Summer by the Sea by Jenny Hale Page A

the girls giggle; eating sandwiches with wet, sandy hands; a rainbow of brightly colored beach towels on the line outside; shopping at the local kite store for the perfect kite and flying it—just the three of them at Jockey’s Ridge—the wind so strong, Faith could hardly hold on to it…
    “I’m glad I came,” Casey said, pulling her back to reality. “I wasn’t going to.”
    Faith turned to her sister, waiting for further explanation. She, herself had been worried about coming, self-conscious about her decision to stay away from her sister for all of that time, but it had never occurred to her that Casey may be anxious about coming too. For the first time, she realized that perhaps seeing Faith again wasn’t easy for Casey either.
    It was clear to Faith by Casey’s silence over the years that she didn’t feel what she’d done was so awful—she had tried to explain it to Faith a few times—but Faith had always her short, not wanting to hear Casey’s side of things. How could what Casey had done ever be right? But now, as she looked at her sister, the age lines starting to show around her eyes, she realized that she’d been too stubborn. She should have at least heard her sister out. What would Casey have said? Would she have asked for forgiveness? Would she have told her she wanted her sister back? Perhaps she should have talked to her instead of holding on to old grudges.
    “Why weren’t you going to come?” she asked. Faith was ready to hear her side of things now.
    “I didn’t want my situation to bring everyone down. This is Nan’s time. It’s her birthday. I want her to be happy. I told Mom and Nan that Scott was working when I arrived without him. It’s the truth. Well, half-truth. I didn’t know if it was the right time to tell them…”
    How silly of Faith to think that Casey had been worried about seeing her again. Faith acknowledged that Casey’s impending divorce from Scott was awful, and it might upset Mom and Nan, but what about the fact that she and Casey hadn’t spoken in years? What about that? Faith let out a huff of indignation loud enough to make Casey turn her head.
    “What was that for?” Casey said, a twinge of panic on her face. Were Faith’s feelings not even in the forefront of her mind? Faith could feel the ache in her throat, the unsaid feelings still right there on the end of her tongue, but she took in a breath and turned to face the wind.
    “What’s wrong with you?” Casey said, her words coming out urgently as if she were preparing for a blow, for some sort of confrontation. She knew just as well what was wrong, but she wasn’t going to say it, was she?
    Well, Faith wasn’t staying quiet anymore. She could feel the anger from Casey’s selfishness swelling in her chest, and it had to come out. “Weren’t you worried at all about dealing with this?” She wagged her finger between them, noticing the tremble in her hands from built up anger. She wasn’t trying to play down the divorce—that was a big deal—but this was a big deal too. Even with their differences, Casey had been Faith’s best friend growing up, the one person she knew better than anyone else. And Casey had just let her walk away.
    “Of course I was. I just didn’t want to bring up old wounds. I just want to move past it,” she said, her words coming out controlled and even, like they would in a courtroom. There was a moment as Casey looked at her when her strong expression faltered. Without warning, tears surfaced in her eyes, but she blinked to clear them and then they were gone.
    With all her childhood memories at this beach right on the surface, it occurred to Faith that the reason this was such a lovely place was because they’d had fun here. That’s why she and Casey had been so close. No matter what had happened in the past, Casey needed her now. She’d have to be the bigger person here. Faith hadn’t let Casey explain herself because she didn’t want to hear Casey’s lame