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Harper glanced at Olivia, silently asking who should take the question on. Isla’s grandmother had been receiving treatment for pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, they didn’t detect it early, and she was already in the final stages.
Olivia pushed her sunglasses up on top of her head. “I think heaven is whatever you want it to be.”
“Me too,” Isla said, a slight lilt in her tone.
Harper leaned up, lifting the edge of the sheet and letting the sand fall off. “In my heaven, sand would stay off the sheet.”
“Is this going to be all summer?” Milo asked.
“Depends on if you learn the concept of why we bring a sheet to the beach.”
Milo dramatically rolled his eyes and flopped back, flinging his arm over his eyes.
Harper smirked, smoothed the sheet down and reclined on her elbows, looking over at Isla. “How’s your grandma doing?”
A tear slid out from under Isla’s sunglasses, and she swatted it away. She sniffed and sucked in a jagged breath.
“Uh, I’m going to go see how cold the water is.” Milo, never one to handle emotions, jumped up from the sheet and jogged down to the ocean’s edge, kicking up sand in his path.
“Oh Isla.” Harper wrapped her arm around her, and Olivia came up on the other side, resting her head on Isla’s shoulder. The three of them had been through a lot together, and one thing remained true—no matter what, no matter how much distance was between them, they were there for each other.
“You don’t have to tell us,” Olivia said.
“No.” Isla took a deep breath. “I’m good.” She shook her hands out and smacked them on her knees. “Sorry. She has her good days and her bad days. I bring her an arrangement every so often to brighten up the house and lift her spirit. Today I’m bringing her some snap dragons.”
Isla’s family owned the local florist, and Isla had been working there since ninth grade. She had always planned on moving away and starting a family, but after her breakup with Nolan, she never did.
“I bet she loves that,” Olivia said.
“She does. Or at least I think she does.”
“I’ll have to stop by soon.” Olivia adored Mrs. Garrick. She was the fun grandma everybody wanted to spend time with.
Isla’s face brightened. “She would love that! She asks about you guys all the time.”
Harper smiled and ran a hand over her ponytail. “That’s so sweet. Does she still call us—”
“Charlie’s Angels? Yup.”
Mrs. Garrick had been calling their trio that for as long as Olivia could remember.
Olivia fondly recalled all the sleepovers at Mrs. Garrick’s house. She always made brownies and let them watch PG-13 movies. In the summer, she would bring them to the beach and after to Pie in the Sky for some afternoon sweets. It was hard to imagine a woman who was once so full of life losing a little more of it every day.
“Maybe we could bring her to the beach one afternoon.”
Isla smiled, but there was a sadness in the press her lips and downcast of her eyes. “I bet she’d love that. It’s a date.”
Olivia’s phone beeped in her bag, and she sat up, adjusting her bikini top before digging for it. Daniel’s name flashed on her screen, and she wanted to chuck her phone into the ocean. Instead she opened the text and startled when it wasn’t the insult she expected.
Her eyes lingered on the words.
I miss you.
Her finger stalled in the air, unsure of what she should say or if she should even respond. He’d said some pretty awful things and now he missed her?
Her phone beeped again.
I don’t expect you to believe me, but I do. Give me a chance to make this right. Come back to the city. You can stay at the apartment in Midtown. I’ll have all your stuff sent over and set up for you.
