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She was alone in the ocean.

When she was back at the beach, her mom and dad came to her, tears in their eyes. Her sister was taking selfies for her Instagram channel.

“Honey,” Mom said, “that was so beautiful, what you said about accepting yourself. I was really touched. And good for you for losing all that weight.”

Dad hugged her and wanted to say something, but his phone rang, and he picked it up and turned away.

“Mom, I did not lose weight on purpose. It was all the”—she cut herself off from saying hunger, traveling through winter in medieval times, daily sword-fighting training—“exhaustion and the stress of the funeral and arranging Brad’s affairs. I really couldn’t care less about my weight.”

“Well, you always said so, but—”

“But now I mean it. And you should gain some weight, Mom. You would look gorgeous at any size.”

Mom opened her mouth slightly, and she was just about to say something when Miranda walked up. Cathy excused herself.

“Hey, Cathy, thank you for this beautiful ceremony and for organizing the funeral,” Miranda said. “It couldn’t have gone any better.”

Cathy smiled and they both turned to the ocean where world-class surfers were now enjoying the waves—together with Brad, no doubt.

“Wow, look at them,” Cathy said, admiring the skill of the athletes. They all wore wetsuits of different colors, and their surfboards were all so colorful, as well. “This beach never saw such talent.”

Miranda swallowed. “You’re right. It never has. Just Brad, and us. And we’re amateurs compared to him. I wish we could see more of that. We can learn so much from them.”

Cathy looked at Miranda. “You can stop your bullying and let others onto the beach.”

Miranda looked at her feet, then at Cathy. “You’re right. We already did, actually. In memory of Brad. If we hadn’t chased him away, he’d be alive.”

Cathy shook her head and grasped Miranda’s shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself. I’m sorry if I made you think you were guilty. Your intention wasn’t to make him have an accident.”

“Still, the beach doesn’t belong to us. Everyone should be able to enjoy it and get better at surfing on a safe beach. Maybe we’ll see more of that.” She pointed at the surfers with her chin.

Cathy smiled. “Great idea.”

“Thank you,” she said, taking Cathy’s hand in hers. “And I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you, Miranda.”

“I’ll go join the world champions.” She giggled a little, picked up her surfboard, and ran into the waves.

Cathy sighed, a smile spreading on her face. But after just a minute alone, her chest began throbbing again, as she remembered Andor.

Now that everything was done, Brad was gone, the beach was free, and she did not need anyone’s approval but her own… What now?

Cathy hugged herself, lifting her face to the cold sunshine.

What now?

Now, she wanted to be with Andor.

Even more than that, she wanted to pick up a sword and sail off on some crazy adventure with him. Or just make love in the middle of winter woods.

She wanted to go back to medieval times.

To the man she loved.

Now that everything was settled here, and her job was done, she knew with every cell of her being that it was not the image of Brad she loved in Andor.

It was the man himself. Rude, arrogant, brave, strong, sarcastic Andor, who never gave her his approval unless she earned it.