1
Jenna
My phone rings, pulling me away from the novel I picked up the other day at the secondhand bookstore. I set it down and glance at the screen, expecting it to be Jimmy or Eden, but I am pleasantly surprised to see two tiny pictures staring back at me. Pressing the answer button, I pick my phone up and bring it eye level. The grin on my face is cheek to cheek as I stare at my two best friends. I love technology.
“Okay,” Josie says, without saying hi. She’s a right to the point type of person, which I enjoy. No beating around the bush from her. “Here’s the deal. I rented this massive house for Christmas in Stowe, Vermont, and I want us all to be together. I know I’m demanding a lot here, especially since we’re all so spread out, but I thought it would be nice if we could spend the holiday together.”
Katelyn’s eyes go wide, and I’m instantly curious what she’s thinking. On the other hand, Josie is sitting as close to her phone as she can, probably trying to decipher what Katelyn and I are thinking.
What am I thinking?
“I love this idea,” I say excitedly.
“We’re in,” Katelyn adds.
Josie dances around as best she can while holding her phone. “You have no idea how thrilled I am. Liam will be happy too. I think he misses Harrison and Jimmy but won’t say anything.”
“I don’t know why you don’t just move to California,” I say. At first, when Jimmy proposed we move, I was hesitant. I love Beaumont, and Josie is there. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else or leaving her after she had done so much for me. But after spending time in Los Angeles and being on the beach, I knew I could easily live here. It was the sun and access to the beach that sold me. Plus, Jimmy wanted to be here. Even though he’s not extremely close to his dad, he wanted to be around him. They have an odd relationship, and it’s very strained, mostly because James refuses to be a part of his youngest child’s life. Chelsea finally gave up harassing us on James’s whereabouts once the court ordered him to pay child support. It was about this time that James reached out to Jimmy, groveling for forgiveness. Forgive, but never forget, is how Jimmy approaches his father, which is more than I would be able to do. Despite all of this, James is a good grandfather to Eden, and that’s all that matters to me.
Josie sighs. “I don’t know. I’ve thought about it. I know Liam would be happier there, but Beaumont is home. I have the shop, and Paige is still in school.”
“And there is no way she’d let you take her away from Mack,” Katelyn interjects.
Katelyn and I laugh, and Josie’s eyes go wide. She looks over her shoulder before coming closer to the camera. “Liam is going to kill that boy, I swear. Or I might kill Nick for moving back to Beaumont to begin with.”
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“Just teenage drama. One week they like each other, the next week they’re dating. And then the next week, Paige never wants to speak to him as long as she lives. Rinse and repeat.”
“Sounds like Eden,” I tell them. “Every other month it’s a new surfer or a guy from her school. I can’t keep track. She’s such a heartbreaker. Secretly, though, I’m happy she’s not in a committed relationship. I want her to focus on school.”
“I’m sure Jimmy is more than happy,” Katelyn adds.
“You have no idea. Okay, enough about the teens, tell us about this fabulous house you’ve rented, Josie!”
“It’s seven bedrooms and sits at the base of a ski lodge. Everyone but Eden and Betty Paige will have their own rooms. Each room has a view of either the lodge, the mountain, or the forest. Tons to do there. We can ski during the day, relax, and drink in the hot tub at night. It’ll likely snow and will definitely be cold.”
Eden is going to throw a fit, but some family time away will be worth it.
“Oh, and the best part—cell service is questionable. Everyone can unplug while we’re there.”
“I love the sound of this, Josie,” Katelyn says. “Count me in. I’ll talk to Quinn and see if he and Nola have plans. I don’t know if they’re heading to her family’s plantation or what for the holidays, and I’ll call Elle and see if she and Ben want to come.”
“And I’ll take care of Noah and Peyton. He doesn’t have a game, but Peyton might have to work,” Josie says.
“Well, the Jameses are in. Eden will have to survive a real winter instead of begging her dad to take her to Hawaii to surf.”
Josie claps her hands together. “You have no idea how happy this makes me. Even if the kids can’t come, the six of us . . . well, eight with Eden and Paige…will be together again.”
Before we hang up, Josie gives us the dates she’s booked the house for, what airports we can fly into, and car rental services. She also tells us she will email all of the info, so we don’t have to remember everything or decipher our own chicken scratch handwriting later.
After we hang up, I open the internet on my phone and look up the house. My mouth drops open at the majestic beauty of it all. I can easily see Jimmy and I standing on the deck, sharing a glass of wine, or sitting in the hot tub while snow is falling.
I continue to scroll through the photos, wondering when the last time was that I saw snowfall. Sure, it snowed in Beaumont a couple of times, but mostly flurries. Nothing substantial or anything. We had a blizzard once, but that was so long ago, I think Noah was about nine, which put the twins at four. Since moving to California, we just have hot weather and hotter we
ather. When it does rain, we rejoice and often stand outside in it, soaking up the drops. I used to do this with Eden when she was little. We’d dance in the backyard and just enjoy the showers. Now she spends so much time in the ocean, when the weather is crappy, she’s moody.
The front door slams. I close my app and wait for whoever just arrived home to come into the kitchen, where I spend most of the time unless I’m volunteering or driving Eden to her events. She’s old enough to drive and does drive herself to school, but Jimmy and I decided we’d always drive her to her competitions. We still want Eden to know how much we support her.
“Hi, Mum.” Eden comes in and kisses me on my cheek.
“How was school?”
Eden goes to the refrigerator and opens it. “Boring, lame. You know, the same.”
“Mhmm.” I keep my eye on her, watching to see what she’ll pull out. Lately, she’s been snacking after school and not hungry at dinnertime. For some, this isn’t an issue, but Eden would rather be in her room or down at the beach instead of sitting around the dinner table. Neither Jimmy nor I are fans of this kind of behavior.
I smile but duck my head so Eden can’t see that I’m pleased with her smoothie choice. She comes over to where I’m sitting, pulls the barstool out, and sits with a heavy sigh.
“What’s wrong?” I ask as my hand brushes over her long, chestnut hair.
Eden sighs again dramatically and slouches. I gently push on her back to remind her to sit up straight. For the past couple of years, she’s been working with Xander, Harrison’s brother-in-law, to build a stronger core. You would think with all the surfing she does, she wouldn’t need a trainer, but apparently, to get to the next level, she needs one.
“Stupid girl drama. You know my friend, Zyan?”
Zyan Morgan is Eden’s recent crush, and by recent, I mean for the past six to eight months. They met on the circuit when he came here for a couple competitions. He lives in Hawaii with his dad, which is perfect according to Jimmy.
“I remember Zyan,” I tell Eden.
“Well, he’s moved here.”
My insides twist. I can hear Jimmy already, swearing up a storm about that boy coming to the house, especially when we aren’t home. “He did?”
Eden nods. “And he didn’t even tell me, ya know?”
No, I really don’t.
“I’m walking to class and all these girls are giggling by the lockers, so I go see what’s so funny. Well it’s Zyan and he’s just eating up the attention. I call his name and he looks at me like he doesn’t remember me and then it hits him and he goes, ‘Oh hey, Eden’ like we aren’t friends and didn’t make out all summer long.”