Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 74467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74467 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
“You’re a good son,” Leona said.
Emmett’s cell rang. He excused himself from the table and took the call in the other room. The four of them sat there, waiting. When Emmett returned, he sat down and looked at each of them, saving Kiel for last.
“Do you remember mentioning the Naval college here?”
Kiel nodded.
“I looked into it and brought it up to my CO. They’ve just told me they could finagle a position for me here, on the island, if I wanted to move here.”
“They’re going to move you here?” Leona asked.
Emmett nodded. “I’d be able to come home on the weekends and wouldn’t miss anything important.” He looked at Ciara and Skyla.
“Or,” Skyla started and then looked at Ciara. She never took her eyes off her twin. “We could move here,” she said as if seeking approval from Ciara. “That’s if you’d want to.”
“I’d move here,” Ciara added.
Skyla held Ciara’s hand, showing a united front. “I speak for us,” she said as she looked at her parents. “It’s our senior year and while we should stay in Albany, we really love it here, and we wouldn’t be so far away that we couldn’t go back and see our friends.”
“Live in Seaport? What would Kiel do?” Leona threw the two questions out without pausing.
He cleared his throat. “I’ve had a lot of time on my hands as of late. There are jobs both here and off the island. I could take a year to figure things out, and there’s a university not far from here. I can take some extra classes or something. I don’t know. What I do know is I’m not willing to waste money on more education when I don’t know what I want to do with my life.”
“And what kind of job do you think you’re going to get here?” Leona asked.
Kiel shrugged. “The hospital is hiring in the administration department. Might as well put my bachelor’s to good use. Or construction. Hell, I don’t know. Maybe I’ll be a delivery driver or start some messenger service. The fact is grad school doesn’t look good to me right now.”
“You want to move here because of Eloise, right? Are you in love with her?” Leona asked.
As much as he tried to hide his smile, he couldn’t. “I don’t know, Mom. I’ve only ever been in love once. At least I thought I was in love before. With Eloise, it’s different. Better. Even though I haven’t been able to see her the way I want, I still feel every bit for her today that I did weeks ago. Those feelings aren’t going away. If what I feel from missing her is any indication, then yes, I am in love with her.”
“You should tell her,” Leona said.
“I plan on it.” He had received a text from her, inviting him and his family to the showcase. He didn’t want to tell her he’d be there because he had already talked to her aunt. Staying away was something he had a hard time doing. Even though he had seen her on the piers and docks, he did as she asked. That was until he walked by the gallery one day. The urge to see her, to hear her voice, overwhelmed him and he went in. At first, he perused the art, acting like he was a buyer. When Eloise’s aunt came up to him, he thought he had the perfect ruse, but she knew who he was.
“Kiel, right?”
He nodded.
“Eloise isn’t here. She’s working.”
His heart dropped. Until she continued and invited him and his family to the showcase. Margaux suggested he bring his family in an hour before the showcase was due to start so they could have a private tour of the collection. He accepted the invite, told his parents, and they were excited.
Emmett reached for Leona’s hand. “What do you think about moving to Seaport?”
All eyes were on Leona. She looked at each of her children before looking at her husband. “It looks like we’re moving.”
Instantly the girls started chatting about finding a house and how close it needed to be to the beach. Both asked for mopeds because everyone had one and they needed one.
“I’ll let my CO know this is where I’d like to be.” Emmett got up from the table and went into the other room to make the call.
“I really hate moving,” Kiel said as the realization weighed on him. The only bright side was they were moving to the beach. Although, technically, if his father was here, Kiel didn’t need to be.
When Emmett returned, he told them they’d stay in Seaport as planned. He and Leona would start looking for a house immediately, praying they’d be able to have it by September. If not, he’d call about extending their rental.
Leona insisted everyone dress up for the showcase at the gallery. The only problem with doing so was no one brought anything other than “summer” clothes with them. The five of them ventured off the island and into the city, instantly regretting the traffic they encountered and all agreeing with Ciara when she loudly proclaimed she wanted to get back to the beach and the “easy way of life” as soon as possible.