A Second Chance Christmas Kiss (Jewel Cove Beach #1)

Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Charles

We were halfway through the movie, and my grandmother and Hazel were laughing about something. They were all cozied up under the electric blankets I had plugged into some Goal Zero solar equipment. I was satisfied that they were warm enough. My brothers and I were huddled together, trying not to talk too loudly, but we weren’t the quietest bunch. Several people shushed us, which only made us laugh.

“I’ll be back in a sec,” I said, standing, then added to my grandmother and Hazel, “Ladies, don’t have too much fun.”

My grandmother smiled. “Okay.”

I made my way around the crowd and toward the bathroom. When I came out, I couldn’t help but be drawn to the sound of the ocean. I hadn’t been to the beach since coming home three days ago. Usually, I took a day to spend time at the beach, but it had been cold.

As I stared at the beach line, I noticed someone standing out in the water. It was clearly a woman, and she was almost up to her knees.

Was it her? Melody?

Unable to stop myself, I headed down the little path to the beach. I bent and took off my loafers and socks at the end of the boardwalk. My shoulders automatically relaxed when I felt the sand between my toes. Why had I ever left this place?

As I grew closer to the figure in the water, I doubted myself. Maybe it wasn’t Melody after all. Then I saw her blonde hair coming out of the headband.

She turned and looked at me. I stopped walking. Between the distance and the darkness, I couldn’t see her eyes, but I could feel the intensity of her gaze. Something was wrong. I hurried toward her.

With a jolt, she grabbed her shoes and socks and darted along the waterline, going the opposite way.

I started running, feeling like a stalker. “Melody? Melody!”

She didn’t stop, and I picked up my pace. I ran on the treadmill a couple times every morning, and it was finally paying off.

Melody reached the end of the beach where the water met rocks. She made her way toward the trail that would allow her to enter the park farthest from where the movie was being played. She bent at the beach sprayer and sprayed off her feet.

I caught up to her and approached cautiously. “Melody?”

She looked up and scowled. “What do you want?”

“Why were you running away from me?”

She finished washing off her feet and then put her hands on her hips. “Maybe I didn’t want to talk to you.”

“Why?”

She moved to the side of the water station and rubbed her feet on the grass, carefully getting the rest of the sand off. “Do I have to have a reason?”

I brushed the sand off my feet and followed her, stopping only to pull on my shoes and socks. “I just want to talk for a sec.”

She scoffed. Her face was so different from what I remembered. The angles of her cheeks were more pronounced now. More mature. She was breathtakingly beautiful.

“What do you want me to say, Charles?”

My heart raced, and I floundered for an answer. “I don’t know. ‘Hey, Charles, how are you? I haven’t seen you in nineteen years. How are you doing?’” I shrugged. “We were … friends.”

She folded her arms. “Is that what we were, Charles?”

“Yeah, since we were, what? Eight?” I mimicked her, folding my arms in the same way. “I met you on the beach that day by the lighthouse, remember?”

She frowned. “Our friendship ended nineteen years ago.”

“Is there a timetable on friendship? I mean, I’m just asking. You should probably keep the promise you made to me since the first day I met you and you said we would be friends from then on.”

I was rewarded with a genuine smile.

“Charles, we were eight.”

“Is there a timetable on promises?”

She blew out a breath. “I…don’t know.”

I wanted to keep her talking. “What do you say? Are we still friends?”

She opened her mouth but then shut it, looking away. “Don’t friends talk occasionally? Wouldn’t friends have coffee and know about each other’s lives?”

“Then I guess it’s time for coffee or something.”

She met my eyes and then shook her head. “That’s not what I meant.”

I found myself wanting to pull apart everything about her. I wanted to ask a million questions. “Or dinner? I’d take dinner tomorrow.”

The side of her lip quirked up, and she faced me. “Always the negotiator, Charles. That’s what you’ll take ?”

I grinned back. “That’s what I’ll take. What do you say?”

Before she could answer, her eyebrows lowered and she patted her side pocket, then pulled out her phone. “Hello?” She paused, listening, and then her eyes widened. “Okay. I’m coming.” She took off running.

“Wait!” I called, starting after her.

She stopped and gave me a look, pulling her phone from her ear for a second. “Listen, I’ll think about coffee, as friends , if you don’t follow me.”

“Okay.” I forced myself to stop and watch as she disappeared into the night.

Had it really been nineteen years since I’d seen her? Who was on the phone? Where was she going?

“Charles.”

I turned, finding my herd of brothers rushing up the beach toward me. “Hey.”

They were all giving me incredulous looks. Donovan followed my gaze. His eyes widened as he turned back to me. “Was that Melody?”

People from the movie glanced at us, curiosity at our raised voices overriding their desire to see the film’s ending.

Sebastian’s eyebrows went up. “ The Melody Harris was just here?”

I nodded.

Liam laughed. “Wow.”

“Shh,” I told them and gestured toward the beach. “Let’s go talk down there.”