Chapter 4
For how rocky the terrain was around here, the whole downtown area was a plateau. The ground was level and perched uphill, overlooking the ocean. As Jamie and I walked the sidewalk, you could hear the waves in the distance behind some of the businesses we past. So far, we saw a couple shops, a few diners, and bars. He also pointed out the post office. Or, as Jamie put it, "The grand magical place, where mail – get this – came from all over the world." Yes, he was definitely an easy-going and energetic guy.
The looming storm clouds and thunder didn't slow his enthusiasm either. "Do you like the rain? Because you might as well get used to it here," he smiled down to me as we walked.
"Don't worry, I love the rain. I imagine it can cause some serious flooding though."
"Yeah, this area doesn't see much flooding since we're uphill. Some other areas in town flood more often though. Can be worth it though just to see how gnarly the waves can get in storms. The beach gets hit the worst for sure."
"Really? You know, with all the rocks and cliffs, I was starting to wonder if there even was a beach."
"Of course there is," he laughed. "I take it you haven't been swimming yet."
"No, but holy god, I want to! I always wanted to swim in the ocean. Yesterday was the first time actually seeing it."
Under the gloomy light, he raised a surprised brow. "You want to say that again?"
"Come on, it's not that shocking. You think there is much ocean in Illinois?"
"But to never have seen it? Ever? You're more of a loser than I thought."
"Me? Who's the one going door to door looking for new friends to hang out with?" I teased.
"Wow. I'll just go and fuck myself I guess," he laughed.
It was crazy, how organic and relaxed we already were with each other. I won't lie either; I was quite flattered how interested he was in me. Maybe it was because I had plenty of questions for him too.
"So have you and your brother lived here your whole life?" I asked.
"We've moved around a bit, but we've been here in Bellport for a while. We were raised on the water, so we keep coming back to it. A small place like this is really nice and simple."
"It's definitely different, but yeah, I love how peaceful it seems here. So what kind of fun stuff is there to do around here?"
"Well, during the summer, we get a lot of tourism. It will pick up in a few weeks especially and a few festivals are coming up. Personally, I like going to bars and jumping off the cliffs into the ocean – as long as I don't do both in the same day."
"Personally, I would rather die than jump off a cliff. Not sure if there is a difference though," I laughed.
"You afraid of heights?"
"Oh, big time. When I drove into town for the first time, I was getting nervous on some of the roads. There were some very deadly-ass steep valleys we were driving next to, and let me tell you, you guys are crazy to not have guardrails," I chuckled and spoke in a more higher and innocent voice as I went into pretend-mode. "'Oh, look at that nice mountain! Oh shit, I looked away for a second and now I am driving off a cliff. Bye world.' You know?"
He shook his head and laughed. "So... what I'm hearing is that you would not like to jump off a few cliffs with me."
"Nope. Sorry."
"Well, you will be missing out. That's something me and my brother really enjoy."
I eyed him skeptically. That was something I didn't expect to hear. "I'm surprised your brother would enjoy anything," I mumbled. "It's crazy how different you guys seem."
"Well, Peter's been through a lot more than I have. Once you get to know him, he's not that bad. He's just more reserved and more blunt, which can make him a dick. All we have is each other though."
What he said... spurred many questions. First, what did he go through? Why did they only have each other? They must not have a lot of family around here or people they were close to. Maybe the most important question was why the fuck did I care? It wasn't my business.
As we continued walking, we eventually found a sidewalk to a long and wooden pier. It guided us over the rocky shoreline until the huge wooden beams supporting the pier moved to the water. Soon as we walked, we were above the bustling and rough waves. There were a few people fishing, but with a storm blowing in, many seemed to be departing. For me, I couldn't get enough.
"It's so beautiful here," I said, leaning against the railing when we reached the end.
Looking into the distance, there were a few wide rock formations jutting above the water. The wind hit my cheeks and raised the goosebumps on my arms, but it didn't take away from the incredible sight. The swelling waves looked beautiful, yet so daunting! Made me want to go swimming even more, seeing the water up close like this. It started to sprinkle, driving out the remaining people on the pier, but not me. I couldn't get enough. Knowing people were used to this... I just couldn't imagine. I would never not admire this sight.
Standing next to me, Jamie could clearly see the admirable look on my face. "I feel like I need to warn you of riptides, sharks, and how strong those waves are just so you don't suddenly decide to jump in this far out."
"It's just amazing to see. I might be excited to go swimming, but I'm not stupid."
"I should hope not. The last thing I need is to rescue you. Then you'll never leave me alone," he said teasingly
"Right, because I am just following you around like a lost puppy, huh?"
"The weirdest and most desperate puppy I've seen in a while."
"Wait, are we now talking about you?" I playfully joked, shaking my head in confusion.
Flashing that pretty smile down to me, leaning towards me, he shook his head and scoffed. "I may be weird, but looky-looky here Miss. Out-of-Towner... I am not desperate."
"No?" I bit my lip.
"No, I feel sorry for you and your ocean-less life back home," he said, his smile shifting as he glanced out over the water. After a nice second, he added, "And since I feel sorry for you, I'll have to show you the beach sometime when the weather isn't so crazy. Even when it's nice out though, the water is always cold and the air isn't much better."
"That's one huge difference here. For being summer, it doesn't seem to get too hot here."
"That's the coast of Oregon for ya. It rarely gets above 80 degrees here, but that's the price for the scenery I guess. If you go into the bay, it's a little warmer though. That's where most people go swimming."
"Sounds like a place for wimps. How far away is the freezing cold public beach on the ocean?"
"Just a few miles back. Then a few miles up is the 'wimpy' inlet that leads into the bay. You would actually like it. It has a boardwalk with a bunch of shops and a marina."
"Well... I suppose I'll have to check that out too someday," I said with a mocking groan.
After walking back, he showed me around a bit more. He pointed out some local business, a few grooming places, and we checked out a few antique shops. It was a cute little town for sure – especially with everything located on one main road. By the time the rain stopped, our soaked selves even got some ice cream. It was a nice enough time that we exchanged numbers so we could plan to go to the beach in the future.
The whole time, I couldn't help but wonder if he was interested in more than just a friendship. Like I said before, I wasn't naive. What guy invites you to the beach because he wants to be 'friends' and nothing more? I suppose the question should be whether or not I would be okay with that if that was the case.
I will not deny it. He was charming and we seemed to click. I couldn't help but admire his pretty face, blue eyes, and cute dimples each time he smiled too. Honestly, maybe I just wasn't accustomed to people being overly nice and wanting simply to just hang out. There weren't many people like that back home. Plus, it's not like I was hot shit. Yeah, maybe he was just that nice of a guy.
However, I was more thrown for a loop when we headed back to our vehicles. Reaching the outskirts of downtown, the small lot we were parked in was tucked between the back of a meat shop and a stretch of trees. My black car and his snazzy pick-up were the only occupants left since it was later in the evening.
When we reached my car, I couldn't help but notice he was looking around us. "What are you looking around for?"
"Nothing, I'm just trying to figure out if it's going to start raining again."
I waved a hand over his wet clothes and damp wavy hair. "Because that sure stopped us earlier," I teased.
He rolled his playful eyes. "Well, despite the rain, it was an honor showing you around your brand-new home today. Hopefully this massive town wasn't too overwhelming. Until next time," he said, outstretching his hand.
"You bet," I smiled, grasping his hand to shake.
However, Jamie gently tightened his fingers around my palm and stepped closer. The intimate scent of his cologne reached me as he loomed over me (wow, he really was quite tall, which says a lot considering I was also tall). Searching his eyes, his face as he came closer, my breath caught. What was he doing? Then, he cupped his other hand over mine, just... holding it still and in place between both his palms. Yes. He was just holding my hand. Talk about downright strange.
"Um... what are you doing?"
Jamie raised a brow. An intensity and confusion grew in his eyes. He looked between my face and my hand between his, as if he expected something to happen. As if he was looking for an answer. Trust me, I was looking for answer too. What was this about?
Before I could rip my hand away, he dropped his one hand and finally gave me a regular handshake. You know, like a normal person. "Sorry, I'm just surprised how cold your hand is," he said, cupping my hand again with a small laugh.
"You have a weird sense of humor," I half chuckled after our hands dropped.
"That's how I roll, Josephine," he said proudly before flashing a smile. "Anyway, it was fun hanging out today. It's supposed to be perfect beach weather in a few days (as perfect as you can get anyway) if you'd like to go."
Opening my car door, I smiled over to him. "That would be great. Just text me and we can figure out a time. Anyway, thanks for today! It was fun checking everything out."
As I drove home, I couldn't help but replay the events of our time. There was something about him that... captivated me. It wasn't just his enthusiasm, sweetness, or his weird sense of humor (which he displayed with his dumb handshake joke). Maybe it was because I still wasn't sure if his intentions. Or maybe it was just because he was the first person here I spent real time with. After all, I wanted new people in my life, new experiences, new things to make life interesting.
That was my goal. New things to make life fun and interesting.
Of course, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. I would learn my boring life becoming 'interesting' didn't mean it would be a good interesting. I would learn my boring life – even my problematic life back home – wasn't nearly as bad as I once thought it was.
***
When I woke the next day, I headed downstairs and was surprised to find breakfast. More like a breakfast buffet. Steaming eggs, pancakes, and bacon were displayed on the counter. Liz was buttering toast while David sat at the table on his phone. My first thought was: what the fuck was she guilty about and what was the bad news?
"Wow. That's a lot of food," I noted, eyeing Liz skeptically.
She turned to me with a smile. "Sure is. Good morning!" she said cheerfully.
The last time Liz went all out for me, it was when she offered to buy me anything I wanted. Which turned into me tagging along with her and her friends at the mall. And the reason? She accidently overfed and killed my pet fish when I was maybe seven. Wonder what the reason was for this breakfast....
"Alright. Is this a 'bad news' kind of breakfast or an 'I fucked up' kind of breakfast?" I nervously chuckled.
David glanced over to me and my curly mess of hair. "Jesus girl, this is becoming a 'you need to run a brush through that nest before anyone sees it' kind of breakfast."
"Why? Should I be trying to impress you with my good looks?" I joked.
Buttering the last slice of toast, Liz turned to me with a smile. "I have an extra hour before I need to go into work, so I figured I would cook breakfast. And it's all done if so make a plate. It's not like I've been able to spend much time with you since you've been here."
I guess that wasn't too bad. Knowing she was at least trying, it made me smile to myself. "Oh, wow, well sweet! You didn't need to do all this, but hey, I appreciate it! You know, whenever you have a full day off and aren't busy, we should go do something."
"Yeah, I would love to show you around town sometime."
I couldn't help but feel a little awkward. Tying my curls up sloppily, I grabbed a plate along with her and filled it with pancakes. "Actually, I had a friend already show me around town yesterday."
"Oh. Where did you meet her?"
"I waited on him and his brother actually."
"Ah. A manly friend," she said with a note of interest after we sat down at the table.
She always gave me a hard time when it came to meeting guys. My dating history was not that extensive, so it was a subject she always found fascinating – and almost a point of amusement. For how pushy she always was, it was satisfying to let her down.
"Yeah, he ironically was the brother of the guy I crashed into. He wanted to make it up to me, so calm down, we're just friends," I said, taking a bite of my pancakes.
"Whatever you say. Still, we should go do something. We could go shopping or we could even drive up to the college and check it out. It's only like 25 minutes north."
"That would be fun." Not really, but it would be worth just spending time with her! I couldn't believe she was the one with these suggestions and it made me even more excited. "So when is your next day off?"
"Um... I actually won't have a day off until I get back."
"Until you get back?"
She took a deliberately long-time chewing. David wasn't scared to tell me though. "This lucky bitch is going to Florida for a week. You know, where you can go to the beach in the summer and have the temperature reach above 80."
Ah. So that was the reason for this grand feast and her friendly suggestions. Not because we haven't spent much time together, but because we won't be anytime soon. Not once, not fucking once, did she ever mention going on a trip.
"Florida, huh?" I smiled lightly, swallowing any sign of irritation with my pancakes.
"Sometimes, we need to travel around the country to give presentations – to both our bosses and people in the area about our successes. There people are usually into buying vacation homes or into the big-money flipping business. So we try to draw them into buying property here. That's the gist anyway. This time, it's in Florida," she said.
"Wow. That's really cool. Are you forced to go on trips like that often?"
David spoke up again. "Forced? We all try fighting to go. It's a paid trip and you get a lot of time to do whatever you want. Liz is one of the best though, so she knows how to suck up to our boss in order to go."
Oh nice. Even better. She volunteered. She volunteered and was excited to leave when I just got here. I know it was probably wrong to be upset with her, but you would think after barely seeing each other for so long, that she would pass this time. The least she could have done was mention it before! Jesus, why was I more sad and disappointed? I should be pissed, but trust me, I was.
"That does sound fun," I said, faking a smile.
"Jos, it's going to be mostly meetings and presentations."
It didn't sound like just meetings according to David. I could already see her sunbathing on the beach and drinking a margarita. Now, don't get me wrong. I enjoyed my independence, but I was hoping to spend some time with her. I shouldn't be surprised though. This was just like Liz to do this.
The conversation veered into a different direction – which made us all a little more comfortable. I wasn't a doormat, but I didn't like confrontation, especially with a sister I was trying to get closer to. That was the only reason I bit my tongue and acted fine with it. I will say though I didn't expect her to address it again after breakfast.
Before she headed to work, she knocked on my door just as I finished getting dressed. Pursing her glossy lips, she brushed a blonde lock of hair behind her ear. "Listen, I have to head to work, but first... I want to say that I am really sorry."
"For what?"
"For going on this trip. I really didn't want to tell you about it because I felt terrible since you just got here. There will be more trips in the future, so maybe I can have you come with me sometime?"
"That would be nice sometime," I nodded.
"And I promise, promise, when I get back, we'll go do something fun."
That short exchange actually meant a lot to me. Not to mention, Liz would be Liz. I didn't expect her to change and I didn't expect her to be around a lot. But I guess I was just more accustomed to putting family first before myself. Don't worry though guys. She reassured me David would be next door if I needed anything when she leaves for a week. As if that was a huge concern of mine.