"No matter where you go, there you are."
•••
"Was that not the absolute best seafood you've ever had in your life?" Della sighed, patting her belly happily.
We were exiting the restaurant we chose to visit: Crabby Dan's. It was yet another hole-in-the-wall joint, decked out like an old shipwreck. Seriously, there were mossy anchors, old oars, and moldy fishnets all over the place. The tables were even made of old, recycled boat pieces. Not exactly my first choice. But at this point in the game, I trusted Della's choices for food. She never made a mistake on that front. I still caught myself waiting for the moment when we'd both end up with food poisoning, but at least I knew the food would be worth it every time. But in this case, Della was more right than usual in her choice.
"It was definitely decent," I admitted, stretching my arms over my head. I ate way too much and my stomach felt like it would burst if I moved at all. The stretching seemed to help a bit though. A yawn slipped out before I could contain it.
"Yawning already, are we?" Della giggled. I heard a swift click! and a small flash popped.
"Really, Della?" I chuckled, my arms still above my head. I was actually smiling now.
What can I say? The way to a guy's heart is through his stomach. Besides, food can change literally anyone's mood. I was no exception.
Della grinned as she held up the polaroid for me to see. Not my most flattering picture. I was half smiling, half yawning. But it seemed to sum up how I felt inside my stomach at the moment.
"No more yawning, deal?" she checked, shoving the camera and photo back into her bag. "We still have a lot to do before naps are allowed."
"But where are we even going to—?"
She cut me off with a stern look. "Jason, stop worrying about the future. Enjoy the now. We'll find a place to sleep when the time comes."
Bossy...
I rolled my eyes. "Fine."
"Excellent!" her old smile was back. "Now get in the Beetle! Next stop: beach!!"
•••
The beach was crowded to say the least. But it wasn't as crowded as it could've been. At first glance, it looked like it was mostly just college students, a handful of high schoolers, and a few retired couples scattered across the breadth of the sand. Buff guys with boards dashed out to greet the oncoming waves, cute girls in bikinis ran around playing sand volleyball, and starry-eyed couples walked arm-in-arm as their bare feet grazed the edge of the ocean. It wasn't exactly what I imagined the beach looking like. But none of this fazed Della Rae. Not at all.
"It's perfect," she whispered, staring out the window. A moment of silence passed, and I realized that those words were not necessarily directed at me. It appeared that she was just verbalizing her thoughts.
As I silently debated whether or not I was supposed to answer this comment, Della snapped out of her quiet reflection and turned on me. "What are you waiting for, Lovett? We're here! Let's go!"
Upon closer inspection, the beach grew in beauty in my mind. It was late in the afternoon, so the hottest part of the day had passed. A soft breeze blew, carrying the salty scent of the waters until it rolled off my skin. The sun was blooming into the rich, thick colors as it always does near the end of its long stretch, but the clouds screened some of its brilliance. Seashells decorated the edge of the water like some sort of pearl necklace. The white sand slid through my toes, warming my feet with the heat it had captured through the day. My hair was tousled by the wind, but somehow I didn't care.
Della stood next to me, a wide-brimmed sunhat on her head and her lavender locks flowing freely. She had changed into a loose-fitting teeshirt and a long wrap-skirt that tied up at her thigh. Her feet were bare as well, stretching in the warm sand like mine were.
"Come on, Jason," she said, "we have to stand on the edge."
She grabbed my hand without a second thought and dragged me down to the water's edge. I stumbled behind her, too surprised to protest. She seemed so determined and so serious all of the sudden. I didn't have it in me to argue with her.
Soon, we reached a standstill. The foamy waves lapped at our feet, washing away the dusting of sand that had accumulated there in the past few minutes. In the distance, the sky met the water in a fuzzy, blurred line. It somehow reminded me of a painting.
My brother's wife, Gracie, liked to paint. She liked acrylics.
I suddenly caught myself wondering how Grant and Gracie were doing, feeling like a butthead for not calling or at least texting them the past few days to let them know I was alive.
I really need to check in with them. I wonder how the baby's doing...
It took a few moments of profound silence between me and Della for me to finally glance over out of the corner of my eye at her. She merely stood still, her eyes closed, and she was breathing slowly—deeply. Her brow was slightly wrinkled, like she was concentrating. It was as if she was taking in everything; the breeze, the waves, the sand, the light of the setting sun... She was metabolizing it, devouring it hungrily like someone who was starving to death.
It suddenly hit me that Della Rae was not what she seemed.
The happy-go-lucky, childlike girl I knew (and the one everyone else knew) was not the same Della who stood before me with her surprisingly strong guard down in this moment. There was something else, something I couldn't put my finger on. But it was there. There was something more to Della Rae, and now, more than ever, I was determined to find out what it was.
"Have you ever thought," she said, not opening her eyes, "about how people used to believe that the ocean was the end of the earth?"
She must have sensed me staring at her.
"How do you mean?" I asked, managing to tear my eyes away.
"When people thought the world was flat... They thought that the skyline was the end of the earth and that if you kept on sailing, you'd tip off the edge."
"Yeah, they always said growing up that Columbus was trying to prove that the earth was round," I replied, rubbing the back of my neck. The breeze felt so good. "Turns out that's not really historically accurate. Lots of people knew the earth was round in his day."
"Yes, but still..." she breathed, brushing off my comment. She finally opened her huge grey eyes. She stared wistfully at the sunset as it fell. "There was someone out there who thought that this was the last step you'd ever take on land." She playfully kicked at the foamy wave that splashed up as she said this and she giggled softly.
"Yeah, I guess so," I replied, nudging a shell out of the mud with my foot. "Never thought about it like that."
Della sighed and unexpectedly threw out both of her arms and spun around in a whimsical circle. "What do you think of the beach, Jason Lovett?"
"It's nice," I conceded. "Not what I was expecting, but still nice."
"Well, the best part is yet to come."
"Oh? How so?" I questioned, actually very curious at her meaning.
She just smiled mysteriously. "Just wait."
•••
"I don't know about this, Della."
"Jason, trust me, you won't regret this."
"I don't even know what to play," I defended. "How can I just randomly do this?"
"Trust me, it will work. Just do it!"
I was walking on a very-full, dimly-lit beach with my guitar in tow and a very exuberant Della Rae running in circles around me. Her plan sounded ridiculous and potentially very embarrassing. But she continued to insist that it would turn out very well.
"So I just... start singing and playing?" I grimace. I still wasn't convinced.
"Just DO it!!" she squealed, bouncing on her heels. "Play that one... Oh, it's one of those folksy bands. I can't remember the—OHHH!! "Back to You" by Twin Forks! I swear, it's perfect."
I ran through the lyrics in my head and tried to recall the chord progression. Yeah, I could probably do that one. It wasn't too complicated. And it had a catchy tune. I could do it. I gathered up the guts I needed to take the plunge and took a shaky breath.
"Here goes nothing."
The first strum of the guitar strings made heads spin across the beach. I didn't think about it before that moment, but where we were standing, the sound would definitely carry. By the time I starting singing the first words, people started to gather around.
"I was young so I forgot which was my place and which was not. Thought I had a good shot. I took it right in my eye..."
Soon, people started to recognize the song, and a few started to tap their feet in the quickly-cooling sand. Della's strong alto slipped in behind my voice, joining me in harmony. Before I knew it, I heard a handful of other voices joining us, starting out low but rising in volume as they gained confidence. Other people began clapping to keep the beat. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone run over behind me with a random bongo drum, which they began to play. Very skillfully, I might add! A few seconds later, I heard the high tones of a ukulele joining us in song. I looked around to find the owner of the beautiful music, but they must've been lost somewhere in the crowd. It was then that I noticed that everyone was singing! And dancing too!! Della skipped around through the crowd, singing her heart out and dancing like a cheerful woodland creature from a Disney movie. And people were actually joining her!
There we were... at least a hundred people on the beach right as the sun was disappearing. And all of us were singing and dancing as one. The pure joy and excitement that flowed through me was unlike anything I had ever experienced before.
It was addictive.
In that moment, I realized, I wanted it to always be like this. I wanted to always feel this safe and warm feeling of belonging—unafraid of anything and unconcerned with the future. Simply living in the moment. I wanted to live like Della did. Because everything was an adventure with her. Even starting a flash mob on the beach at twilight.
••••••••••••
Hey, loves! Thanks for reading this installment of my baby of a novel. It's slowly but surely growing. I can't wait to have it finished so I can polish it & hopefully get it to a publisher. Wouldn't that be lovely?? Anywhoodles... I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
~Anyone wanna go to the beach with me now?? lol
~I really want seafood now tbh...
~Even MORE secrets, yeah?? Hehe
~What do you think is the truth about Della?
~What do you think about Jason's change of attitude? Good/bad? Do you miss his general overwhelming grumpiness?
TELL ME ALL THE THINGS!!!!
{Be sure to vote, comment, and share! Seriously guys, it makes my day when I get feedback from all of you & see you all enjoying the story. Help this novel bring joy to others & reach more people by sending it out via social media? Pretty please with sugar on top?? *wink*}