“You never told me what you’re studying at NYU,” I said.
“I’m studying to be a nurse. I start my clinicals one week from tomorrow at Mount Sanai Hospital.”
“That’s great, Amelia. Nursing is a good field to get into.”
“My dad always said that I’d make a great nurse. I remember when I was a little girl, I’d ask him if he could pretend that he broke his arm or cut himself just so I could bandage him up. I’ve always been interested in taking care of and helping people.”
She was starting to open up to me and I really enjoyed it. The softness in her voice was sweet and she had a gentle way about her. The feelings that I had fought for so long were starting to emerge and that only meant one thing: heartache. I couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss we almost shared in the car earlier in the day. I kept replaying that moment in my head and if Hailey wouldn’t have called, it would’ve happened. Damn her.
“So you go back to New York tomorrow?” I asked.
“Yeah. I start classes the day after tomorrow. How about you?”
“Yep. I have to be at the office tomorrow morning.”
Suddenly, something hit me. “I didn’t see your car. How did you get here?”
“I took the bus,” she said.
“You can drive with me back to the city tomorrow morning.” I smiled.
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. There’s no need for you to waste your money on bus fare.”
“Thank you, Collin. I owe you one.” She smiled gently at me.
We finished our coffee and took a walk back to her house. I didn’t want to go, but I also didn’t want to overstay my welcome. “Well, I guess I better get back to my house. I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning around seven.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be ready.” She smiled.
I turned around and walked out the door. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
“Thanks. You too,” she said.
I climbed into the Range Rover and drove back to my house. My mom and dad weren’t home, so I assumed they probably headed to the ranch to visit Murray. I pulled out my phone and noticed there was a text message from Hailey.
“Hey. I tried to call you, but you didn’t answer. I was just wondering how you’re doing.”
Why all of a sudden did she care? Every time I had called her, she blew me off or told me to move on. I set my phone down on the counter without responding to her. The last thing I needed was her stirring things up inside me. I was moving on with my life. A life without her in it and that was exactly how I wanted it. I lay down on my bed and scrolled through my pictures. When Amelia and I went horseback riding, I took a picture of us on Majestic. I smiled when I saw her smile. She had a pretty smile. It sort of reminded me of my mom’s. I decided to call Julia.
“Hello,” she answered.
“Hey, sis. How are you?”
“I’m good, Collin. The question is how are you?”
“I think I’m in trouble,” I said.
“What now? What did you do?”
“I went and met a girl and I think I’m seriously falling for her.”
I heard her laugh. “How is that being in trouble? I think it’s great.”
“No, you don’t understand. I don’t want to go through that again, Julia.”
“Listen to me, Collin. It’s time for you to move on and apparently, you have. This girl obviously has something special if you like her. Just go with it. If it was meant to be, it will be. Love will find its way to you. It can’t be helped and it can’t be stopped. Now stop being a baby and let things happen naturally.”
I rolled my eyes at her last comment. “I have to go. I think I hear Mom and Dad.”
“I’ll see you at the office tomorrow, little brother.”
“Bye, Julia.”
The truth was that I didn’t want to think about Amelia anymore. I closed my eyes and decided to take a nap.
****
I awoke to the sound of my phone beeping. I looked at the clock and realized that I’d been asleep for over two hours. I picked up my phone and there was a text message from Amelia.
“Hi, it’s Amelia. I’m going to take a walk on the beach and thought maybe if you weren’t doing anything, you’d like to join me. I’ll walk past your house. If you want to join me, be on the beach. Just not where I can trip over you. Don’t reply back.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at her message. I wondered why she didn’t want me to reply back. I thought that was strange. I got up, fixed my hair, and went down to the beach. I couldn’t believe she actually asked me to join her on her walk. It didn’t matter. I was happy that she did. I sat in the sand and watched the waves lap against the shore as I waited for Amelia. I turned my head and smiled when I saw her in the distance. My heart picked up its pace and, for some reason, nerves started to set in. As she walked closer to me, I got up and met her. She had a beautiful smile on her face.
“I wasn’t sure if you got my text,” she said.
“You told me not to reply.”
She laughed lightly and we both walked along the shoreline. “Thanks for joining me.”
“Thanks for asking.” I smiled.
As we were walking, she looked down at the sand. I so badly wanted to hold her hand, but I didn’t want to cross any lines. The sun had already set and darkness was starting to settle upon the water. She talked to me a little bit about NYU and I told her about my experiences at Columbia.
“I have an idea. Why don’t we go back to my house and build a bonfire. We can roast marshmallows.”
“Can we make s’mores?” she asked with a grin.
“You bet. I’ll have to see if we have the stuff, but I’m pretty sure we do.”
“If not, we can run to the store and buy them,” she said.
We walked back to the house and into the kitchen to look for the chocolate bars, graham crackers, and marshmallows. We didn’t have any graham crackers. Shit.
“Hold on,” I said as I pulled out my phone.
“Are you on your way home to the beach house or the city?” I texted my mom.
“The beach house. We’ll be home in about five minutes. Why?”
“Could you and Dad stop at the store and pick up a box of graham crackers? Amelia and I want to make s’mores, but we don’t have any crackers.”
“Of course we will, sweetheart. How fun!”
Oh God. I sure hoped she didn’t think she was joining us.