Western Waves (Compass 3)

“What’s your favorite dessert?”

“Liver and onions.”

I made a face. “Ew! I don’t want that!”

“Then you better run fast. One… two… three… go!” she shouted.

I took off running toward the water as the sun began to get sleepy and the sky looked like cotton candy. My arms flung in the air as I dashed as fast as my legs allowed. I fell into the water. It hit my toes, then my ankles, then my knees. I swung around as the waves splashed against me, and Grams joined me not long after. We laughed and danced and felt Mama’s love as the water moved with us.

Maybe Grams was right. Maybe Mama was a part of the ocean. That made me happy because that meant I could talk to her whenever I needed to just by walking into the water. Plus, Grams said I could see Mama when I looked at myself, too. From my natural coiled hair to my brown skin. Every piece of me looked just like Mama, even my eyes and nose.

We stayed in the water for a long time. It wasn’t until Kevin came walking toward the shore that we stopped our splashing. He seemed tired and a little sad, but he’d looked that way for a while now, ever since Mama became a part of the ocean.

Grams said he was sad because he lost his soul mate in Mama. Even though they weren’t married like Kevin and Catherine, Grams was convinced that a soul mate could be a person’s best friend. And when a person lost their best friend, it felt like their own heart stopped beating for a while, too.

I hoped Kevin’s heart would beat again.

I didn’t like him being sad.

Kevin wasn’t wearing any shoes as he walked through the sand. His white button-down shirtsleeves were rolled up, and his hands were slipped into the pockets of his blue pants. He gave me a kinda-smile. A kinda-smile was when a person tried to turn their lips into a full smile, but they got tired halfway through, and it fell down into a kinda-frown.

Grams and I stood in the water as Kevin’s kinda-smile looked our way.

“Is everything okay?” Grams asked.

He nodded.

Grams raised an eyebrow. “And Catherine?”

His kinda-frown turned into a full frown. “Won’t be a problem anymore.”

“I’m sorry,” Grams said.

“I’m not,” Kevin replied. He turned to me and gave me a real smile. “Hey, kiddo. I have a question for you.”

“Shoot, buckaroo!” I shouted as the waves knocked me back and forth.

“What do you think about staying with me forever?”

My eyes widened, and I felt as if my heart was going to explode. “Really?”

“Yeah. I think you and I would make a good team, don’t you? And Grams, of course, staying in the guesthouse?”

Grams nodded. “If you’d like me to stay, I’ll stay, Kevin.”

“I’d love that,” he replied. “I’ll need you.”

“All of us will be living here?” I asked. “Like a family?”

“Yes. A family. What do you say about that?” Kevin asked.

“Forever?”

He nodded. “Forever.”

I didn’t even have time to give him any more words because I ran toward him and leaped into his arms. Grams joined us in a big group hug, and I held on to them both as tight as I could.

“Thanks, Mama,” I whispered as I hugged Kevin.

Grams and Kevin didn’t know it, but when I was in the ocean, I wished for a family again. That was how I knew that the ocean really did have powers—because my biggest wish came true.

1

Stella

Present Day

* * *

“You have got to be kidding me,” I huffed to myself as I stood in a remarkably long line for Jerry’s Bakery.

I wasn’t a woman who enjoyed waiting in lines. Not for concert tickets, not for food, not for Black Friday deals. As a matter of fact, I went out of my way to avoid lines to the best of my ability. If more than ten people were in front of me, there was a solid chance I wasn’t sticking around to try the new popular chicken sandwich. Oh, those new sneakers I’d been dying to get? Awesome! A line with twenty-five people? I’d get them next season, thankyouverymuch.

Yet that Saturday morning, I found myself standing in an extremely long line. I needed two things and two things only from Jerry’s: one blueberry scone and a black coffee with two sugar cubes. No substitutions, no matter what. There was an issue with going to Jerry’s on a Saturday morning because the whole world seemed to show up for the fresh goods. The line was wrapped around the building by eight in the morning, and I didn’t reach the front door until 8:35.

Normally, I showed up at the bakery during the week, when rush hours died down during my break from work. No part of me ever wanted to show up at Jerry’s early on a Saturday, but I didn’t have much choice that morning.