satisfaction she had felt when she’d finished the starfish painting disappeared as she realized Mel might have given up on her business and left town. She had expected it to happen, but her disappointment caught her by surprise. No matter, she decided. Tia would be glad to have the painting in her upcoming art walk, and life in Cannon Beach would go on as usual, minus yet another hopeful entrepreneur. Pam pulled her jacket tighter as the wind increased. It was blowing from the south, pushing dark clouds across the sky. Pam whistled for Piper and turned back toward her house, hoping to get home before the approaching storm.
Chapter Six
Mel jumped to her feet with the rest of the crowd as Danny rushed eight yards for a touchdown. She hadn’t seen him since she’d moved to Cannon Beach. She had initially been upset that she didn’t have a chance to talk to him the moment she got back to Salem, but now she was relieved to have the extra time to get herself together.
Even the sight of him in his helmet and uniform, barely recognizable as her son among his teammates, triggered an unanticipated range of emotions. Happiness, guilt, doubt. She had expected to feel them, just not all at once, clamoring for her attention and threatening to steal her self-control. Mel settled back onto the bleachers when Danny left the field with the offense. She moved as one with the other fans, blending in with the sea of green on the home team’s side of the stadium, but she felt like an outsider. At the game, in her former city, as she brushed against her old life. She felt out of sync, different, in the very place she had called home for so many years.
Although she hadn’t spoken to Danny yet, she had managed to run into Richard and his fiancée, Lesley, earlier at the concession stand. All very polite, very grown-up. Mel had walked away after the few minutes of casual chitchat with an irrational feeling of anger. And regret.
Regret. She hated the word. It implied poor choices, no second chances, sadness. In some ways, she regretted not leaving her marriage sooner. Starting over when Danny was a child, when she was younger. When she might have had the chance to build a new family like Richard had done.
But as she sat in the stands—an island of turmoil and second-guessing amidst the cheering fans—she rejected each of the negative implications of her regret one by one. She hadn’t made poor choices.
She had considered what was best for Danny at every crossroads in her adult life. Yes, she might have missed her second chance at romance and true love, but she had a new opportunity, a new life waiting for her in Cannon Beach. And of course she had moments of sadness and loneliness and doubt when she was alone in her decrepit inn, but she also had pride and accomplishment and the happiness that came with freedom. She’d reveled in the first tastes of those emotions, and they’d whetted her appetite for more.
No, Mel didn’t want to return to her old life. Not a chance. But she envied the ease with which Lesley had taken her place. Mel’s own transition hadn’t been simple. She had been thrust into her new life with all the pain and agony she remembered from childbirth. But she was surviving. Growing stronger. Mel filed out of the stands with the rest of the crowd and went in search of Danny. Circumstances had changed, but now she’d be able to be a role model for the kind of life she wanted him to have from the start, one of honesty and hard work and self-determination.
She found Danny on the sidelines, surrounded by his friends, and she waved with what she hoped was a casual smile when he looked up and noticed her. She had communicated with him every day since she’d left, either by phone or e-mail, but seeing him in person overwhelmed her. As a teenager, he was so easily embarrassed by any show of parental affection, so she was determined to keep her cool.
But Danny detached himself from the crowd of players and pushed his
Chapter Six
Mel jumped to her feet with the rest of the crowd as Danny rushed eight yards for a touchdown. She hadn’t seen him since she’d moved to Cannon Beach. She had initially been upset that she didn’t have a chance to talk to him the moment she got back to Salem, but now she was relieved to have the extra time to get herself together.
Even the sight of him in his helmet and uniform, barely recognizable as her son among his teammates, triggered an unanticipated range of emotions. Happiness, guilt, doubt. She had expected to feel them, just not all at once, clamoring for her attention and threatening to steal her self-control. Mel settled back onto the bleachers when Danny left the field with the offense. She moved as one with the other fans, blending in with the sea of green on the home team’s side of the stadium, but she felt like an outsider. At the game, in her former city, as she brushed against her old life. She felt out of sync, different, in the very place she had called home for so many years.
Although she hadn’t spoken to Danny yet, she had managed to run into Richard and his fiancée, Lesley, earlier at the concession stand. All very polite, very grown-up. Mel had walked away after the few minutes of casual chitchat with an irrational feeling of anger. And regret.
Regret. She hated the word. It implied poor choices, no second chances, sadness. In some ways, she regretted not leaving her marriage sooner. Starting over when Danny was a child, when she was younger. When she might have had the chance to build a new family like Richard had done.
But as she sat in the stands—an island of turmoil and second-guessing amidst the cheering fans—she rejected each of the negative implications of her regret one by one. She hadn’t made poor choices.
She had considered what was best for Danny at every crossroads in her adult life. Yes, she might have missed her second chance at romance and true love, but she had a new opportunity, a new life waiting for her in Cannon Beach. And of course she had moments of sadness and loneliness and doubt when she was alone in her decrepit inn, but she also had pride and accomplishment and the happiness that came with freedom. She’d reveled in the first tastes of those emotions, and they’d whetted her appetite for more.
No, Mel didn’t want to return to her old life. Not a chance. But she envied the ease with which Lesley had taken her place. Mel’s own transition hadn’t been simple. She had been thrust into her new life with all the pain and agony she remembered from childbirth. But she was surviving. Growing stronger. Mel filed out of the stands with the rest of the crowd and went in search of Danny. Circumstances had changed, but now she’d be able to be a role model for the kind of life she wanted him to have from the start, one of honesty and hard work and self-determination.
She found Danny on the sidelines, surrounded by his friends, and she waved with what she hoped was a casual smile when he looked up and noticed her. She had communicated with him every day since she’d left, either by phone or e-mail, but seeing him in person overwhelmed her. As a teenager, he was so easily embarrassed by any show of parental affection, so she was determined to keep her cool.
But Danny detached himself from the crowd of players and pushed his
Similar Books
