Summer Lights

Chapter 1

"Nothing else mattered. It was just us."

- The Best of Me, coming to theaters October 17

Chapter 1

It had been eight long years since Shayla last packed herself into the family car and left the small beach house in Wilmington, North Carolina behind. Only seventeen-years-old at the time and completely broken, she told herself it would be the last time that she’d ever come to this house.

That was eight years ago. During the years in between her mother returned to the house religiously every summer until two years ago when a vicious killer with the name of breast cancer finally claimed her life. Three years before that they’d unexpectedly lost her father to a brain aneurysm. Being the only child Shayla inherited the house and it’s taken this long for her to finally find her way back.

Cruising down the road she pressed the button on the door and the window slid down, allowing the warm ocean air to infiltrate her small car. Fingers of guilt pressed down on the back of her neck as she recalled the last conversation she’d had with her mom. She’d asked her to come and stay with her at the beach house for a few weeks but Shayla just couldn’t bring herself to do it. It was too much. Too much pain. Too much hurt. Too many memories.

A month later her mother was gone.

Taking a deep breath she pressed the button again and the window slowly slid back up. Regret sat like a heavy stone in the pit of her stomach. If she could’ve put the past behind her then she would have been there with her mother during those last few precious weeks. Now she was gone and there was nothing that she could do about it.

After that last summer she’d stayed at the house, she’d gone on to college at Appalachian State University. She graduated with a degree in Archeology and then became somewhat of a drifter. She’d lived in six states and eleven cities over the last four years unable to really settle down anywhere in particular. Besides being young and restless, nowhere she’d been up to this point really felt quite like the right place to set her roots down.

The Welcome to Wilmington sign loomed just ahead. Sweat started to bead at the tip of her brow. She was beginning to feel a bit antsy the closer she got. Shayla quickly pressed the button to lower her window once again letting the warm air rush in a second time, kissing her cheeks.

The old beach house had been on the market for a little over six months now. She’d received a call from the realtor last week informing her that they finally had an interested buyer. The buyer was willing to accept the asking price as long as they could close in ten days. Of course she was willing to agree to the terms just so she could put this part of her past behind her once and for all. But agreeing also meant that she had to drop every she was doing in order to return to the old house and pack it up before the closing.

She could do this she told herself. It would be easy. The plan she’d devised was to pack up anything she deemed important enough to keep in boxes to be put into storage. Everything else she would send off to goodwill. It was a simple enough plan. In and out and then she’d be done.

I can do this, she told herself again and with just a pinch of lingering doubt she started to calm down.

A few minutes later she found herself driving down familiar roads. She ended up passing the Piggly Wiggly her family grocery shopped at and the Family Dollar where they bought things like batteries and sunscreen. A little further down she passed the Gas and Go that she used to ride her bike to on many hot summer afternoons for an ice cold bottle of coke.

It was a startling revelation. Everything was just as she remembered. It was as if she never even left.

Turning into the driveway she pulled up to the Carolina blue beach house her parents bought while she was still in diapers. They had both been teachers and the summers off. They wanted a place they could take their kids too during the summer away from all the riffraff in the city. A place to relax and have fun.