CHAPTER 47
SUMMER
The crew had been out there since early morning. I’d watched them from the water, sitting up on my board with my arms loose at my sides and the sun on my shoulders, tracking every movement on the shoreline. There were maybe six of them, working in pairs, pulling chain link panels from the posts that had been driven into the sand.
My mother had walked this stretch every single morning, rain or shine until she couldn’t anymore. I had walked it with her. I had walked it without her. I had walked it angry and heartbroken and so full of joy I thought my chest might split open. This beach was not just a place. It was our home.
I watched the last panel come down. The crew loaded the fencing into a flatbed truck that was parked up near the access road. I lay down on my board and paddled in slowly. The beach was just sand again. Just sand and sea grass and the long flat stretch of shoreline that had always been there.
I dragged my board up above the waterline and stood there with my feet in the wet sand.
The locals swarmed. It was a celebration. I wasn’t surprised. Word had spread. It always did in Surfside. I stood there and watched the locals take it back and felt something move throughme that started in my chest and worked its way out to my fingertips.
Mom.
I wished she could have been here to see the success. She would have been first to be celebrating. She would have made me laugh and cry at the same time. I hoped I made her proud. I pressed my lips together and stared at the water until the sting faded.
She would have been so proud. I smiled and wiped my eyes. They weren’t sad tears. Just the tears that sometimes popped up when I thought about her not being around. I wasn’t sad, but dammit, I wished she was here.
I was pulling my board further up the sand when I heard my name. I turned and spotted Lana coming down the beach at a jog, her dark hair loose and flying behind her. She was grinning. I hadn’t seen her smile like that in weeks.
She didn’t slow down when she reached me. She came straight in and wrapped both arms around me hard enough that I had to take a step back to absorb the impact. I laughed and hugged her back just as hard, my chin hooking over her shoulder.
“It’s down,” she said into my shoulder. “Summer, it’s actually down.”
“I know.” I pulled back and held her by the arms and looked at her face. Her eyes were bright and wet and she was still smiling that big, unguarded smile. “I watched them take the last panel out from the water.”
She turned and looked down the length of the north end, taking it in from where we were standing.
“Look at that,” Lana said quietly. “It’s down. It’s gone. We got our beach back.”
“You fought for this,” I said.
She shook her head. “A lot of people fought for this.”
“Lana.” I waited until she looked at me. “I mean it. You were out there before anyone else took it seriously. This may never have happened without you.”
She had tears streaming down her cheeks. “I committed crimes.”
“You did.”
“I have to tell Colt.”
“I’d like you to. I think you need to take responsibility.”
“I heard about the paint,” she said.
I laughed. “Yeah. His poor car.”
“I made some mistakes,” Lana said quietly. “I made some choices that I’m not proud of.”
“But you can still take ownership.”
She exhaled. “I was so angry. I know that’s not an excuse. It wasn’t even really a protest. It was just anger that had nowhere else to go and I aimed it somewhere stupid.” She paused. “I aimed it at someone who was already starting to turn around.”
“You didn’t know that yet.”
“No,” she said. “But there were better ways.”