Etching Our Way (Broken Tracks 1)

“Hey.” She spins around in her seat facing the kids. “Hi, Izzie, hi, Clayton. Are you excited to build some sandcastles?”

“I am!” Izzie squeals as I pull away from the curb. “I wanted to bring you a swimsuit to borrow.” I don’t even need to see her face to know that she’s pouting. “But they said that you already have one.”

Harmony chuckles, the freeness of it lifting the tension I’m feeling for a split second. “I do, sweetie, but thank you. That was very thoughtful.”

“I told you she would,” Clay comments, his head already stuck in The Horse and His Boy.

I drive for another ten minutes, the car silent apart from Izzie’s humming before I blurt out, “I made a picnic.”

Why did I just say that?

My eyes widen and my mouth opens and closes, trying to say something else to explain why, but I come up empty.

Harmony looks over at me and grins. “That’s nice, I hope you packed cake.”

“Of course.” I scoff, taking a right turn. “Can’t forget the cake.” I lower my voice to a whisper as I raise my brows. “Izzie would kill me if I did.”

“That makes two of us,” she replies, jokingly.

I chuckle, my lips spreading into a huge grin as she shuffles forward, pressing the button on the radio and screwing her face up at the song that starts to play. She continues to press buttons until she finds a song that she likes and then leans back, smiling softly at me.

Things feel easy with us right now; nothing like the tense atmosphere that has been wrapping around us since I found out that she was the kids’ art teacher. I still have that anger simmering inside, but it’s not toward her anymore; it’s toward the situation that we’re in and the hand that we were dealt.

“We have to have good music on a road trip. Isn’t that right, Izzie?” She spins around in her seat again and sings a line of the chorus with Izzie.

I shake my head at them but I can’t deny that it warms my heart to see them like this. Izzie only has Amelia and my mom to do things like this with, and even though they give her all the attention she needs, it’s still not the same as what a mom would do, no matter how hard they try.

I slow down as I come to the exit for the beach, flicking on my turn signal and pulling the car to the right. Izzie squeals when she sees the sign for the beach with a picture of a sandcastle next to the name.

“I’m so excited!” She shuffles in her seat, lifting up to look out of the window. “It’s the sea! Do you see that, Willow Bear?”

I turn into the makeshift parking lot, putting the car in park and spinning around in my seat. “Who’s ready?”

“Me!” Izzie and Harmony shout at the same time.

I pick my Raybans up off the dash, putting them over my eyes and opening the door, popping the trunk and grabbing the bags as Harmony gets the kids out of the car and holds onto Izzie’s hand.

I hear them chatting away as Clay meets me at the trunk, waiting for me to close it before walking over to the beach with me.

“Izzie likes her,” he comments, tilting his head to the side before looking up at me.

“And you?” I ask, wading through the sand and feeling it filling my shoes.

He coughs. “Yeah, she’s nice.”

My heart skips a beat at the sad look in his eyes but it soon disappears as Izzie calls over to him, asking him to go in the sea with her. He holds his book out for me to hold and I tilt my head, telling him to put it inside the bag that I’m carrying as I have no free hands.

He runs down the beach, stripping off his t-shirt and I turn around before remembering that the kids need—

“Wait! You need sun—” No sooner have I said it do I turn around to where Harmony is standing, a bottle of sunscreen in her hand as she plasters Clay with it before he gets any further.

“Miss J already did it, Daddy.” Izzie sticks her tongue out before placing Willow Bear next to Harmony.

I nod in reply and set the bags down in the spot that Harmony has claimed.

“This spot taken?” I ask, pulling my own t-shirt off.

Her gaze flits over my chest before coming to meet my eyes. “Sure looks that way now.”