The Girl in the Locket

Chapter Forty One

Amber spent the entire flight to Florida cursing Rachel's existence and coming up with ways to make her life suck for the rest of the year. She had called a week ago with bad news. The studio had flooded and the roof had caved in when a storm had hit the coast. She wanted to kill her when she told her she hadn't kept up the building insurance when Amber had left. It was a huge mess and would cost a fortune for Amber to fix. She would have to come back and collect the beach house payment just to rebuild the studio, not to mention any damages to the neighbouring properties. The thought of coming back wasn't a good one but as Rachel had kept repeating over and over "You said you would come through the fires of burning hell for me Beaton."

The hire car jolted to a stop outside the studio. Amber exited the small car and lifted her sun glasses from her nose. The studio in front of her was not looking like a mud slide had hit or a tornado had blown it to oz. The studio was completely intact. She walked to the door but found it locked with a note strung on the door.

Don't judge me! I was dropped a lot at birth and any dumb shit I've pulled or said since is a knock on effect of that. Now get to the beach house pronto because fuck me there's a good reason I called and fabricated such bullshit. Rachel xx

Amber ripped the note from the door and threw it into the nearest trash can. She had no idea what Rachel had taken but she was clearly off her fucking head. The small car jolted back to life. Stick shift was foreign to Amber after years of automatic and so the drive to the beach house was a run of near death experiences at every set of lights she had to stop at.

As Amber pulled off of the main road and onto the winding coastal road that wound back to the home she had once shared with her wife, she couldn't help but wonder why Rachel would make her return here.

The stones crunched under the cars wheels as she pulled into the driveway of the stunning little beach house. It sat on its own plot with a green grass to the front and a flurry of colour planted by Sydney in the form of flowers, an abundance of flowers. Of course, sitting in the middle of the yard, four giant sunflowers with a sign among them that read "Welcome home"

Amber pulled the handbrake and took a deep breath before exiting the car. She had no idea why Rachel would want her to meet here, the beach house had sold. The huge four by four in the drive way meant the new owners were home. She knocked the front door apprehensively but nobody stirred inside. She had no idea where Rachel was and she wasn't answering her cell phone.

Amber traced the path around the house to the beach. She took off her boots and dropped them on the grass before sinking bare foot in the sand. She removed her jacket and dumped that by the boots. The air was warm and humid. Her camo green T shirt and black denim shorts would be cool enough alone. She pushed her fingers through her fair hair and left it to fall back down her shoulder blades. As she sunk deeper into a stride through the warm sand she found her eyes drawn to a figure at the oceans edge.

Amber stopped walking and entranced, she watched her. She was wearing a white linen dress that blew lightly in the ocean air. She paddled at the edge of the water as it lapped at the bottom of her tanned legs. Amber's brow creased with confusion as the figure turned and smiled. They both walked toward each other at a slow pace. As the girl got closer Ambers lips twitched into a smile that was mirrored by the girl with the long dark hair crowned with daisies. As they came face to face Amber could clearly see those light green eyes look straight into her soul. She reached out and lightly touched her cheek, silently mesmerised at the girl she saw looking back at her. Her eyes locked onto Ambers as she kissed the back of Amber's hand. "I heard you have been looking for me...HB"

"Sydney" Amber whispered breathlessly.

"I'm so sorry I was gone for so long" Sydney whispered through a falling tear that fell to her lips.