been a beautiful place to live at one point,” she murmured as he carefully opened the door.

“It kind of feels like it might have always been just a summer cottage, never a permanent residence, but I could be wrong.”

Normally he would have allowed her to go first, but he didn’t know what they might find inside, so he stepped into the cabin himself.

He didn’t expect it to be overrun with animals, but a person never knew.

There were no cupboards or counters. All that was in the room was a fireplace and a table with four chairs. One of the chairs lay on its side, like it had been bumped over by something over the years and no one had ever bothered to pick it back up.

The windows were dirty, but they allowed the dim light to filter in, which seemed to be the only light in the cabin.

“There are no switches for electricity.” She looked around. “I think you’re right. This was just a little place for people to take a break during the summer.”

“It’s funny, as close as they lived to Strawberry Sands, I never knew who they were.” He pulled a chair out and looked at it. “Do you want me to sit down first to make sure it will hold you?”

“That’s sweet. But you don’t have to do that.”

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