5. Peyton

PEYTON

" H ey, Mom?" Jamison called out to her.

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"You forgot the juice."

It was the third time Peyton had walked from one side of the little market to the other because she forgot something. And it wasn't because she didn't have a list.

"You okay?" he asked. Jamison was her sensitive child. Even subtle nuances didn't get past him.

Right after they found out Kade died, Peyton had tried to hide her feelings from her kids. Then one day, it occurred to her that her sons would benefit more from her emotions than her lack of them. What was wrong with being sad because you lost someone you cared about? It was real, and that's how she wanted her boys to see her.

"I'm slightly distracted. I saw someone from Kade's family today, sweetheart."

"Slightly?" He smiled.

Peyton ran her hand through his hair. "How come you're so smart?"

"Genes."

She pulled him close and hugged him hard. "I love you so much, kiddo."

"Same."

They found Finn another aisle over, talking to Louie. It was one among many things Peyton loved about their village. She didn't have to worry if her son was not right beside her every minute. It wasn't as though she'd let him too far out of sight. However, the locals knew her boys, and vice versa. At their young ages, they had more people looking out for them, and loving them, than most people had in a lifetime.

"Whatcha' talkin' about?" she asked Finn.

"Louie says R2-D2 is a better droid than BB-8. I say, no way."

It figured Louie, who had to be in his seventies, would have Star Wars droids behind the cash register counter. It was the type of conversation they would've have had with Kade. The three would argue, but he was never impatient with them.

When Jamison joined the droid discussion, Peyton went to grab the orange juice she forgot.

"Saw you with Brodie this morning," Louie muttered when she checked out.

"Sorry about that, Louie."

"About what?"

"Leaving the way I did."

He shook his head and patted her hand.

"Thanks, Louie."

"Who's Brodie?" Jamison asked on their drive home.

"He's Kade's brother."

"Oh."

"I miss Kade," Finn said from the rear passenger seat.

"I do too, buddy." Peyton looked over at Jamison sitting next to her. "You okay?"

"Miss him too," Jamison whispered.

"It's okay to feel sad, Jamie. You too, Finn. I do."

"Maybe Brodie will wanna hang out with us," Finn suggested.

Peyton cringed but had to admit she'd momentarily thought the same thing.

"Don't be dumb," Jamison scolded his brother.

"Hey, now. There's nothing wrong with wishing someone could replace someone else you lost, although it rarely works out. We loved being with Kade, and we miss him. We wish he was still here, but he isn't, and his brother is. Remember they're two different people, Finn." Peyton glanced over her shoulder to make sure he was paying attention.

He was looking out the window. "I get it, Mom."

When it came time for bed, Finn didn't want her to read a story. He wanted her to tell him about Kade. Some of the stories she told were real, and some were embellished. To Finn, Kade would always be the superhero who saved the world from the bad guys.

Reading with him was one of the things she missed most. They'd shared a love of it. They could sit in the same room for hours, both with books in hand, no conversation necessary between them. When he'd leave on a mission, Peyton read whatever he left behind. His taste in literature had been vastly different than hers, but she'd learned a lot about him, and what he did, from the novels he chose to read. Some of the stories she told Finn came from them.

When she checked on Jamison after Finn fell asleep, she found him asleep too.

Her boys needed a man in their lives. They had her dad, but they only saw him on the weekends. She thought about living in the guesthouse full time, but the forty-five-minute commute every morning and night would wear her out. She could hardly manage the five-minute drive home after the tasting room closed.

After washing her face, brushing her teeth, and climbing into bed, Peyton closed her eyes and pictured Brodie sitting on the boulder on Moonstone Beach.

He couldn't have been waiting for her. Couldn't have known she'd decide to take a walk after she stormed out on Alex. So what had brought him to the spot where she and Kade often sat and watched the sunset?

She drifted to sleep, and unlike every other night, when she dreamed about Kade, tonight she dreamed about Brodie instead.

The next morning, while she was making breakfast for Jamison and Finn, her phone pinged with a text alert. It was a message from Brodie, asking if he could see her today.

Why?

I'd like to talk to you.

Not sure.

She thought it over for a few minutes, then sent a text to Alex, asking if she'd mind if Peyton skipped their morning run.

Morning what? her friend replied, then added, JK, you know I'd rather sleep.

We can meet, she responded to Brodie.

Moonstone?

What time?

You tell me , he replied.

Nine?

Perfect.

Why not take another walk down Heartbreak Road? She was beginning to know its dead end all too well.