I sigh. It is such a big blow to Salter that his dad moved this far away. I know he is excited to see him again. I hate to see that look in his eyes. He doesn’t know his dad cheated on me. He only knows that he left, and that is enough. I know he feels guilt and questions if he had something to do with it. I try to tell him it wasn’t because of him, that sometimes grown-ups grow apart, that they can’t make it work anymore. I am not sure he is convinced.
“Sure,” I say.
Salter smiles and grabs my phone and finds his dad’s number. While driving towards the beach and listening to him talk to his father, I feel a chill go through my body. I watch the big signs for Ron Jon’s surf shop go by and realize my hands are shivering. Everything about this place gives me the creeps. I haven’t been back in almost twenty years. Not since I left for college.
Blake was three years old back then. Joey and I have lived all over since. He worked with whatever he could get his hands on, mostly as a carpenter. I spent five years working for CNN in Atlanta, which became my biggest career jump. Before that I held a position with USA Today in Virginia. I started my career as a journalist at Miami Herald and we lived for a while in Ft. Lauderdale before my job took us out of the state, something I had dreamed of as long as I could remember. To get away.
“So, what did he have to say?” I ask, as we approach the bridges that will take us to the Barrier Islands. In the distance, I can see the cruise ships. A sign tells me I can go on a casino cruise for free. Gosh, how I hate this place…with all its tourists and tiki bars.
“He can’t wait to see me,” Salter says.
I turn onto A1A, where all the condominiums and hotels are lined up like pearls on a string.
Anything.
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