21. Eddie

S unrises just didn’t get enough credit. Maybe that was because Eddie had lived most of his adult life in California, the land of endless sunsets. Here, on the East Coast, he’d really grown to appreciate the slow, lemon-yellow ripening of the sky that came with the first morning light. He’d never realized how different this was from the orange and violet drama of a sunset.

Sunrise was happier and hopeful, a dawn of possibilities and change.

But this morning, despite the fact that he’d just met his newborn great-grandchild, he didn’t feel happy or hopeful. He’d brought Lovely home and brewed some coffee while she disappeared into the back to shower, leaving him on the screened patio to watch the sunrise and…brood.

There was no other way to describe his mood in these hours before he and his daughters were scheduled to fly home. How could he not feel disappointed? He’d lost the battle to win her heart.

Well, maybe he had her heart, but she wasn’t moving, that was for sure.

And the baby who bore Lovely’s name was just one more powerful tie to Coconut Key, so Eddie hadn’t even bothered with the full-court press he’d planned for his last day here.

He knew better than to hope she would start to reorder her life and plan a move, or to think that somehow, in their mid-seventies, they could pull off long-distance. Not a chance.

This was the end of a beautiful romance, and it made him deeply sad.

He stepped back and caught sight of her unfinished canvas, the seascape she’d been slowly working on since he got there. She promised to send it to him when it was done, and he’d hang it right over the fireplace in his den.

It would look out of place there, he knew, but didn’t care.

But would she send it?

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, stepping back to capture the partial painting in the magnificent morning light. She’d painted the sand and water, the hammock and sea oats, and started the blue of the sky, which she’d told him was the most challenging.

He’d call the painting Sea Change …because that’s what he’d been through these past few weeks. A sea change of transformation. And it could be a song, too. Maybe when it hung in his den, he could look at her finished painting and write that song.

Or bawl his stupid eyes out.

Something tickled his bare foot and he looked down, meeting the soulful gaze of little Sugar, who’d become quite attached to him. Smiling, he bent over and picked her up, nuzzling her silky fur against his neck and stroking her little head.

“Look at you, paying attention to someone who isn’t Lovely,” he whispered. “Do you want to go out? It’s early.”

She licked his ear.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Come on.” He glanced around. “Where are the other two?”

Basil lifted his head from a dog bed and Pepper bounded over from outside Lovely’s bedroom door, where she’d been protecting her mistress from anyone who might enter. Still holding Sugar, Eddie quietly opened the screen door, letting out Basil, then Pepper, who gave up her post at the possibility of going out.

At the bottom of the stairs, the dogs found their favorite patch of grass while he dropped his head back and sucked in a deep, deep breath. Exhaustion slammed him, making him a little dizzy.

Well, sure. It had been a long time since he did an all-nighter, but he’d sleep on the plane.

At the thought of his pending departure, he let out a soft grunt of disappointment and defeat. Then he opened his eyes and looked at that bright and hopeful sunrise again.

Maybe he hadn’t tried hard enough. Maybe he hadn’t painted a clear enough picture of how beautiful California was. Maybe he hadn’t given her enough options or possibilities. Maybe?—

“You left me.”

He turned and sucked in a soft breath at the sight of Lovely in the golden glow. Her hair fell over her shoulders in damp waves, her narrow frame covered in a long pink cotton nightgown that didn’t look much different from her many maxi dresses, at least not to his untrained eye.

But there was something intimate and vulnerable and downright youthful about this look, fresh out of the shower, glowing from soap and a new great-granddaughter.

It made his miserable heart ache at the idea of leaving her.

“I didn’t leave you,” he said as Sugar trotted over to Lovely. “The dogs wanted to hit the grass.”

“I thought…you left.” She bent over and picked up Sugar, snuggling like they both needed a comforting sniff.

“You thought I just walked out without saying goodbye?” he asked on a dry laugh.

“We said goodbye when I went into my room.”

He shook his head and took a few steps closer to her. “Not… goodbye -goodbye. That was more like, ‘Have a nice shower, I’ll make coffee.’ Which I did but forgot about. Want a cup?”

“No, I’m going to try and get some sleep,” she said. “But I know your flight…” She swallowed, and buried her face in Sugar’s fur again.

“You okay?” he asked.

“I don’t like goodbyes, Eddie,” she admitted on a whisper, finally putting Sugar down. “Not since the day my sister drove off with Beckie. Ever since that, I just can’t take them.”

“I’ve had a few rough ones,” he said softly. “But not saying goodbye? Well, that’s the worst. Like this girl I met in Key West a lifetime ago.” He took a few steps closer. “She never said goodbye.”

She closed the space between them and wrapped her arms around his neck, looking up at him. Without makeup of any kind, he could see the fingerprints of time, sun, and one hellacious car accident on her face.

But he could also see the clarity in her green eyes. The wisdom and warmth and humor and heart. All of it in her beautiful green eyes.

“Now I have to write a song about your eyes. I have to remember the seafoam color that will always remind me of…of…”

“The two best weeks of your life?” she asked with a teasing smile.

“Our interlude,” he finished.

“So poetic,” she said.

“And like any good poem,” he added, “that interlude was poignant, emotional, and way, way too short.”

As she looked at him, those eyes grew misty. “I’m sorry I left without saying goodbye that morning. It could have changed the course of our lives.”

“It would have,” he said, no doubt at all. “I would have called you from payphones on my way to California. You would have told me you were pregnant. I would have come back and married you. We would have lived right here on Coconut Key, raised Beck, and?—”

“Stop.” She put her hands on his lips and bit back a sob. “Stop the would-haves that never happened. Don’t torture me with what might have been. We don’t know that ‘would have’ happened. It makes me feel like the road I took was all wrong. A waste of life. A huge mistake. A life without love?—”

“Now you stop,” he said, mimicking her move by putting his fingers on her lips. “None of that is true. None of it.”

“The life without love part is,” she said, her whole body feeling heavy in his arms. “I never had it,” she added on a ragged breath. “I never had my soul mate or forever love. I never had that one person who woke with me and laughed with me and knew my every secret. I wanted it more than I ever let myself admit but I never, ever had it.”

“You could have it right now.” He wiped a tear from her cheek. “Maybe I’m the reason you were sent back after that accident, Lovely. Maybe God wanted you here to have these golden years with me. Have you thought of that?”

“A million times,” she whispered. “But…the price is so high.”

“Who cares?” He drew her closer, determined to get through and make her see. “Pay it and have everything you ever wanted. We’ll wake up together and laugh together, Lovely. We’ll write music and paint masterpieces and travel and laugh and sing and drink coffee and I’ll never, ever let you go.” He squeezed her tighter. “Let’s make up for all those lost years by spending every single day we have left together. Please, Lovely, please. Who cares what it costs? Get on that plane with me and have the adventure of a lifetime. I love you so much and I will make you so happy.”

She barely blinked as she listened to his impassioned speech, but when she did, tears meandered down her cheeks.

“I can’t do that,” she said softly. “The cost is too high. It’s my people, my home, my very soul. I have my precious family, my beautiful beach, my comfortable home, and my whole world right here. I belong here, Eddie. I cannot and will not leave. I was born on Coconut Key, and I will die here.”

“I know.” He moaned the words, tasting defeat in the admission. “And to even expect you to is wrong.”

“The same goes for you,” she said, reaching up to cup his cheek in her smooth palm. “You, my darling Edward Sylvester, are a California boy, West Coast wild and free. And I will always love you and thank you not just for these two weeks but for the gift of Beck and all she brought into my life.”

“She is indeed a blessing,” he said. “We made a beautiful baby together. Just not a life.”

“Oh, Eddie, darling. This is goodbye.” She dropped her head against his shoulder with a sigh of resignation while a tune tickled the corners of his brain with lyrics now as familiar as his name.

He pressed his lips to her ear and whispered the lyrics he’d written during a different sunrise, not far from here.

Stars in the sky, stars in her eyes

girl in my arms, moon on the rise.

A secret kiss, I was never the same,

I can’t forget her beautiful name.

He remembered that morning in Mallory Square, frantically climbing over sleeping teenagers, begging anyone awake if they’d seen the girl with green eyes and bangs. It had taken him fifty-seven years to find Lovely, and now…he’d lost her again.

His suitcase clunked down the stairs of Coquina House and, as Eddie came around the corner, he heard Beck’s easy laugh coming from the kitchen. And a man’s voice with…an accent.

Had her Oliver come back?

Leaving the suitcase, he walked into the sunny room to find Mel and Jazz at the table with Beck and Oliver, laughing and chatting.

“Good morning, Pops,” Jazz said, standing to greet him. “Even if it feels like afternoon.”

“Long night for everyone.” He walked to the table as Oliver stood. “You must be the elusive Aussie.”

“G’day, mate,” he replied with a grin, confirming the guess and proving he had exactly the wit and style that Beck deserved. “Sorry to meet you on departure day, Eddie. Good trip to Coconut Key?”

“Unforgettable,” Eddie replied with a wistful smile. “And you’re back sooner than expected.”

“Couldn’t stay away,” the other man said, glancing at Beck. “In fact, I’m here for good. Officially one of the…what does Ava call them? Coconutters.”

Melody laughed. “That sounds more like my girl Savannah than Ava.”

As they all chuckled about Savannah’s nicknames, Eddie tamped down the blues that threatened to strangle him.

“We just hope you’ll all be back,” Beck said, pushing up to come around the table to hug him. “Because a lot of us will miss you very much.”

He held her, adding a squeeze, trying to memorize the feel and scent of his third—and oldest—daughter.

“Same.” The word came out more gruffly than he wanted it to, making Beck regard him carefully.

“Tough goodbye?” she asked tenderly.

He gave a single nod.

“I’ll go see her in a bit to cheer her up.”

Swallowing against his tight throat, he stepped back and looked at Mel and Jazz. “Hate to break up the fun, but it’s time to make the haul to Miami.”

“If we must,” Jazz said, reluctance in every syllable. “For the record, all, I do not want to leave this place. I do not want to end vacation. And I do not want to wait years to come back. I have been cured of my workaholism and I don’t even know what to do about it.”

“Amen,” Mel agreed. “On my next trip, I’m bringing my family. Lark and Kai will love this place.”

“I like the sound of that,” Beck said, turning to hug Jazz and Mel as they stood and brought the gathering to an end.

“Let’s get our bags,” Mel said.

“Nonsense,” Oliver insisted. “I think I was officially promoted to Coquina House valet this morning, so I’ll handle all the bags. You just hug and kiss and say your fond farewells.”

They did all that, several times, between laughter and bittersweet embraces, eventually making their way out to the circular drive where Oliver had loaded the rented SUV for them.

With one more hug, the girls got in, with Jazz volunteering to drive.

Beck walked with Eddie to the open passenger door, both of them quiet for a moment.

“I do hope we’ll see you soon, Ned,” she said, a teasing smile in her eyes.

“I don’t know about that, Beck.”

Her smile disappeared. “You’re not coming back?”

“I’m not sure my heart can take it,” he confessed. “Goodbyes are too hard.”

“Then come back and don’t say goodbye,” she said softly, reaching to hug him. “You are always welcome here.”

“Thank you.” He drew back and touched her cheek. “I’m as proud of you as my other daughters, you know. You’re a strong woman, a loving mother, a great hostess, and the image of your own mother, and I can’t give you a greater compliment than that.”

“Oh.” She bit her lip. “I don’t know what to say…except…thank you. For coming here, for giving us a chance, and for being so kind to Lovely.”

“I left her in tears, so I don’t know how kind I was.”

She grimaced. “I’ll take care of her.”

“I know you will.” He looked out to the horizon, his gaze snagged by the now infamous Beach Table where he’d revealed his identity to Lovely. “Just remember this, Beck. I didn’t come here to wreak havoc, break hearts, or…fall in love. I honestly just wanted to meet you.”

“I know,” she said. “And who knows? Maybe one of you will change your mind. I mean, you both cut your hair, proving people do change!”

He laughed, but he knew no one was moving. He gave her a fatherly kiss on the top of her head, waved to Oliver, who stood on the veranda, and slid into the seat.

As they rolled down Coquina Court, he watched the little yellow cottage on the right come into view…and disappear when they turned the corner.

And though it’s late, she won’t forget

Maybe love was waiting…yet.

He was going to record Yet when he got home, he thought. And a whole lot of other songs he’d written. He’d make a whole album, press it in vinyl, and he would never forget this romantic, perfect interlude.