I found it interesting that he always kept such a calm and cool demeanor about things. Like nothing threw him off his game. “Yeah, I hated it. But I needed it. I just don’t want it to become all that’s left of me.”
“We’re here, sir.” Nolan parked the car.
Unlocking my seatbelt, I didn’t even wait for either of them, grabbing my pack and jumping out of the car.
“Freedom!” I yelled, throwing my arms in the air before pulling off my flats and running down to the beach. The sand broke underneath the weight of my feet, going between my toes.
I was racing to the water when Theo reached out and held on to me.
“Felicity, be careful and don’t go too far.”
I saw the same worry, fear, and even pity in his eyes I’d seen in the staff at Crossroads.
“Let go of me.” I pulled away, brushing my hair back. “You thought I was going to hurt myself.”
“Felicity—”
“I know that look, Theo, believe me. It’s the one I’m running away from. It’s the one everyone keeps giving me, the she’s insane look. But I—I just want to be Felicity and spend one normal day at the beach with the guy I like. If you’re going to be here, please be that guy and not another doctor. Please.”
He pulled a phone out of his pocket when it rang. “Your phone broke. I’m sorry. I know it was important to you. It’s back at your house. I got you a new one. Rosemary has been trying reach you.”
“It’s the last present my dad gave me. I think I held on to it because I was holding on to him. It’s good it broke,” I lied, taking the phone from him and sliding the green button. Rosemary popped up in a video chat.
“Oh my god, I’ve missed you! Are you all right?”
Smiling, I waved to her. “I’m fine, and I missed you too. I even missed Manny.”
“Yeah, I kind of miss his bitching too.”
“What do you mean? Where are you?”
She moved the camera around for me to see. “Hawaii.”
“With a certain petty officer I used to know?” I grinned and so did she, turning the phone so I could see the dark head of hair on the pillow beside her.
“Rosemary Jones!”
“I know!” She got out of bed and went out to the balcony. The first thing I saw was the trees, the green bright trees, and I heard water rushing behind her. It reminded me of when Theo and I had gone to Ambler.
“You look so happy, Rosemary, and it makes me happy for you. I’m glad you called because I wanted to say sorry.”
“Sorry for what?”
Taking a seat on the sand, I bit my bottom lip to keep from crying, something I did a lot lately when I thought of everything that made me feel this way.
“Felicity?”
“Looking back, I wasn’t a good friend,” I said to her. “Hell, I can barely be considered a friend. I’ve always only thought of me. I’m sorry for being so selfish. Thank you for being you, I guess I’m trying to say.”
“Just because we weren’t braiding each other’s hair doesn’t mean we weren’t friends. I could give you a thousand examples of how
you’ve help me without even thinking about it. Besides, I wouldn’t have had to the guts to come to Hawaii if it weren’t for you. When I get back, why don’t we have our very first girls’ night?”
“Sure. Just don’t come back too soon. Enjoy Hawaii.”
She was about to say something when someone called her. “I’ll call you back later! And oh… Theo is pretty amazing.”
“I know. Bye.” I waved once more before hanging up. I noticed email had been set up. Clicking on it, the very first thing I saw was his name, Theodore Darcy, over and over again in my inbox. Scrolling down, I went to the very first one.